Health
Everyday Foods That Could Impact Your Longevity: What Experts Say
Frozen meals, sugary sodas, and pre-packaged pastries might seem like convenient choices for busy days, but they belong to a category of foods that could significantly impact your health. These are known as ultraprocessed foods (UPFs), and a recent study suggests that their consumption might increase the risk of premature death by 14%.
Ultraprocessed foods are created from substances extracted from food, including oil, fat, sugar, starch, and protein. They often contain additives like flavor enhancers, food dyes, thickeners, and other non-natural ingredients. This category includes items such as processed meats, sweetened beverages, pastries, frozen meals, instant noodles, and flavored yogurts. Unlike processed foods, which are natural foods with added culinary ingredients like olive oil or salt, ultraprocessed foods have lengthy ingredient lists filled with artificial components.
Eduardo Augusto Fernandes Nilson, DSc, from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil, emphasized the gravity of the situation. He stated, “Assessing deaths from all-causes associated with UPF consumption allows an overall estimate of the effect of industrial food processing on health.”
The study examined dietary patterns and their link to all-cause mortality, using data from 239,982 participants aged 30 to 69 across eight countries, including the U.S., U.K., and Brazil. This data was compared against 14,779 death records to determine the impact of ultraprocessed foods on health outcomes.
Findings indicated that a mere 10% increase in the intake of ultraprocessed foods could lead to a 2.7% rise in the risk of all-cause mortality. In the U.S. and U.K., approximately 14% of premature deaths were associated with high consumption of these foods. Specifically, between 2017 and 2018, 124,107 premature deaths in the U.S. were linked to ultraprocessed foods.
The study identified 32 diseases exacerbated or caused by ultraprocessed foods, including cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, certain cancers, and depression. Nilson described the results as “concerning” and a call to action for healthier dietary choices.
“It is concerning that, while in high-income countries ultraprocessed food consumption is already high but relatively stable for over a decade, in low- and middle-income countries the consumption has continuously increased,” Nilson noted.
He further emphasized the need for global policies to reduce ultraprocessed food consumption and promote diets rich in fresh, minimally processed foods. “This shows that policies that disincentivize the consumption of ultraprocessed foods are urgently needed globally,” he concluded.
In light of these findings, it might be wise to reconsider the role of ultraprocessed foods in your diet and opt for more natural, whole food options to support long-term health and well-being.
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