Ultra-processed foods: here are the ones to avoid to reduce your risk of premature death

Ultra-processed foods include packaged baked goods and snacks, soft drinks, sugary cereals, and ready-to-eat or heat-up products. They often contain colors, emulsifiers, flavors and other additives and are generally high in energy, added sugar, saturated fat and salt, but lacking in vitamins and fiber.

Ultra-processed foods: the risk of premature death is confirmed

Growing evidence links ultra-processed foods to higher risks of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and bowel cancer, but few long-term studies have examined the links with all causes and some causes of death, particularly from cancer. To fill this knowledge gap, researchers followed the long-term health of more than 115,000 healthy people (74,563 nurses and 39,501 male healthcare professionals) for 30 years. Every two years, participants provided information about their health and lifestyle habits, and every four years, they completed a detailed dietary questionnaire.

Results: Those who ate the most ultra-processed foods – about 7 servings per day – had a 4% higher risk of death from any cause compared to participants who ate the lowest amount, a median about 3 servings per day. This risk was even 9% higher (if we remove cancers and cardiovascular causes) and 8% for deaths following neurodegenerative diseases. Conversely, surprisingly, no association was found for deaths from cardiovascular disease, cancer or respiratory disease.

More risk with meat, poultry and seafood products

The risk of premature death was greater depending on the ultra-processed foods consumed: ready-to-eat meat, poultry and seafood products presenting the strongest and most consistent associations, followed by sugary drinks and artificially sweetened, dairy-based desserts and ultra-processed breakfast foods.

Finally, the risk was less pronounced after taking into account overall dietary quality. So processed foods such as cereals or whole grain products were less likely to pose such high risks because they contain fiber, vitamins and minerals, the lead author of the study told CNN. study, Mingyang Song.

These results thus suggest that overall dietary quality exerts a stronger influence on long-term health than the consumption of ultra-processed foods, note the authors.

Ultra-processed foods: increasingly obvious risks

This is an observational study, therefore it does not allow definitive conclusions to be drawn. Another drawback: the participants were health professionals and predominantly white, which limits the possibility of extrapolating the results. However, this was a large study with long follow-up, which provides greater confidence in the results. According to the researchers, “The results support limiting the consumption of certain types of ultra-processed foods for long-term health.”

This study goes in the same direction as several other recent releases:

• In March 2024, a large study of 10 million people, researchers discovered that the consumption of ultra-processed foods was the cause of 32 health problems: cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, sleep problems, depression…
• In November 2022, a study reveals that increased consumption of so-called “ultra-processed” foods is associated with more than 10% of preventable premature deaths.
• In February 2019, a study of tens of thousands of French people followed from 2009 to 2017 observed a modest link between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and the risk of death during the period.

So many clues that should encourage you to reduce your consumption of ultra-processed foods! In an editorial accompanying the new study, New Zealand researchers also emphasize that recommendations to avoid ultra-processed foods should not give the impression that foods that are not ultra-processed, such as red meat, can be frequently consumed. It's all about balance and variety!

Slide: Eating a balanced diet on a small budget is possible!