Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Increased MortalityUltra-Processed Foods Linked to Increased Mortality A recent study has found that consuming ultra-processed foods may increase the risk of death. The study, which followed over 500,000 people in the United States for almost thirty years, found that those who reported consuming more ultra-processed foods were almost 10% more likely to die after a median follow-up of 23 years. Ultra-processed foods are foods that have undergone extensive processing and have high levels of added ingredients, such as sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats. Examples of ultra-processed foods include soft drinks, candy, chips, packaged snacks, and fast food. The study found that consuming more ultra-processed foods was linked to a slight increase in deaths from heart disease and diabetes, as well as deaths from all causes. However, no correlation was observed in cancer deaths. The study results add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that ultra-processed foods may negatively impact health and longevity. The researchers recommend limiting the consumption of ultra-processed foods and adopting a diet that is rich in whole, unprocessed foods.
Chicago (US), July 1 (ANI): Elderly people who reported consuming more ultra-processed foods were almost 10 percent more likely to die after a median follow-up of 23 years than those who reported consuming less processed foods, finds from a recent study.
The results come from an extensive study that followed more than 500,000 people in the United States for about thirty years. The findings showed that consuming more ultra-processed foods was linked to a slight increase in deaths from heart disease and diabetes, as well as deaths from all causes. However, no correlation was observed in cancer deaths.
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“Our study results support a larger body of literature, including both observational and experimental studies, indicating that ultra-processed food intake negatively impacts health and longevity,” said Erikka Loftfield, PhD, Stadtman investigator at the National Cancer Institute . “However, there is still much we don’t know, including which aspects of ultra-processed foods pose potential health risks.”
Loftfield will present the findings at NUTRITION 2024, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition, held June 29–July 2 in Chicago.
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The study collected data from more than 540,000 people who provided information about their eating habits and health in the mid-1990s, when they were between 50 and 71 years old. More than half of the participants have now died. The researchers analyzed overall mortality rates among those in the 90th percentile for consumption of ultra-processed foods at baseline versus those in the 10th percentile, and also looked at associations with specific foods and specific diseases.
“We saw that highly processed meats and soft drinks were among the subgroups of ultra-processed foods most strongly associated with mortality risk and eating a diet low in these foods is already recommended for disease prevention and health promotion,” Loftfield said. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting sugary drinks and processed meats such as hot dogs, sausages and deli meats.
For this study, researchers used multiple strategies to classify the level of processing for different foods. This included breaking down the food frequency questionnaire data into specific food types and ingredients, in addition to incorporating expert consensus to categorize food components according to a rubric known as the NOVA classification system.
The researchers also took into account other factors that can increase a person’s risk of death, such as smoking and obesity. They found that people who consumed more ultra-processed foods also tended to have a higher BMI and a lower Healthy Eating Index score (a measure of diet quality based on how closely a person’s diet matches to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans). However, the analysis showed that the links between ultra-processed food consumption and higher mortality were not explained by these variables, as the links between higher ultra-processed food intake and risk of mortality persisted in people categorized as people with better or worse diet quality, and in people classified as normal weight or obese. (ANI)
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