What Counts as Ultra-Processed Food (and Is It Really That Bad?)

Ultra-processed food is food made in a factory from ingredients you wouldn't find in a kitchen: substances pulled out of foods or made in labs, usually with added flavours, colours and emulsifiers. Frozen veg, canned beans, canned fish and plain yogurt are NOT ultra-processed, and they're some of the most useful foods you can own.

Processing itself isn't the problem. Heavy factory formulation is.

I'm the crunchier one at PRYMESTATE. I lean clean and unprocessed, and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. But I'm also not going to tell you your bag of frozen broccoli is the enemy. Let's sort out what actually matters.

What does "processed" actually mean?

Researchers use a system called NOVA that sorts food into four groups:

1. Unprocessed or minimally processed: fresh, frozen, dried or plain foods like meat, fish, eggs, milk, fruit, veg, grains and legumes.
2. Kitchen ingredients: oils, butter, salt and sugar.
3. Processed foods: simple products made from the first two groups, like cheese, canned fish and fresh bread.
4. Ultra-processed foods: industrial formulations made mostly from substances extracted from foods or made in labs, often with additives.

So your frozen berries, your canned chickpeas and your tin of salmon are on the right side of the line. Build most of your plate from groups 1 to 3 and you're doing it right.

Is ultra-processed food really that bad?

Here's the study everyone should know.

At the US National Institutes of Health, 20 adults lived in the research centre and ate two diets for two weeks each: ultra-processed and unprocessed. The meals on offer were matched for calories, sugar, salt, fat, fibre and protein. People ate as much as they wanted.

On the ultra-processed diet they ate 508 calories a day more. They ate faster. They gained 0.9 kg. On the unprocessed diet, the SAME people lost 0.9 kg.

Nobody told them to eat more or less. The only thing that changed was how processed the food was. That alone added about 500 calories a day. So when you feel like you have zero "willpower" around certain foods.... maybe it was never about willpower.

Are "healthy" ultra-processed foods just as good?

No. And this one surprised a lot of people.

In a UK trial, adults ate two diets for 8 weeks each. BOTH met national healthy-eating guidelines. One was minimally processed, one was ultra-processed (think the "healthy" packaged versions). Weight came down 2.06% on the minimally processed diet and 1.05% on the ultra-processed one. Roughly double. And people had better control over cravings on the whole-food diet.

The label said healthy. The body disagreed.

What does ultra-processed food do long term?

A huge umbrella review covering almost 10 million people linked eating more ultra-processed food with 32 health problems, including:

• about a 50% higher risk of dying from heart disease
• a 48 to 53% higher risk of anxiety and common mental health problems
• a 12% higher risk of type 2 diabetes

Fair warning, because I don't do hype: these studies show a link, not proof of cause. But they all point the same direction, and the controlled trials above back it up.

Why does clean eating matter more in perimenopause?

This is where my rules come first, and I'll say it straight.

As estrogen falls, your body handles blood sugar less well. Some foods really do spike it harder and drive more insulin resistance than they did in your 30s. That matters far MORE than the number on the scale. I learned that the hard way: 750+ F45 classes in perimenopause and nothing showed, until I took insulin resistance seriously. Then I won a six-pack-by-50 bet in 3 months.

So, my perimenopause people: "clean" and "unprocessed" are good words to live by right now. Not as a test you pass or fail. As a direction. If you want the blood sugar side of this, read [Blood Sugar Spikes in Perimenopause](/blog/blood-sugar-spikes-perimenopause).

Can I still have treats?

Yes. Here's the rule: at least 80% of what you eat is minimally processed. The other 20% is life. The protein bar on a travel day. The birthday cake. Dinner out with friends.

There's no junk food, no cheat meal and no "bad" food here. You don't cut whole food groups. One meal never undoes a week, and your next meal is simply a normal protein meal. No skipping, no extra workout to "burn it off". That whole earn-it, burn-it game is a belief you learned, not a fact, and it's time to get out of your own way.

Where do I start with eating less processed food?

Not with a pantry purge. Small, repeatable swaps win. This week:

• Swap one meal a day to whole-food protein and veg.
• Build every meal around a real protein: eggs, chicken, fish, tofu, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese. (Never a bowl of leaves pretending to be dinner. PROTEIN.)
• Add 1 to 2 fists of veg. Frozen counts. Aim for 25 g of fibre or more a day; in a large Lancet series the biggest benefits sat at 25 to 29 g.
• Choose whole carbs: oats, potatoes, rice, beans, lentils, fruit.
• Stock quick wins: frozen veg and berries, canned fish and beans.
• Use protein powders and bars as tools on busy days. Check them with the "add a zero" rule from [How Much Protein After 40](/blog/how-much-protein-after-40), and keep most meals as real food.

When you're a month in, you'll notice the cravings got quieter. That's not magic. That's the food.

If food rules start to feel rigid, anxious or all-consuming, or you need to avoid a food for a medical reason like an allergy or coeliac disease, talk to your doctor or a coach. This isn't medical advice.

Quick answers

What counts as ultra-processed food? Foods made in a factory from ingredients you wouldn't find in a kitchen, with lots of additives, flavours and colours. Frozen veg, canned beans, canned fish and plain yogurt are minimally processed and totally fine.

Is processed food really that bad? In a controlled trial, people ate about 500 calories a day more on ultra-processed food without trying and gained weight, while the same people lost weight on whole food.

Is frozen or canned food processed? Minimally. Frozen veg and berries, canned beans and canned fish are on the right side of the line.

Do I have to eat 100% clean? No. Aim for at least 80% minimally processed. Consistency beats perfection.

Is my protein bar OK? It can be a handy tool on a busy day. Check it with the add-a-zero rule and keep most of your meals as real food.

Sources. Monteiro CA, et al. Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition. 2019. Hall KD, et al. Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain. Cell Metabolism. 2019. Dicken SJ, et al. Ultraprocessed or minimally processed diets following healthy dietary guidelines on weight and cardiometabolic health. Nature Medicine. 2025. Lane MM, et al. Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. BMJ. 2024. Reynolds A, et al. Carbohydrate quality and human health. The Lancet. 2019.