Frozen berries are just as good as fresh, and in some cases better
Summer is berry season in the United States — the best time to find many fresh berries, including blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.
Many people prefer fresh berries for their yogurt or cereal, certain recipes or healthy snacks. But when you can't eat them fast enough — since they spoil, often within days — or they are out of season, frozen berries are the way to go, experts said.
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New York Times
2 minutes ago
- New York Times
Americans Are Eating Slightly Less Ultraprocessed Food, C.D.C. Data Shows
Data released Thursday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested that people in the United States were eating slightly fewer calories from ultraprocessed foods compared with previous years, but nutrition experts caution that this decrease is far from a public health win. It's still true that more than half of the daily calories Americans consume come from ultraprocessed foods, defined as those made via industrial methods or with ingredients, like high-fructose corn syrup or hydrogenated oils, that you wouldn't typically find in home kitchens. The new data showed that, on average, 53 percent of the calories adults consumed each day between 2021 and 2023 were from ultraprocessed foods. That share was down from an average of 56 percent between 2017 and 2018. For children up to age 18, that figure was about 62 percent — down from about 66 percent. The numbers come from the most recent data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or NHANES. The survey, which the C.D.C. has been conducting since the 1960s, collects information about Americans' health and diets. This is the first C.D.C. report of its kind on ultraprocessed food consumption, said Anne M. Williams, a nutrition researcher at the agency and the report's lead author. The report comes as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, has warned of the dangers of ultraprocessed foods, a major talking point in his 'Make America Healthy Again' movement. Because the new data accounts only for Americans' eating habits through 2023, they do not reflect the MAHA movement's most recent messaging about ultraprocessed foods. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Associated Press
2 minutes ago
- Associated Press
Americans get more than half their calories from ultraprocessed foods, CDC report says
Most Americans get more than half their calories from ultraprocessed foods, those super-tasty, energy-dense foods typically full of sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, according to a new federal report. Nutrition research has shown for years that ultraprocessed foods make up a big chunk of the U.S. diet, especially for kids and teens. For the first time, however, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed those high levels of consumption, using dietary data collected from August 2021 to August 2023. The report comes amid growing scrutiny of such foods by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who blames them for causing chronic disease. 'We are poisoning ourselves and it's coming principally from these ultraprocessed foods,' Kennedy told Fox News earlier this year. Overall, about 55% of total calories consumed by Americans age 1 and older came from ultraprocessed foods during that period, according to the report. For adults, ultraprocessed foods made up about 53% of total calories consumed, but for kids through age 18, it was nearly 62%. The top sources included burgers and sandwiches, sweet baked goods, savory snacks, pizza and sweetened drinks. Young children consumed fewer calories from ultraprocessed foods than older kids, the report found. Adults 60 and older consumed fewer calories from those sources than younger adults. Low-income adults consumed more ultraprocessed foods than those with higher incomes. The results were not surprising, said co-author Anne Williams, a CDC nutrition expert. What was surprising was that consumption of ultraprocessed foods appeared to dip slightly over the past decade. Among adults, total calories from those sources fell from about 56% in 2013-2014 and from nearly 66% for kids in 2017-2018. Williams said she couldn't speculate about the reason for the decline or whether consumption of less processed foods increased. But Andrea Deierlein, a nutrition expert at New York University who was not involved in the research, suggested that there may be greater awareness of the potential harms of ultraprocessed foods. 'People are trying, at least in some populations, to decrease their intakes of these foods,' she said. Concern over ultraprocessed foods' health effects has been growing for years, but finding solutions has been difficult. Many studies have linked them to obesity, diabetes and heart disease, but they haven't been able to prove that the foods directly cause those chronic health problems. One small but influential study found that even when diets were matched for calories, sugar, fat, fiber and micronutrients, people consumed more calories and gained more weight when they ate ultraprocessed foods than when they ate minimally processed foods. Research published this week in the journal Nature found that participants in a clinical trial lost twice as much weight when they ate minimally processed foods — such as pasta, chicken, fruits and vegetables — than ultraprocessed foods, even those matched for nutrition components and considered healthy, such as ready-to-heat frozen meals, protein bars and shakes. Part of the problem is simply defining ultraprocessed foods. The new CDC report used the most common definition based on the four-tier Nova system developed by Brazilian researchers that classifies foods according to the amount of processing they undergo. Such foods tend to be 'hyperpalatable, energy-dense, low in dietary fiber and contain little or no whole foods, while having high amounts of salt, sweeteners and unhealthy fats,' the CDC report said. U.S. health officials recently said there are concerns over whether current definitions 'accurately capture' the range of foods that may affect health. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the Agriculture Department recently issued a request for information to develop a new, uniform definition of ultraprocessed foods for products in the U.S. food supply. In the meantime, Americans should try to reduce ultraprocessed foods in their daily diets, Deierlein said. For instance, instead of instant oatmeal that may contain added sugar, sodium, artificial colors and preservatives, use plain oats sweetened with honey or maple syrup. Read food packages and nutrition information, she suggested. 'I do think that there are less-processed options available for many foods,' she said. ___ The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Bloomberg
2 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Ultra-Processed Foods Make Up More Than 60% of US Kids' Diets
Americans get more than half of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods, with salty and sugary items accounting for an even bigger portion of kids' plates, a government study found. About 62% of childhood diets come from highly processed foods like burgers, pastries, snacks and pizza, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 's nutrition survey released Thursday. The same foods have a similar grip on adults, making up about 53% of the calories they consumed during the study that ran from August 2021 through August 2023.
