ULTRA-PROCESSED FOOD LINKED TO HEART DISEASE, CANCER, AND EARLY DEATH: STUDY
According to CNN Health’s recent large-scale studies of adults in the United States and Italy, eating a diet heavy in ultra-processed foods has been related to an increased risk of colon cancer, especially in men. It has been proven to increase the risk of heart disease and premature death in both sexes.
Eating highly processed meals has been related to cognitive impairment in studies. Canned soups and sauces, frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals, fast food such as hot dogs, sausages, french fries, drinks, and packaged sweets such as cookies, cakes, chocolates, doughnuts, ice cream, and many more are examples of ultra-processed foods.
According to Marion Nestle, professor emerita of nutrition and food studies at New York University and author of “Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning),” “literally hundreds of studies link ultra-processed foods to obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and total mortality.”
Highly processed foods, compared to those with simply salt, sugar, or oil added, have more artificial ingredients. They frequently contain a brief list of fundamental components followed by many additional substances such as flavorings, preservatives, colorings, bulking agents, and the like.
According to Harvard Health, ultra-processed meals are made mostly from ingredients extracted from foods, such as lipids, carbs, added sugars, and hydrogenated fats. Ultra-processed food consumption is a severe problem in various nations, including Brazil, the United States, and the United Kingdom.
According to one survey in the Mirror, ultra-processed foods make up more than two-thirds of British school lunches. Researchers in the United States followed the eating habits of over 200,000 men and women for up to 28 years and discovered that ultra-processed foods were connected with an increased risk of colon cancer in males but not women.
According to the World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society, and the American Institute for Cancer Research, eating processed and ultra-processed meats like ham, bacon, salami, hotdogs, beef jerky, and corned beef has long been linked to an increased risk of bowel cancer in both men and women.
Another research was a 12-year follow-up of roughly 22,000 adults residing in Italy’s Molise area. The study began in March 2005 and sought to identify risk factors for cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurological disorders.
In a recent study, ultra-processed meals were found to have a more significant influence on the development of chronic illness and early mortality than nutrient-poor diets. Both eating trends were found to increase mortality risk, most notably from cardiovascular diseases independently.
The National Institutes of Health published the results of a randomized clinical study comparing the effects of a processed vs. an unprocessed diet in 2019. . Those who ate an ultra-processed diet consumed 500 more calories per day than those who ate a low-processed diet.
The National Institutes of Health discovered that while people on an ultra-processed diet gained an average of 0.9 kilos or 2 pounds, they dropped the same amount when they ate less processed food.
“There is undeniably something about ultra-processed meals that encourage people to consume more of them without necessarily intending or realizing it,” Nestle observed.
The consequences of a diet heavy in ultra-processed foods are apparent. However, the core causes of these consequences remain unknown,” Nestle warned, adding that it is suggested that as little of these ultra-processed meals as possible be consumed until the cause is determined.
