Older persons who reported consuming more ultra-processed foods, as defined by the NOVA classification system, were about 10% more likely to die over a 23-year median follow-up period than those who consumed less processed foods (1).

The findings are based on a huge study that followed more than half a million American adults for over three decades. According to the findings, consuming more ultra-processed foods was associated with minor increases in death from any cause, as well as deaths from heart disease or diabetes. Still, no association was identified with cancer-related deaths.

Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Increases Mortality

“Our study findings support a larger body of literature, including both observational and experimental studies, indicating that ultra-processed food consumption negatively impacts health and longevity,” said Erikka Loftfield, PhD, Stadtman Investigator at the National Cancer Institute. “However, there is still a lot that we don’t know, including what aspects of ultra-processed foods pose potential health risks.”

Loftfield will present the findings at NUTRITION 2024, the American Society for Nutrition’s flagship annual meeting from June 29 to July 2 in Chicago.

The study used data from over 540,000 participants who supplied information about their eating habits and health in the mid-1990s when they were aged 50 to 71. More than half of the participants have now died. The researchers compared overall death rates between those in the 90th percentile of ultra-processed food consumption at baseline and those in the 10th percentile, as well as connections with specific foods and diseases.

Processed Meat and Soft Drinks Negatively Impact Longevity

“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,” according to Loftfield. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise minimizing sugar-sweetened beverages and processed meats including hot dogs, sausages, and deli meat.

In this study, researchers employed a variety of methodologies to classify the level of processing for different food items. This involved breaking down food frequency questionnaire data into specific food and ingredient kinds, as well as applying expert consensus to categorize dietary components using the NOVA classification system.

How Food Processing Impacts Human Health

The researchers also included other risk factors for death, such as smoking and obesity. They discovered that persons who ate more ultra-processed foods had a higher BMI and a lower Healthy Eating Index score. However, the analysis revealed that these variables did not explain the associations between ultra-processed food consumption and increased mortality, as the associations between higher ultra-processed food intake and mortality risk persisted among people with better or worse diet quality, as well as those classified as normal weight or obese.

One caveat: the study’s design did not allow researchers to determine causality. Furthermore, Loftfield emphasized that the United States food supply and dietary choices have changed significantly since the study’s baseline data was obtained in the mid-1990s, highlighting the significance of ongoing research better to understand the links between food processing and human health.

References:

1. Intake of ultra-processed foods linked with increased risk of death
   (https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1048890)

Source-Medindia