Ultra-processed foods may increase risk of preventable premature deaths: Study

Do you regularly eat readytoeatorheat foods Beware a global study on Monday showed that the consumption of such ultraprocessed foods UPFs can significantly increase the risk of preventable premature deathsPrevious studies have linked UPFs rich in sodium trans fats and sugar with 32 different diseases including cardiovascular disease obesity diabetes some types of cancer and depressionThe new study analysed data from nationally representative dietary surveys and mortality data from eight countries Australia Brazil Canada Chile Colombia Mexico United Kingdom and the USThe findings published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine show that premature deaths attributable to consumption of UPFs increase significantly according to their share in individualsrsquo total energy intakeThe study reinforces the call for global action to reduce UPF consumption supported by regulatory and fiscal policies that foster healthier environmentsUPFs are readytoeatorheat industrial formulations made with ingredients extracted from foods or synthesised in laboratories with little or no whole foods in their compositionUPFs affect health beyond the individual impact of the high content of critical nutrients sodium trans fats and sugar because of the changes in the foods during industrial processing and the use of artificial ingredients including colourants artificial flavours and sweeteners emulsifiers and many other additives and processing aids so assessing deaths from allcauses associated with UPF consumption allows an overall estimate of the effect of industrial food processing on health said lead investigator Eduardo AF Nilson from the University of Sao Paulo in BrazilThe team initially estimated a linear association between the dietary share of UPFs and allcause mortality so that each 10 per cent increase in the participation of UPFs in the diet increases the risk of death from all causes by 3 per centThen using the relative risks and the food consumption data for all countries ranging from 15 per cent of the total energy intake in Colombia to over 50 per cent of the calories in the US they built a modelThe results estimated that the percentage of allcause premature preventable deaths due to the consumption of UPFs can vary from 4 per cent in countries with lower UPF consumption to almost 14 per cent in countries with the highest UPF consumptionThe team raised concerns that consumption of UPFs in highincome countries UPF while already high is relatively stable for over a decade On the other hand the consumption has continuously increased in low and middleincome countriesThis means that while the attributable burden in highincome countries is currently higher it is growing in the other countries the researchers saidThis shows that policies that disincentivise the consumption of UPFs are urgently needed globally promoting traditional dietary patterns based on local fresh and minimally processed foods Nilson saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoeveratOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params