How Ultra Processed Foods Can Sometimes Help Keep Cyclists Healthy?

In recent times, there has been a lot of hype in the media around ultra-processed foods and the growing interest in their impact on the poor health of the population.

In this week’s blog, we take a look at the implications of ultra-processed foods for cyclists and look at some of the times that consuming more processed foods may actually be beneficial for athletes. 

What actually is an ultra-processed food? As yet, there is no clear definition as to what exactly an ultra-processed food is, and when definitions do exist, there is often an issue with this definition not necessarily being able to differentiate between foods that have undergone some processing that may be beneficial for health and those that maybe negative to health. Typically, foods classified as ultra-processed are foods that are high in fat, sugar and salt, have minimal fibre and vitamins and minerals and therefore are often calorie-rich and not very filling. 

Whilst there are certainly some downsides to processing, it's important to remember that there are a number of benefits, too. Processing can improve food safety, increasing its shelf life—helping to reduce food waste and improve convenience. Fortification helps prevent nutrient deficiencies in the population, and in some cases, processing actually improves the nutrient profile of the food. 

One of the most significant issues with ultra-processed foods is their impact on energy intake. This is due to the ease at which these foods can be eaten and often their palatability, which can often be the result of ultra-processed foods containing combinations of fat and sugar that make them very tasty. 

A key research study from 2019 in which a group of young adults were provided with either an unprocessed or ultra-processed diet for 2 weeks, in which the meals were matched for key aspects such as macronutrients, fibre, sugar and sodium. The study showed that the ultra-processed diet resulted, on average, an additional 500kcal of energy intake per day, which over two weeks resulted in around 1kg of weight gain, compared to the unprocessed group losing around a similar amount of weight, despite not the study not aiming to cause any weight loss.

What about athletes? When it comes to an athlete’s diet, one of the most important components for staying healthy, avoiding illness and injury, and performing well is eating enough calories relative to their needs and ensuring adequate energy availability for the body to maintain healthy function. 

Here at Fuel The Ride, we are all about maximising dietary quality to ensure that your diet and the types of foods you eat are nutrient-rich, minimally processed, and best support your overall nutrient needs and your health. However, there are times when focussing too much on just consuming ‘healthy’ foods can actually be detrimental to health, particularly as an athlete; let me explain.

Cyclists are often renounced for pretty significant training loads, where the number of calories an athlete expends can be many times their needs at rest. This can make it a challenge to eat enough to support an athletes needs. This doesn’t just apply to elite athletes either, as many amateur athletes combine training with other work activities that can often be physically demanding. Similarly, busy schedules and the logistical challenges of ensuring the provision of high-quality nutrition around a busy schedule can make it difficult for athletes to consume enough energy. 

When it comes to very heavy training loads, it can often be a challenge for athletes to consume enough energy to meet their needs; this is particularly the case when athletes try to overly prioritise intakes of minimally processed foods, which can often be quite high in fibres and water, and have a low energy density, meaning athletes who may already have a reduced appetite are then less able to eat enough due to how filling minimally processed foods can be. This can lead to significant energy defecits and long term implications, of health and performance. 

Energy bars, gels, and drinks are a classic example of an 'ultra-processed food' that many athletes consume in large quantities (despite the industry's push to drive home 'natural' messaging). These products are the oppitamy of an ultra-processed food but often play a key role in helping to ensure an athlete can fuel well. Whilst athletes could fuel with minimally processed foods like bananas or mashed potatoes, these foods would be highly impractical and often require athletes to consume quantities of these foods beyond what would be physically possible.

As such, when it comes to an athlete's diet, the overall quality is an important consideration with a key priority to maximise the intake of health promoting foods, but cyclists should not look to completely avoid the intake of processed foods, particularly during times of heavy training when getting sufficient energy intake is a key priority. 

Coach Ben

References

Hall, K. D., Ayuketah, A., Brychta, R., Cai, H., Cassimatis, T., Chen, K. Y., Chung, S. T., Costa, E., Courville, A., Darcey, V., Fletcher, L. A., Forde, C. G., Gharib, A. M., Guo, J., Howard, R., Joseph, P. V., McGehee, S., Ouwerkerk, R., Raisinger, K., Rozga, I., … Zhou, M. (2019). Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake. Cell metabolism, 30(1), 67–77.e3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008