Eating ultra-processed foods could shorten your lifespan and cause an early death: study

Do you like packaged baked goods and snacks, soft drinks, sugary breakfast cereals and ready-made or hot dishes? Beware: It can shorten your lifespan and increase your risk of premature death, according to a 30-year study published Thursday in the journal The BMJ.

The risk is that ultra-processed foods often contain colorings, emulsifiers, flavorings and other additives and are typically high in energy, added sugars, saturated fat and salt, but lacking in vitamins and fiber – leading to poor health and increasing health risks. risk of obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure, which can further increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer.

For the study, an international team of researchers, including from the US, Brazil and China, tracked the long-term health of 74,563 female registered nurses from 11 US states between 1984 and 2018; and 39,501 male health care workers from all 50 U.S. states from 1986 to 2018 with no history of cancer, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes.

The results showed 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 other deaths, including an 8 percent higher risk of neurodegenerative deaths. The mortality rate from any cause among participants in this group was 1,536 per 100,000 person-years.

Furthermore, eating ready-to-eat meat, poultry and seafood-based products showed the greatest risk of premature death, followed by sugar-sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages, dairy-based desserts and ultra-processed breakfast foods.

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.

“Future studies are needed to improve the classification of ultra-processed foods and confirm our findings in other populations,” she added.