An unpublished study, presented Sunday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition in Chicago, found that increased consumption of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) may shorten lifespans by more than 10%. That percentage went up to 15% for men and 14% for women once the data was adjusted, according to Erikka Loftfield, lead study author and an investigator at the National Cancer Institute.
The study analyzed dietary data from nearly 541,000 participants — ages 50 to 71 — in the US National Institutes of Health-AARP Diet and Health Study conducted in 1995. Researchers looked for a correlation between the dietary data and mortality rates over the next 20 to 30 years. Compared with individuals in the bottom 10% of UPF consumption, those who ate the most UPFs were more at risk of dying from heart disease or diabetes, according to the study. Interestingly, the researchers found no increased risk of cancer-related deaths, a common health consequence that’s been mentioned by prior studies.
