- Dietary patterns can have a huge impact on health outcomes.
- Ultra-processed foods that go through large amounts of processing can lose nutritional value and contain unhealthy elements.
- A new study adds to a growing body of research showing that consuming ultra-processed foods can cause premature and preventable death.
People require nutrients to survive, but not all foods are created equal or provide the same nutritional value.
Highly processed foods have become a more prevalent part of diets in recent decades, and researchers are still working to understand the full impact of these dietary changes.
A recent study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine studied how ultra-processed food intake was associated with premature and preventable death.
The researchers found that the consumption of ultra-processed foods may be the attributable cause of death in a significant percentage of deaths in the Brazilian population.
The findings demonstrate the importance of reducing the intake of ultra-processed foods to minimize health risks.
Many foods go through a certain amount of processing so they don’t spoil.
Kimberly GomerMS, LDN, registered dietitian and nutrition expert, who was not involved in the study, explained some of the basics of processed foods to Today’s medical news:
“Processing takes a food in its natural state (grown at home) and changes it by adding salt, sugar, oil, and additives such as chemicals, colors, flavors, stabilizers, and preservatives. That is why they have an extremely long shelf life that is attractive to both people and industry.
ultra-processed foodsThey do, however, go through vigorous processing. Some examples of ultra-processed foods include:
- refreshments
- sweet or savory packaged snacks, such as chips or cookies
- energy bars and energy drinks
- instant soups and other ready-to-heat items like pizza or chicken nuggets
“Most of these foods have a long list of ingredients that are on the ingredient list on the food label,” Gomer said. “These foods include, but are not limited to, frozen dinners, cakes, cookies, fast food, packaged foods, and snack foods.”
The full health implications of eating ultra-processed foods are still being studied.
some research indicates that eating processed foods lowers the quality of the diet and increases the risk of health problems such as high blood pressure (hypertension), obesity and heart disease.
The new study analyzed the number of deaths in the Brazilian population and its relationship with the intake of ultra-processed foods.
First, the researchers analyzed national food consumption in Brazil from 2017 to 2018. They then analyzed this information in light of 2019 demographic and mortality data.
Based on age demographics, Brazilians derived 13-21% of their total energy intake from ultra-processed foods. The researchers looked at the 541,160 people between the ages of 30 and 69 who died in 2019.
Their analysis shows that the consumption of ultra-processed foods was responsible for 10.5% of all premature deaths in this age demographic.
The researchers further noted that ultra-processed food intake was responsible for 21.8% of all preventable deaths from non-communicable diseases.
study author Edward AF NilsonScD, a researcher at the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health of the University of São Paulo and the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil, pointed out the following highlights of the research to MNT:
“It is the first study that has really modeled the general impact of UPF [ultra-processed food] consumption deaths of which we are aware. The results are significant, first of all, because attributable deaths represent a large burden in terms of premature deaths from all causes (57 thousand deaths represent 21.8% of premature deaths from preventable non-communicable diseases in Brazil). Furthermore, if UPF intake were kept at the levels we had a decade ago, 21% of attributable deaths could be prevented.”
Based on this information, the researchers estimated that reducing energy intake from ultra-processed foods by 10-50% of current amounts could go a long way toward reducing these mortality rates.
“Clinically, the results confirm a paradigm shift in dietary recommendations toward the prevention and treatment of noncommunicable diseases and the promotion of healthy diets in general,” said Dr. Nilson.
The study adds to a growing body of evidence about the dangers of ultra-processed foods, but it has some limitations that also need to be addressed.
First, experts cannot perfectly determine the number of deaths caused by ultra-processed foods.
The model and analysis had certain limitations, such as risk of confounding and the inability to account for all factors.
The researchers also acknowledge that there is a risk of reverse causality. This was also data collected from one country, which means the results may be slightly different in other countries, for better or worse.
Eduardo Nilson noted that they could work to apply the data they collected to other areas and other countries:
“We hope to estimate the impact of UPF in other countries, model the impacts of different policies and interventions (dietary advice, UPF taxes, front-of-package labeling, regulation of food advertising, etc.), develop models for specific health. outcomes (such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity), incorporating health economic analyzes into models, and improving models to forecast the impacts of policy interventions”.
Exactly how changes in national and international dietary policies and recommendations could affect the health of entire populations is unknown.
In the meantime, people can work with their doctors and nutritionists to reduce their personal consumption of ultra-processed foods as appropriate.
“Start by reducing (eventually eliminating) soda, chips, cookies, fried and junk foods,” Gomer said.
“Replacing junk food with whole foods is key. [Sit] cut down to meals instead of eating on the run and put in the time and effort to prepare healthy foods at home. Challenge yourself with small changes. Replace some unhealthy foods with healthy ones.”
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