{"id":249,"date":"2026-09-28T17:21:31","date_gmt":"2026-09-28T17:21:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/can-you-be-healthy-if-you-eat-ultra-processed-foods-i-asked-a-dietitian\/"},"modified":"2026-09-28T17:21:31","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T17:21:31","slug":"can-you-be-healthy-if-you-eat-ultra-processed-foods-i-asked-a-dietitian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/28\/can-you-be-healthy-if-you-eat-ultra-processed-foods-i-asked-a-dietitian\/","title":{"rendered":"Can you be healthy if you eat ultra-processed foods? I asked a dietitian"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">So what is her verdict on my grocery shopping? <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Not as bad as I expected, I&#8217;m relieved to learn. While there are UPFs in there, that doesn&#8217;t necessarily make it an unhealthy food shop. In fact, Hanan says, &#8220;there&#8217;s a good mix of foods which cover each food group&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Just because some products have a long ingredient list, it doesn&#8217;t make them &#8220;inherently bad&#8221;, she explains, with the nutritional value &#8220;far more important&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">What about foods that contain ingredients I can barely pronounce, never mind recognise? Hanan takes my son&#8217;s chicken nuggets as an example.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;There are mandatory vitamins and minerals which manufacturers in the UK are required to add to white wheat flour such as calcium carbonate, niacin and thiamin,&#8221; she says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Raising agents, such as disodium diphosphate, are used alongside sodium bicarbonate (baking powder) to make the batter crisp and light.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Hanan says even the most chemical-sounding ingredients will have been tested or approved under UK food laws.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;But while chicken nuggets are a good source of protein,&#8221; she warns, &#8220;they are higher in fat and salt than a plain chicken breast, so I would eat them in moderation as part of a balanced diet.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">I tell Hanan my son usually eats them with raw carrot sticks and pasta.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;One food does not make your diet healthy or unhealthy,&#8221; she says, &#8220;it&#8217;s about getting that balance over time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>So what is her verdict on my grocery shopping? Not as bad as I expected, I&#8217;m relieved to learn. While there are UPFs in there, that doesn&#8217;t necessarily make it an unhealthy food shop. In fact, Hanan says, &#8220;there&#8217;s a good mix of foods which cover each food group&#8221;. Just because some products have a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":250,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-nutrition","category-health","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/250"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/modernfitnessguide.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}