Do you like packaged pastries and snacks, fizzy drinks, sweetened cereals and ready-to-eat or heated meals? Beware, it can shorten your life and increase your risk of premature death, according to a 30-year study published Thursday in The BMJ.
The risk is that ultra-processed foods often contain dyes, emulsifiers, flavors and other additives and are usually high in energy, added sugar, saturated fat and salt, but lack vitamins and fiber – leading to poor health and an increased risk of obesity. diabetes and hypertension, which can further increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
As part of the study, an international team of researchers, including from the US, Brazil and China, followed the long-term health status of 74,563 registered nurses from 11 US states between 1984 and 2018; and 39,501 male health professionals from all 50 US states from 1986 to 2018 without cancer, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes.
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The results revealed that eating an average of 7 servings of ultra-processed foods per day caused a 4 percent higher risk of total deaths and a 9 percent higher risk of additional deaths, including an 8 percent higher risk of neurodegenerative deaths.
The rate of death from any cause among participants in this group was 1,536 per 100,000 person-years.
Furthermore, consumption of meat, poultry and ready-made seafood products showed the greatest risk of premature death, followed by sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened drinks, dairy desserts and ultra-processed breakfasts.
Although this is an observational study, so no firm conclusions can be drawn about cause and effect, “the findings provide support for limiting consumption of certain types of ultra-processed foods for long-term health,” the researchers said.
