Food structure is critical for optimal health

Abstract

Much nutrition policy is nutrient-based, supported by extensive nutrient science and food nutrient composition tables and recommendations for dietary evaluation. There are no comparable instruments for food structure. This constitutes a policy and practice gap since food is valued for its textural properties and not simply its chemistry. The structurally-important 'dietary fibre' at first proved of greater interest for its chemistry than its physico-chemistry even to health scientists and workers. As food chemistry became evidently complex, especially for phytonutrients, food-based dietary guidelines became an imperative and were launched by FAO and WHO in Cyprus in 1995. Food-health relationships, after weaning, are best articulated in terms of the achievement of dietary diversity, predicated partly on how intact foods are or in what way they are prepared. Cooking itself has health-promoting characteristics. Even with identical chemistry, food structure makes a major difference to biological and health outcomes. With evidence that food structure contributes to the matrix that food provides for nutrient delivery, and also to gut microbiomic profile and integrity, concern has grown about overly-processed food and health outcomes. The definition and categorisation of 'ultra-processed foods' is now a work-in-progress. Future public health nutritional and clinical nutrition developments will take account of food structure. To these ends, food composition tables will need to provide information like particle size and viscosity. Dietary recommendations will need to take account of food structure, as is the case for Brazil whose first step is "Make natural or minimally processed foods the basis of your diet".

Structure of protein emulsion in food impacts intestinal microbiota, caecal luminal content composition and distal intestine characteristics in rats

“…The spatial arrangement of food constituents (food structure) is notably determined by food processing and regulates digestion mostly through modifications of the accessibility of digestive enzymes . Food structure has been mostly studied by in vitro digestion, however, few in vivo published studies showed that food structure may regulate transit time, nutrient sensing and absorption in the gastrointestinal tract as well as satiety and post‐prandial metabolism . For instance, in humans a coarse fat emulsion delivered intra‐gastrically, decreased lipolysis in the duodenum relatively to a fine fat emulsion .…”

Secular trend towards ultra-processed food consumption and expenditure compromises dietary quality among Taiwanese adolescents

“…Food processing, which ranges from minimal to extensive processing, is defined as any procedure that alters food from its natural state ( 1 ). Food processing may affect patterns of purchase, use, and consumption as well as nutritional quality (including structure), affordability, and sustainability ( 2 ). Degree of processing has health implications arising from the lack of health protective food components like dietary fiber with decreased nutrient density; the greater presence of factors that are health adverse such as sodium, saturated and trans fatty acids, and contaminants including endocrine disruptors; and increased energy density ( 3 , 4 ).…”

Influence of Dietary Advice Including Green Vegetables, Beef, and Whole Dairy Products on Recurrent Upper Respiratory Tract Infections in Children: A Randomized Controlled Trial

“…The food matrix is based on structural capacities of foods, in which macro and micronutrients are offered. This food structure makes the difference between biological and health outcomes [29]. Food synergy is based on the proposition that the interrelations between constituents in foods are important, as well as the interactions between foods, and that the total effect on health is greater than just the sum of all individual effects [14].…”