Ultra-Processed Foods That Shorten Your Life by More Than 10%

THE ultra-processed foods have been the subject of numerous studies lately. Now another one, which is awaiting publication, explains that eating high quantities of ultra-processed food can reduce life expectancy by more than 10%. The survey was conducted on 500 thousand people, followed by researchers for almost thirty years. It was anticipated by CNNwhere the main author of the investigation, Erika Loftfielda researcher at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, explained that the risk rose to 15% for men and 14% for women, once the data were processed in detail and harmonized.

Asked about their consumption of 124 foodspeople in the top 90th percentile of ultra-processed food consumption said that at the top of their list were overly processed drinks. “Diet soft drinks were the key driver of ultra-processed food consumption,” Loftfield told the British broadcaster. “The second driver was sugary soft drinks. Beverages are a very important component of the diet» and are naturally part of what is meant by ultra-processed food since they contain artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, acesulfame K – the infamous E950 200 times more powerful than sucrose – and stevia and additives not present in whole foods. Among the other types most consumed by the patients followed in the study, in second place in terms of popularity are refined grainssuch as ultra-processed bread and baked goods. “This is another large, long-term cohort study confirming the association between ultra-processed food intake and all-cause mortality, particularly cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes,” she explained. Carlos Monteiroprofessor emeritus of nutrition and public health at the Brazilian University of São Paulo, in an email to CNN.

Monteiro, who was not involved in the investigation, is not just any expert: He is the doctor who coined the label ultraprocessed and devised the system of New classificationthe famous food scheme based on the degree of industrial processing. It is made up of four groups: unprocessed or minimally processed foods, culinary ingredients, processed foods and indeed ultra-processed foods and beverages. These are those that according to the FAO contain ingredients «never or rarely used in cookingor additive classes whose function is to make the final product more appealing or more inviting”. We are talking about preservatives to resist mold and bacteria; emulsifiers to prevent the separation of incompatible ingredients, of course colorants and artificial dyes and more. The list also includes agents antifoamvolumizing, whitening, gelling and various glazes as well as added or modified sugars, salt and fats designed to make food more inviting.

The preliminary study was recently presented at the annual meeting of theAmerican Society for Nutrition in Chicago and as mentioned analyzed dietary data collected in 1995 from approximately 541 Americans aged 50 to 71 who participated in the Diet and Health Study conducted by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the American Association of Retired Persons. Specifically, the researchers linked dietary data to mortality rates in the next 20-30 years. Compared to those in the bottom 10% of ultraprocessed food consumption, people who ate the most were more likely to die from heart disease or diabetes. Unlike other studies, however, the researchers found no increase in cancer-related mortality.

In particular some ultra-processed foods would appear to carry a greater risk than others: «Highly processed meat And alcohol-free drinks are two of the subgroups of ultraprocessed foods most strongly associated with mortality risk,” the author added. Diet drinks, in particular, were linked to an increased risk of early death from cardiovascular disease as well as the development of dementia, type 2 diabetes, obesity, stroke, and metabolic syndrome. The heaviest consumers of ultraprocessed foods, another finding of the study, they were younger and more overweightwith an overall worse quality of their diet than those who ate less ultraprocessed foods. However, the increased risk for overall health could not be explained by these differences: even people with normal weight And better diets were at risk of early death from these foods. One of the limits of the study was the excessive period considered. Dietary data were collected only once, about 30 years ago, and before the deaths or diseases developed (or not developed) the habits of the 500 thousand interviewees could have changed very often, with the variation of new products on the market or personal choices or even health.

SCIENTIFIC SOURCES CITED IN THIS ARTICLE:

Presentation at the last congress of theAmerican Society for Nutrition