Ultra-Processed Foods Linked With Heart Disease, Bowel Cancer and Death



The BMJ this week published two sizable studies that found associations between high intake of ultra-processed foods and higher chances of death, bowel (colorectal) cancer, and cardiovascular disease.

The findings add to the body of evidence supporting policies that discourage consumption of ultra-processed foods in favor of unprocessed or less processed foods in order to enhance overall public health.

They also highlight the chance to reformulate dietary recommendations globally by giving more consideration to the level of food processing in addition to nutrient-based advice.

Foods that have undergone extreme processing include prepared meals and snacks, carbonated beverages, sugary cereals, and packaged baked goods and snacks. They frequently lack vitamins and fiber but contain significant amounts of added sugar, fat, and/or salt.

Few studies have examined the relationship between eating ultra-processed foods and the risk of colorectal cancer, and the results are conflicting due to limitations in study design and sample sizes. Nevertheless, prior research has linked ultra-processed foods to higher risks of obesity, cholesterol, high blood pressure, and some cancers.

In the first new study, researchers looked into the relationship between eating foods that have undergone a great deal of processing and the risk of colon cancer in US individuals.

Their conclusions are based on data from three sizable investigations of US health professionals that included 46,341 men and 159,907 women. Every four years, their nutritional intake was evaluated using thorough food frequency questionnaires.

Foods were categorized according to their level of processing, and colorectal cancer rates were calculated over a 24- to 28-year period while accounting for dietary and lifestyle factors.

According to the findings, men who consumed the most ultra-processed foods had a 29% higher risk of getting colorectal cancer than men who consumed the least. After further adjusting for body mass index and nutritional quality, this was still significant.

Overall consumption of ultra-processed foods was not linked to a higher risk of colorectal cancer in women. However, a higher intake of ready-to-eat foods containing meat, poultry, or fish as well as sugar-sweetened beverages in males and ready-to-eat/heat mixed dishes in women was linked to an elevated risk of colorectal cancer.

The Food Standards Agency Nutrient Profiling System (FSAm-NPS), which is used to generate the color-coded Nutri-Score front-of-pack label, and the NOVA scale, which assesses the level of food processing, were both examined by researchers in the second new study in relation to mortality.

Their conclusions are based on data from the Moli-Sani Study, which looked at genetic and environmental risk factors for cancer and heart disease in 22,895 Italian individuals (average age, 55; 48% men).

Over a 14-year period (2005 to 2019), deaths were measured and both the quantity and quality of food and beverages consumed were evaluated while accounting for underlying medical problems.

According to the findings, people who had the least healthy diet and were in the highest quarter of the FSAm-NPS index had a 32% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease and a 19% higher chance of dying from any cause (healthiest diet).

When the two highest levels of ultra-processed food consumption on the NOVA scale were compared, the risks were comparable (19% and 27% greater for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, respectively).

A higher level of food processing accounted for a sizable amount of the extra mortality risk linked to a poor diet. In contrast, even after accounting for the diet's poor nutritional content, consumption of ultra-processed foods continued to be linked to death.

Due to the observational nature of both research, no causation can be determined. One restriction is the potential for some risks to result from other unmeasured (confounding) factors.

However, because both investigations utilized trustworthy dietary quality indicators and took into consideration well-known risk factors, the results support earlier studies that have linked highly processed foods to unfavorable health outcomes.

As a result, both research teams claim that their findings support the need for banning some ultra-processed food categories in order to improve health outcomes for the entire world's population. The findings of the Italian study support the need to update dietary recommendations globally by giving more consideration to how foods are processed in addition to nutrient-based advice.

Researchers from Brazil contend in a related editorial that no sane person would choose to consume unhealthy meals.

They claim that having fresh and minimally processed food supplies accessible, alluring, and reasonably priced is part of the overall beneficial answer. and sustaining national programs to support and promote freshly prepared meals made with natural, little-to-no processed food, and minimally processed culinary components.

"If implemented, this will improve public health. Additionally, it will benefit communities, businesses, and the environment, they say.

The Moli-sani Prospective Cohort Study Investigators, Marialaura Bonaccio, Augusto Di Castelnuovo, Emilia Ruggiero, Simona Costanzo, Giuseppe Grosso, Amalia De Curtis, Chiara Cerletti, Maria Benedetta Donati, Giovanni de Gaetano, and Licia Iacoviello jointly published "Joint Association of Food Nutritional Profile by Nutri-Score Front-of-Pack Label and Ultra

By BMJ 

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