Ejercicio B · Inglés PAU Madrid Ordinaria Martes 2023

TEXTO B

The Risks of Ultra-processed Foods

In many households, ultra-processed foods are popular options at the kitchen table, including unhealthy products that you may not even think of as junk food such as snack bars and sweetened yogurts. Breakfast cereals, soft drinks and energy drinks count, too.

Every year, food companies introduce thousands of new ultra-processed foods with an endless variety of flavours and ingredients. They are what scientists call hyper-palatable: easy to overeat, and capable of controlling the brain's reward system and provoking powerful desires. Some experts argue that ultra-processed foods are so appealing to us not only because they taste really good, but also because they contain potent combinations of fat, sugar, sodium and artificial flavours.

Ultra-processed foods represent a larger share of the world's diet in relation to earlier decades. Almost 60 percent of the calories that adults in America eat are from these foods. They account for 25 to 50 percent of the calories consumed in many other countries. Yet in dozens of studies, scientists have found that ultra-processed foods are linked to higher rates of obesity, heart disease, hypertension, and colon cancer. In 2021, a study found that people who ate a lot of ultra-processed foods had a 19 percent higher likelihood of early death from cancer and a 32 percent higher risk of dying young from a heart attack, compared with people who ate few ultra-processed foods.

Research also shows that our bodies seem to react differently to ultra-processed foods compared with similar foods that are not so highly processed. For example, on a diet of ultra-processed foods, people quickly gain weight and body fat. However, on an unprocessed, homemade diet, the reverse happens: people lose weight, and they have reductions in cholesterol and an increase in their levels of an appetite-suppressing hormone.

Adapted from “What are ultra-processed foods? What should I eat instead?” The Washington Post, September 27, 2019. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2022/09/27/ultraprocessed-foods/>

B.1.- Are the following statements TRUE or FALSE? Copy the evidence from the text. Use a complete sentence. No marks are given for only TRUE or FALSE. (Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

Sweetened yogurts are healthy.

TRUE

FALSE

b)

People around the world are consuming fewer ultra-processed foods than in the past.

TRUE

FALSE

B.2.- In your own words and based on the ideas in the text, answer the following questions. Do not copy from the text. (Puntuación máxima: 2 puntos)

a)

How do ultra-processed foods affect our life expectancy? Explain your answer.

b)

Which two effects does eating homemade food have in our bodies?