Metabolic Matrix
Dr. Robert Lustig was recently involved in a study that looked at how to make ultraprocessed foods healthier for metabolic health.
"we must be able to feed 10 billion people by the year 2050. Processed food is not going away: indeed, it will be required"
In order to combat rising health problems such as diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, etc. and feed the ever growing population work needs to be done to make processed foods more metabolically healthy.
Dr. Lustig and team created the Metabolic Matrix as a framework for companies to start moving towards better metabolic products, which has three guiding principles.
Protect the Liver
Feed the Gut
Support the Brain
In order to do this they focused their study on sugar, fiber, omega-3s, and emulsifiers/stabilizers.
Sugar: added sugars are a major contributor to obesity, diabetes, and other non-communicable diseases. It will be important to limit the amount of added sugars as well as the type when making products more healthy. In order to keep the sweet flavor without the added calories, manufacturers use non-nutritive sweeteners, however these also have impacts on insulin and gut health. More research needs to be done on non-nutritive sweeteners.
Fiber: fiber is important for feeding the bacteria that live in the gut and aid in digestion. It is important to consume both prebiotics and probiotics which can come from soluble and insoluble fiber.
Omega-3s: significant biological roles, especially related to the brain and nervous system, are performed by omega-3 fatty acids. They help to reduce inflammation, help neurotransmitters send signals, and help regulate hormones such as serotonin and dopamine which play major roles in mental health. Currently most American diets are made up of more omega-6 fatty acids than omega-3s, so it will be important to balance out and increase the omega-3s in the body.
Some of the other strategies discussed was container sizes, marketing and branding to emphasize positive effects of low/no sugar-added products, public health education to emphasize the reduction of sugar, and policies to help make it easier for companies to adapt products to low/no sugar formulas.
Overall diets throughout the world include a significant amount of ultraprocessed foods and we don't see this changing anytime soon. We need to find ways and convince manufacturers to make products healthier with metabolic health and non-communicable diseases in mind. Ultraprocessed foods are not actually cheaper than whole foods when you factor in the healthcare costs of diseases often caused by consuming ultraprocessed foods.
Written by: Meghan Hawley, Ellen Byron and Associates
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