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LINK How eating ultra-processed foods could lead to increased risk of death, study shows -- Good Morning America

ByKelly McCarthy
May 09, 2024, 10:43 am

Whole foods in their natural state -- such as fresh fruit and vegetables, grains and lean proteins -- are up against rapidly growing options for ready-to-eat, ultra-processed packaged bites that underdeliver on flavor and nutrition after being refined from what was once a nutrient-dense ingredient into an amalgamation of artificial laden products.

A new 30-year correlation study published Wednesday in the British Medical Journal found that diets high in ultra-processed foods -- such as ready-to-eat meats and artificially sweetened beverages -- are associated with slightly increased risk of death.

Ultra-processed commercial, packaged foods that are made mostly of industrial-generated colors and additives make up the majority of the average American daily intake in 2018 and are now linked to a modest increase in death.

Researchers from Harvard University's TH Chan School of Public Health investigated dietary logs of more than 100,000 U.S.-based health professionals, and categorized these logs into four groups: unprocessed, minimally processed, processed and ultra-processed foods.

The participants had no history of cancer, cardiovascular disease, or diabetes at the start of the study and self-reported updates on lifestyle habits and health via questionnaires every two years.

The study's lead author, Dr. Mingyang Song, an associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s School of Public Health, cautions that not all processed foods are created equally. For example, ultra-processed whole grains don't pose the same risks as processed meats and sugary foods or drinks.

The ultra-processed group, especially those consumers who consistently reported intake of ready-to-eat meat, poultry, and seafood, had a 4% increase in risk of death at the 30-year follow-up.

Sugar sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages, dairy-based desserts, and breakfast foods, were other ultra-processed products associated with an increase in reported deaths at follow-up.

The study also looked more closely at organ-system specific causes of death, finding that consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with with an 8% increase in a risk of death from brain disease such as dementia.

"Sauces, spreads and condiments” as well as “sweet snacks and desserts" made up the majority of the ultra-processed foods in this study, but neither of the diets were directly associated with increased risk of death.

The study defined "ultra processed" foods based on a nutritional database from 2014, so food products referenced in this specific study may have changed over time. Reformulations could limit how this data applies to food products in 2024.

Additionally, when considering the data from this study, any recipe that included a single ultra-processed ingredient was classified into that larger category grouping, which could overgeneralize a participant's diet pattern.

The study also did not account for variable socioeconomic backgrounds, which is a known driver of America consumer food purchasing decisions.

snytiger6 9 May 12
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6 comments

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4

The first 20 years of my life was full of good food, my mom was an excellent cook. She baked stuff well also but dad put his foot down on the sugary treats - he was gaining weight before we were born. We also had a garden full of fresh vegies, enough to can for the winter. There was a freezer that would be filled twice a year with half a cow, custom cut and wrapped from the butcher. We rarely had beef from the super market.
When I moved out on my own and tried store bought ground beef I did not like it, it tasted funny. The west coast and east coast get 'different' food stuffs. In 1973 I left NJ and moved to Seattle WA. Unless you went to the markets at Pike Place I could not find very much white cheddar cheese. All the Cheddar in the super markets was orange. No Philly cheese steaks and only chain style pizza BUT there was Dick's Drive-in and Ivar's. hehehehehe
I still eat fresh vegies and get organic grass fed beef. Organic eggs and chicken. I don't eat cheese much these days and I really miss it and I do not even have sugar in the house.

5

I am getting increasingly upset with our food and with Big Pharma.
I knew people who ate what they liked, were not on a "program," and still lived a long life. I'm about to rebel and have had enough.

7

There is only 15% of potato in Pringles, everything else is just artificial.

When I was a pre-teen I liked Pringles, not because of the taste, but because we used them as stackable poker chips when playing cards. I never had them at my house, and never bought them. We played at a friend's house.

@snytiger6 I tried them but don't like them. They taste nothing like potato chips but something chemical to me.

6

The food industry, in MHO is the second biggest criminal enterprise, just below big pharma. For years they have been responsible for rising numbers of diseases, More people being born with lifetime health conditions, as well as higher prices that are just draining families budgets. They are giving us a medical and dietary police state (These are MY words only).

It is, and has been long impossible for an average family to afford quality organic and all natural foods. You cannot look to medical doctors, or any government to give you answers. You must learn for yourself alternate ways that work for you to protect yourself from the evils and threats they represent.

Yeah, I remember all the dietary educational materials we had in our public schools growing up were provided by the meat and dairy industries. The so called "balanced diet" convinced people that they should eat meat and drink milk every day. Even though for most of our evolution the human diet has been mostly plant based.

