Ultra-processed foods harm men’s health. They increase weight, disrupt hormones, decrease testosterone, and introduce harmful substances linked to declining sperm quality. They contain industrial and synthetic ingredients. This may be why over the past 50 years, sperm quality has plummeted.

[u/mvea]

https://cbmr.ku.dk/news/2025/not-all-calories-are-equal-ultra-processed-foods-harm-mens-health/

[u/LegLegend]

Ultra processed foods tend to make you hungrier or less full because they tend to be very high in sugar and lack fiber. You can eat whatever amount of twinkies or apples to reach the same calorie amount and stop there, but you're going to feel hungrier, emptier, more addicted, and worse if you just ate the twinkies. This usually lends to eating more later. There are some exceptions to this generalization, but they're not common.

[u/J4YD0G → u/LegLegend]

So it's sugar and not processed food?

Why work with the correlation when you can go to the cause right away.

[u/LegLegend → u/J4YD0G]

It's more than that.

What I've stated is just a broad generalization of ultra processed foods. High in sugar content and a lack of fiber are common in ultra processed foods but are not the only things that make them unhealthy.

For instance, ultra processed meats typically have a higher total of saturated fat content than unprocessed meats. This increase brings you closer to heart disease faster than if you were to just consume unprocessed red meats, and this isn't the only flaw with ultra processed meats.

Like the article here, a lot of research is still being done in the subject, but there is already a lot of confirmation out there that ultra processed foods aren't healthy for you. Sugar isn't the only concern.

[u/J4YD0G → u/LegLegend]

what about ultra processed meat alternatives? It's just a stupid categorization.

[u/LegLegend → u/J4YD0G]

It's not stupid at all, but I agree that it's very wide generalization. Ultra processed meat alternatives are healthier than ultra processed meat, but they're not going to be healthier than just eating the unprocessed versions of the vegetables used to make them.

I think the problem here is that people don't understand the descriptor. Ultra processed means it's gone through a heavy process to reach the final result. Oils, salts, sugars, and preservatives are all added to these foods and the more processed it is, the more of those things are used on it. Those things are not healthy for you.

To summarize for you, the closer food is to its original source, the healthier it is for you. Yes, there are still risks to drinking milk right out of the cow (drinking milk is a whole other discussion), but ultra processed foods are a prime piece of nearly every American's diet. It is a big concern.

Again, there are exceptions. Yogurt is a processed food that tends to be quite healthy for you. However, these exceptions are rare. There is no realm where McDonald's fries are healthier than just eating a raw (if your digestive tract can handle it) or baked potato.