In the most extensive review of its kind, researchers investigated the health impacts of ultra-processed food and discovered connections to 32 health issues, including diabetes, heart disease, poor mental health, cancer, and premature death.
Ultra-processed foods undergo numerous industrial processes and typically contain additives like colors, emulsifiers, and flavors. Packaged baked goods, snacks, fizzy drinks, sugary cereals, and ready-to-eat or heat products are some such examples. These products are often high in added sugar, fat, and salt while low in vitamins and fiber.
In some high-income countries, the consumption of ultra-processed food accounts for around 58% of the total daily energy intake. The rate of consumption has significantly risen in many low and middle-income nations in recent decades.
The results published in the journal BMJ suggest that diets rich in ultra-processed food could be harmful to numerous body systems. In light of their findings, researchers advocate for prompt measures to diminish dietary exposure to these products and to enhance our understanding of the mechanisms that link them to adverse health outcomes.
"Greater exposure to ultra-processed food was associated with a higher risk of adverse health outcomes, especially cardiometabolic, common mental disorders, and mortality outcomes. These findings provide a rationale to develop and evaluate the effectiveness of using population-based and public-health measures to target and reduce dietary exposure to ultra-processed foods for improved human health," the researchers wrote in the study.
The research team conducted a review of 45 separate pooled meta-analyses sourced from 14 review articles published in the last three years, all linking ultra-processed foods to negative health outcomes. The study involved almost 10 million participants. None of the research was funded by companies associated with the production of ultra-processed foods.
The team estimated the exposure to ultra-processed foods from a combination of food frequency questionnaires, 24-hour dietary recalls, and dietary history. The researchers categorized the evidence into convincing, highly suggestive, suggestive, weak, or no evidence. They further evaluated the quality of the evidence, assigning it to categories such as high, moderate, low, or very low.
"Convincing evidence showed that higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with around a 50% increased risk of cardiovascular disease-related death, a 48-53% higher risk of anxiety and common mental disorders, and a 12% greater risk of type 2 diabetes. Highly suggestive evidence also indicated that higher ultra-processed food intake was associated with a 21% greater risk of death from any cause, a 40-66% increased risk of heart disease-related death, obesity, type 2 diabetes, and sleep problems, and a 22% increased risk of depression," the news release stated.
However, there is only limited evidence on associations of ultra-processed food exposure with asthma, gastrointestinal health, some cancers, and cardiometabolic risk factors, such as high blood fats and low levels of "good" cholesterol.
"Overall, direct associations were found between exposure to ultra-processed foods and 32 (71%) health parameters spanning mortality, cancer, and mental, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and metabolic health outcomes," the researchers added.
The researchers call for urgent public health measures to minimize ultra-processed food consumption for improved population health.
