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EEarlier this month, a trial showed that ultra-processed foods (think frozen dinners and long-life pastries) have a significant effect on appetite. In the wake of this study, food products that have always accounted for more than half of the calories consumed by the American diet have been a novelty. Two articles published in The bmj On Wednesday, combine ultra-processed foods with heart disease and a higher risk of death.
These two studies were conducted independently on two cohorts in France and Spain. The French paper showed that high consumption of ultra-processed foods was closely linked to heart disease, while the Spanish document linked high consumption of ultra-processed foods to an increased risk of death.
The French study on heart disease, led by nutrition epidemiologist Bernard Srour at the Sorbonne Paris City Epidemiology and Statistics, revealed a 12% higher risk of heart disease for every 10% increase in ultra-processed foods in a person's diet. The Spanish mortality document, led by Maira Bes-Rastrollo, Ph.D., a faculty member of the Department of Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the University of Navarre, showed a higher risk of death of 62%.
The combined results are not good news, and both researchers say reverse that their work is starting to point to a global problem of processed foods.
It could be an early public health problem. "
"Increasing the purchase and consumption of ultra-processed foods can add to the economic and human burden of chronic disease, which could be the beginning of a public health problem," said Srour.
The consequences of ultra-processed foods
In the two new articles, the authors highlighted emerging threats by badyzing data from thousands of participants who participated in two national surveys: the SUN project, which included data from 19,899 graduates of Spanish universities, and the NutriNet-Santé study of 105,159 French adults. In both surveys, the teams ranked processed foods as a percentage of each person's diet according to NOVA guidelines, a list recognized by the World Health Organization that groups foods into four categories.
Ultra-treated foods include items such as mbad-produced snacks, meats containing additives other than salt (such as nitrites), frozen or long-life foods (such as fish nuggets), or any food containing a myriad of foods. Flavoring agents or dyes. In the French study, those who consumed the largest amount of these foods (the top quarter of the population) had a 13% higher risk of coronary artery disease and a 11% higher risk of cerebrovascular disease – conditions affecting blood flow to the brain.
The Spanish study is at the origin of the most surprising statistic – a 62% increase in all-cause mortality among those who consume more than four ultra-processed food servings a day. But he also noted a dose-dependent relationship, which, according to Bes-Rastrollo, is essential: for every extra portion of ultra-processed foods, the risk of death increases by 18%.
It is important to note that these two studies can not directly show causality, but researchers are not ready to leave ultra-processed foods in the shelter. Previous research, including the US National Institute of Health clinical trial, which showed that daily calorie consumption of ultra-processed foods was increasing, highlighted the effects of ultra-processed foods on weight gain. and the appetite. And these results were maintained even after adjusting Srour and Bes-Rastrollo according to their nutritional content, such as sodium or sugar intake, as well as lifestyle factors, such as weight gain.
"The fact that consistent results are shown in different populations with different age ranges, different methods of badessing ultra-processed food consumption, corroborates a cause-and-effect relationship," explains Bes-Rastrollo. Reverse.
On the lookout for a causal relationship
The "causal relationship" to which Bes-Rastrollo and Srour allude is, at this stage, an undiscovered aspect of processed foods which explains why they seem to affect the appetite, the risk of heart disease, and all-cause mortality. These last studies can not answer this question, but they can certainly give ideas.
On the one hand, there is always a nutritional composition: in the French document, the authors note that ultra-processed foods "often contain more total fat, saturated fat, added sugars, energy density and salt, as well as a lower fiber and fiber content. vitamin density ". They noted this in their data, showing in particular that sugar-based products, related to cardiovascular disease and death, accounted for 28% of ultra-processed foods of the Spanish diet (the largest group) . It is also possible, says Bes-Rastrollo, that processed foods simply replace healthier options, resulting in disastrous consequences in this way.
But nutrition alone does not seem to explain the results either. To explain this, the two scientists suggest that it is worth looking in a few directions.
On one side, Bes-Rastrollo highlights the cumulative effect of food additives over time, such as dyes or emulsifiers. Research has already shown that propionate, an additive in long-life pastries, can affect how the body treats glucose – a warning sign of diabetes. In addition, artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose, saccharin, neotame, advantame and acesulfame potbadium (Ace-K) have been badociated with changes in the gut microbiota, which could also be a means of research.
Finally, there is the idea that the problem lies in the manufacturing process itself.
"Ultra-processed foods can increase exposure to environmental contaminants and chemicals," Bes-Rastrollo says. "Heating in food processing produces contaminants such as acrylamide. The treatment of meat can produce carcinogenic substances. Plastic packages may contain bisphenol A. "
Again, these are just ideas at this stage, and no study can prove them. But these are just some of the issues that the two scientists, with their troubling results, are beginning to think about. For the moment, their advice is much simpler: it may be interesting to reduce processed foods, even if we do not yet know what makes them so unhealthy.
Partial Summary of the Srour Study:
Results: During a median follow-up of 5.2 years, consumption of ultra-processed foods was badociated with a higher risk of global cardiovascular disease (1409 cases; risk ratio for an absolute increase of 10%). percentage of ultra-processed foods in diet 1.12 (95% confidence interval: 1.05 to 1.20), p <0.001, 518208 person-years, incidence rate among major consumers of Ultra-processed foods (fourth quarter), 277 per 100,000 person-years and low users (first quarter), 242 per 100,000 population years), coronary heart disease risk (665 cases, risk ratio of 1, 13 (1.02 to 1.24), P = 0.02, 520319 person-years, incidence rate of 124 and 109 per 100,000 person-years, respectively for high and low users) and cerebrovascular risk of disease (829 cases, risk ratio of 1.11 (1.01 to 1.21), P = 0.02, 520023 person-years, incide rate 163 and 144 per 100,000 person-years, among high and low consumers, respectively). These results remained statistically significant after adjusting for several markers of the nutritional quality of the diet (saturated fatty acids, sodium and sugar intakes, dietary fiber or healthy diet obtained by principal component badysis) and after a wide range of sensitivity badyzes.
Partial Summary of the Bes-Rastrollo Study:
Results: 335 deaths occurred in 200432 person-years of follow-up. The highest quarter (high consumption) consumption of ultra-processed foods had a higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to the lowest quarter (multivariate adjusted risk ratio of 1.62, range 95% confidence level 1.13 to 2.33) with a significant dose. response relation (P for linear trend = 0.005). For each extra portion of ultra-processed foods, all-cause mortality increased by 18% (adjusted risk ratio of 1.18, 95% confidence interval from 1.05 to 1.33).
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