When I had leukemia, I want on a vegetarian diet for a few years. The drug I was taking wasn't supposed to actually cure me, but when I could no longer stand the side effects, after several years of taking it, I stopped, and it didn't come back. I think eating a healthy vegetarian diet, that was almost totally absent of processed foods made the difference. I have been off cancer drugs so long now that the doctors say the odds of my leukemia coming back is now less than 1%, as there has been no sign of it for so long.

Of course I am also avoided any casual exposure to radiation, such as X-rays and airport scanners (I request a pat down instead of beign scanned). The kind of leukemia I had was common for those who had radiation exposure. I theorize that casual exposure through dental x-rays and the airport scanner, although considered safe, what is considered "safe" was just an arbitrary line drawn to assure people. I consider any exposure to radiation to have some risk, even if small. Most people won't be affected, but there are a few, like myself, who are or will be.

@snytiger6 You will probably recall the ‘food groups’ as well. That was another big scam paid for by the Big Food industry. Drug companies very well know that their products, used over a long period of time, will made you sick.

Drugs only relieve symptoms of a body imbalance, (my words for most illnesses) or Cellular malfunction, another one I often use. Let’s take a look at ‘Osteoporosis’. Now I know that there’s genetics involved in some cases here, mainly Cardiovascular illnesses, But what the real problem here is following a bone depleting diet. Body acidity eats away at your bone mass, usually as a result of drinking too many carbonated beverages, high processed sugar intake, not getting enough Calcium in your diet as well as Vitamin D, among others.

Big Pharma, big food are both in large part responsible for practically ALL of the health issues that are so rampant nowadays. Again I know that there are genetics in some cases, but by far and large, Humans are really making themselves sick without knowing why and inaccurate information from Big Pharma and some MD’s doesn’t help either.

5

Whatever, because weighing 380 lbs is perfectly fine.

If a person eats nutritious food and gains weight, no problem. If they gained weight eating processed and/or junk food, then I'd say their weight is probably unhealthy compared to the person who gained weight eating nutritional foods.

I have no problem with people who most would consider to be "fat" or "overweight". Being a nudist I often see such persons without their "kits", and I have no problem with that. If they are happy with who they are, that is what is most important. I just hope they are healthy as well as happy.

3

I think of food as having three components. Nutrients, calories and in modern processed foods there are junk chemicals (artificial flavors and preservative) which have no nutritional value.

Your body uses up nutrients that normally would build healthy tissue to process and dispose of junk chemicals in processed foods. When food is processed, many nutrients get destroyed, however it generally keeps the calories. So, basically processed foods are high calorie, low nutrient foods. They will provide energy, but won't make or keep you healthy.

We evolved to seek out foods that taste sweet salty or fatty. This is because foods with those tastes in nature will provide nutrients to keep us healthy. Processed food manufacturers take advantage of those tastes that all humans evolved to crave by producing low nutrient foods with those tastes. The problem being that because there are few nutrients, the body will just crave more food, so people consume more high calorie low nutrient foods, because it fulfills their (evolved) cravings, but not their nutritional needs, which is why the U.S. has such major problems with obesity. No matter how much processed foods they eat, they will never get the nutrients the body is seeking, which if they ate foods in their natural states would be provided.

As a general rule, the more processed the food, the fewer nutrients it has, and the more processed food you eat the less healthy you will be.

You hit the nail on the head there. Practically all processed food is bad, as well as mass produced food. Never buy anything from brand names such as Kraft, Hostess, Campbells, Goya, the list goes on.

Even if you eat an all organic diet you will still not be getting all the nutrients your body needs. This is why our diets need supplements added, depending on your nutritional needs, genetic strengths and weaknesses as well as other health issues if you have them.

@CuddyCruiser In additional to eating healthy and exercising regularly, I also do take dietary supplements as well to help fill in any nutritional gaps. If you eat organic, vegetarian/vegan, it is important to also eat a wide variety of foods to vary the nutrients you get from your diet.

I used to get a lot of my supplements from Trader Joe's, but they discontinued a lot of them. So, now I buy mostly the Life Extensions brand from Amazon. I try to stick to brands highly rated for actually containing what the labels say they are.

@snytiger6 As a general rule, I stay away from ANY brands that are affiliated with Big Pharma or any large international conglomerate, with the exceptions of Wild by Nature and Whole Foods who carry many of what small family owned Health food stores usually stock. Where I am here in Queens, NYC I have a number of small shops around my area and most of them are well supplied. One good Whole food supplement brand is Whole Earth and Sea, as well as Potentsea, If your so inclined check them out, Potentsea has an excellent Sea Vegetables supplement which contains Organic Kombu, organic Rockweed, organic Bladderwrack, organic Dulse, organic sea lettuce.

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