Impact of Food Processing on Health: A Comparative Study

Food processing plays a pivotal role in determining nutritional integrity and its subsequent impact on human health. The present study was designed to comparatively evaluate the health implications of foods across varying levels of processing—natural, processed, and ultra-processed—using selected samples of milk, coffee, and tomato classified according to the NOVA system. Aqueous extracts of each sample were prepared and investigated for anti-inflammatory potential through hydrogen peroxide quantification and for anti-diabetic activity using the α-amylase inhibition assay. The findings revealed a progressive elevation in hydrogen peroxide concentration and activity from natural to ultra-processed foods, reflecting an increased oxidative and inflammatory burden associated with higher degrees of processing. In contrast, α-amylase inhibitory activity was most pronounced in natural food samples, moderate in processed variants, and markedly reduced in ultra-processed products across concentrations ranging from 10–50 µg/ml. The overall inhibitory hierarchy was observed as: Natural > Processed > Ultra-processed. Collectively, the results underscore that extensive industrial processing may amplify inflammatory potential while attenuating bio-functional efficacy, thereby contributing to metabolic dysregulation. These findings reinforce the importance of prioritising natural and minimally processed foods in dietary patterns to mitigate the risk of chronic metabolic disorders, including type 2 diabetes.