A 30-year study that looked at all cause mortality in subjects consuming ultraprocessed foods finds higher mortality links and not just related to cancer and cardiovascular diseases
Ultraprocessed foods such as (but not limited to) sweetened breakfast ‘cereals’ and fruit yoghurt and ‘energy’ drinks; pre-prepared meat, cheese, pasta and pizza can shorten your life. This is the upshot of a new study published in The BMJ that has found that these food items are associated with a slightly higher all cause mortality, driven by causes other than cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
The study looked at people consuming ultraprocessed foods over a period of 30 years and came to this conclusion. During a median of 34 years of follow-up, the study documented 48 193 deaths (30 188 deaths of women and 18 005 deaths of men), including 13 557 deaths due to cancer, 11 416 deaths due to cardiovascular diseases, 3926 deaths due to respiratory diseases, and 6343 deaths due to neurodegenerative diseases. At the start the study had 74 563 women and 39 501 men with no history of cancer, cardiovascular diseases, or diabetes.
This is how the Food and Agricultural Organisation of the United Nations defines ultra processed foods: “Ultra-processed foods are formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, typically created by series of industrial techniques and processes (hence ‘ultra-processed’). Some common ultra-processed products are carbonated soft drinks; sweet, fatty or salty packaged snacks; candies (confectionery); mass produced packaged breads and buns, cookies (biscuits), pastries, cakes and cake mixes; margarine and other spreads; sweetened breakfast ‘cereals’ and fruit yoghurt and ‘energy’ drinks; pre-prepared meat, cheese, pasta and pizza dishes; poultry and fish ‘nuggets’ and ‘sticks’; sausages, burgers, hot dogs and other reconstituted meat products; powdered and packaged ‘instant’ soups, noodles and desserts; baby formula; and many other types of product.”
The authors led by researchers from Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health recommended limited consumption of ultraprocessed foods and emphasised the fact that the positive association with mortality was driven mainly by meat/poultry/seafood based ready-to-eat products, sugar and artificially sweetened beverages, dairy based desserts, and ultra-processed breakfast foods.
