The catch-22 of processed vegan food

Not all plant-based foods are actually good for us, new research has found.

A recent study published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe suggests that ultra-processed plant-based foods — including plant-based snacks, burgers and dairy-free plant-based yogurts — can increase your risk of serious health conditions like heart attacks and strokes. Researchers looked at nearly a decade’s worth of data from approximately 118,000 adults who participated in the UK Biobank, a large-scale biomedical study looking into health, genetics and lifestyle patterns. The UK Biobank’s research resource is “a major contributor to the advancement of modern medicine and treatment and has enabled several scientific discoveries that improve human health,” according to its official website.  

The study found that every 10% increase in calories from ultra-processed plant-based foods was associated with a 5% higher risk of developing heart disease and a 6% higher risk of coronary heart disease.  

The statistics were more positive for adults who ate a diet rich in whole plant-based foods. For every 10% increase in whole plant-based foods, people had an eight percent lower risk of developing coronary heart disease and a 20% lower risk of dying from the disease. They also had a 13% lower risk of dying from any cardiovascular disease.

Study co-author Kiara Chang, a research fellow at Imperial College London, told Food & Wine that the new research supplements prior research focused on the long-term consequences of consuming ultra-processed foods.  

“Many high-quality research studies have shown that eating more ultra-processed foods is linked to poor health outcomes, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and cancer, and our new study adds important evidence that plant-based ultra-processed foods do not offer the same protection as the fresh and minimally processed plant-based foods such as fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes,” Chang told the outlet.  

She added that “it is important that we are aware of the health risks and to cut down on ultra-processed food intake as much as possible.”

Ultra-processed foods are commercially manufactured food products that have undergone significant processing. These foods don’t resemble their raw ingredients and are typically high in high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, synthetic preservatives, artificial flavors, emulsifiers and other additives not found in raw, whole foods. Common examples of ultra-processed foods include breakfast cereals, packaged snacks, soft drinks, candy and flavored yogurts.

Ultra-processed foods remain a divisive topic amongst food experts, scientists, and consumers alike. Calls to ban or heavily restrict such foods have reached a fever pitch in recent years amid increased concerns regarding the potential health risks of ultra-processed foods. Carlos Monteiro, the Brazilian epidemiologist who coined the term ultra-processed food, even went so far as to suggest placing tobacco-style warnings on the foods.

“UPFs are displacing healthier, less processed foods all over the world, and also causing a deterioration in diet quality due to their several harmful attributes,” Monteiro told The Guardian. “Together, these foods are driving the pandemic of obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, such as diabetes.”