Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Shorter Lifespan, Study Reveals; How Dangerous Are They?

While it has been increasingly revealed that ultra-processed foods are bad for health, research shows that some of them could yield worse impacts compared to others.

Ultra-Processed Foods: Common and Dangerous

Across the US, these foods account for nearly 60% of energy intake. These foods include carbonated drinks, packed snacks, ready meals, instant noodles, and the majority of products that contain various unrecognizable preservatives, ingredients, emulsifiers, artificial flavorings, and sweeteners.

Various studies have associated ultra-processed foods with increased disease risks, such as that of diabetes, heart disease, bowel cancer, and obesity.

Now, a new study shows that not every ultra-processed food is equal when it comes to mortality.

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Ultra-Processed Foods and Mortality Risk

The new study, entitled "Association of ultra-processed food consumption with all-cause and cause-specific mortality: population-based cohort study," examined the chronic health of 39,601 male health professionals and 74,563 female nurses across the US. This covered a period of roughly 34 years. The participants did not have any history of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer when the study started.

The participants offered health and lifestyle habit data every two years. They also filled up a food questionnaire every four years.

Across the study period, 48,193 deaths were recorded. Among these individuals, 13,557 of them died due to cancer, while 11,416 died due to cardiovascular disease.

All in all, individuals with the lowest ultra-processed food consumption had a 4% lower death risk compared to those with the highest consumption levels. Low consumption covered an average of three servings each day, while high consumption covered an average of seven a day. However, this was found to vary for different types of food.

Individuals who consumed seafood, poultry, and meat products that were highly processed exhibited the most consistent and highest increased death risks. Artificially sweetened and sugar-sweetened desserts, beverages, and breakfast foods came second.

However, when general diet quality was considered, these associations became less pronounced. According to the researchers, this shows that one's diet quality yields great influences over chronic health compared to odd ultra-processed snacking.

Dietitian Duane Mellor, who is the spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association and who did not participate in the study, explains that it is observable that individuals who consumed the most ultra-processed food usually ended up eating few fruit, vegetables, whole grain, and legumes.

He notes that this suggests that the findings do not simply imply that individuals who ate more ultra-processed foods had a higher likelihood of death. There is also a possibility that such ultra-processed foods could end up displacing other healthier foods from one's diet.

It is important to note, however, that the study is observational in nature. More work is necessary for these associations and possible underlying mechanisms to be confirmed. The study's grave follow-up time and massive sample size stress the need for this area to be a subject of further study.

Overall, the researchers concluded that their findings show that it is necessary to have more specific recommendations when it comes to ultra-processed foods. The researchers note that the results support limiting the consumption of certain ultra-processed food types for health in the long run. Further studies could help improve ultra-processed food classification and confirm such findings among other populations.