Re:Why Is the American Diet So Deadly?
by SAI_Peregrinus on Friday February 20, 2026 @04:02PM
(#47093913)
Minor note: dried pasta is made with semolina flour, not white flour & eggs like many fresh pastas are. It's still a refined (germ removed) ground wheat flour, though not usually bleached.
Re:Why Is the American Diet So Deadly?
by epistasis on Friday February 20, 2026 @12:57PM
(#47091392)
Exactly! And that's not to say that the idea of "ultraprocessed" doesn't ultimately turn up something extremely insightful and actionable for regular people. The concept just doesn't seem to be a useful one for regular people, yet.
Re:Why Is the American Diet So Deadly?
by magneticnorth on Friday February 20, 2026 @01:40PM
(#47091968)
As someone who cooks a lot, I find the concept of "could I make this in my kitchen" to be a helpful guideline. I can tell a chipsahoy cookie is pretty different from anything I've ever made, whereas the ones at the local independently-owned bakery are more similar.
But making that judgement requires more cooking experience than a lot of people have, and executing on it requires the time & money to buy the more expensive stuff that has a shorter shelf life.
I'm pretty certain the flour used to make standard grocery store pasta is both refined and bleached. Even if I make it at home, I'm using refined and bleached white flour.
And my understanding is that should be considered fairly processed - the refining makes it less fibrous and easier to digest, which spikes insulin levels and is bad for gut bacteria etc.