Even Cockroaches Can't Survive
By Editorial Staff
If there's one creature you'd expect to survive just about anything, it's a cockroach. But research suggests even these famously resilient insects don't do well when ultraprocessed foods become their entire diet.
Researchers fed lobster cockroaches one of three diets for two months: unprocessed foods (apples and potatoes), ultraprocessed foods (apple-flavored Sour Punch Straws and salted potato chips), or a combination of the two.
The difference was substantial. Nearly half (47%) of the cockroaches eating only ultraprocessed food died during the study, compared with 20% of those eating unprocessed food and 23% of those eating the mixed diet. The researchers calculated that the ultraprocessed group had about a 1.5-times higher mortality risk than the unprocessed group.
Obviously, humans aren't cockroaches, and this study doesn't establish that ultraprocessed foods cause the same outcome in people. But it adds to research raising concerns about diets heavily dominated by these foods.
This is where some important nuance is needed. Processing itself isn't the problem.
Freezing vegetables, cooking beans, fermenting yogurt, canning fish, or grinding whole grains are all forms of food processing that can produce highly nutritious foods. Even foods such as whole-grain bread, canned beans and natural nut butter can be processed without becoming "junk food."
Ultraprocessed foods are different. They are typically industrial formulations designed for convenience, long shelf life and strong appeal, and often contain combinations of refined carbohydrates, added sugars, unhealthy fats, and sodium; while providing relatively little fiber or nutritional value.
Common examples include sugary drinks, candy, many packaged snack cakes, highly sweetened breakfast cereals, chips, and other heavily formulated snack foods. In this study, the ultraprocessed diet consisted specifically of candy-like fruit snacks and potato chips.
So, the lesson isn't to "avoid anything processed." It's to recognize the difference between food that has been processed for convenience or preservation and highly formulated products that can displace more nutritious foods.
If even a cockroach does better with an apple than a candy straw, it might be worth taking a closer look at what's making up most of your own diet.
