Diets high in ultra-processed foods are consistently linked to many chronic diseases, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and mental-health conditions, according to an expansive new analysis of health outcomes in a global population.
The research, involving nearly nine million adults, also shows that ultra-processed foods, which are generally low in nutrients and loaded with additives, increase the chances of premature death.
“Earlier studies have already linked ultra-processed food to some diseases, but mostly one condition at a time, in smaller populations,” says lead author David Xiao Liu, MD, a cardiologist and research fellow with Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.
“By pooling worldwide data from 51 studies, we were able to build much stronger evidence and model a dose-response relationship, essentially showing how risk changes as people eat more or less ultra-processed food.”
What Makes Ultra-Processed Foods So Bad?
Ultra-processed foods are generally defined as ready-to-eat items (such as packaged potato chips and sodas) or heat-and-serve products (such as frozen pizzas and microwavable dinners) that have undergone extensive industrial processing.
“They tend to be higher in calories and higher in refined carbohydrates, sodium, added sugars, and unhealthy fats while being lower in fiber and beneficial micronutrients,” says Samantha Flanagan, DO, assistant professor with the department of clinical family and community medicine at Temple University’s Lewis Katz School of Medicine in Philadelphia.
Dr. Flanagan, who was not involved in the new analysis, adds that the processing makes the foods extra pleasing to the tastebuds, triggering people to eat too much.
The study authors describe the mix of additives in ultra-processed foods as having a “cocktail effect.” “When several additives combine and interact inside the body it may add up to a bigger effect than you’d expect from each ingredient individually,” says Dr. Liu.
The study authors add that compounds that may form during food processing, such as acrylamide (a contaminant formed in heat-treated processed foods) and acrolein (generated during fat heating), have been associated with a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease.
Read the full article here
