Eating higher levels of highly processed foods could shorten lifespans by at least 10 percent, concluded a study that analyzed more than 540,000 people.
The study analyzed data provided by individuals who shared information about their eating habits and health issues, going back to the mid-1990s.
People who had a “higher intake of ultra-processed foods” saw a “modest increases in death” from any cause as well as deaths from heart disease or diabetes, according to a news release issued on June 30.
The risk went up 15 percent for males and 14 percent for women, said the authors of the study, led by National Cancer Institute investigator Erikka Loftfield. No association for cancer-related deaths was found in the study.
“Our study results support a larger body of literature ... which indicate that ultra-processed food intake adversely impacts health and longevity,” Ms. Loftfield said in a press release. “However, there is still a lot that we don’t know, including what aspects of ultra-processed foods pose potential health risks.”
In terms of ultra-processed foods that were linked to higher mortality rates, “We observed that highly processed meat and soft drinks were a couple of the subgroups of ultra-processed food most strongly associated with mortality risk and eating a diet low in these foods is already recommended for disease prevention and health promotion,” she added.
The researchers pointed to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans that suggest limiting the consumption of sugary beverages and processed meats such as deli meat, sausages, or hot dogs.
In their study, the researchers said in the release that they “also accounted for other factors that can increase a person’s risk of death, such as smoking and obesity,” adding that people who consumed more ultra-proceeded food items often had a “higher body mass index and a lower Healthy Eating Index score,” which they said is a measure of diet quality based on how it aligns with the Dietary Guidelines established by the federal government.
“However, the analysis showed that the associations between ultra-processed food consumption and increased mortality were not explained by these variables, as the associations between higher ultra-processed food intake and mortality risk persisted among people categorized as having better or worse diet quality as well as among those classified as normal weight or obese,” the news release said.
“Food substances not used in kitchens appear in the beginning or in the middle of the lists of ingredients of ultra-processed foods,” the report adds.
And such substances can “include hydrolysed proteins, soya protein isolate, gluten, casein, whey protein, ‘mechanically separated meat,’ fructose, high-fructose corn syrup, ‘fruit juice concentrate’, invert sugar, maltodextrin, dextrose, lactose, soluble or insoluble fiber, hydrogenated or interesterified oil,” and more, the report continues.
“The presence in the list of ingredients of one or more of these food substances identifies a product as ultra-processed,” the report says.
Meanwhile, a study released also on June 30 found that the eating of “primarily minimally processed foods ... does not automatically make for a healthy diet,” adding that “the types of foods we eat may matter more than the level of processing used to make them,” according to a news release.
“This study indicates that it is possible to eat a low-quality diet even when choosing mostly minimally processed foods,” Julie Hess, a research nutritionist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, who helped lead the study. “It also shows that more-processed and less-processed diets can be equally nutritious (or non-nutritious), but the more-processed diet may have a longer shelf life and be less costly.”
