Study finds some foods are linked to higher mortality rate

The food is full of chemicals and has always been. After all, everything is chemical. But modern "ultra-processed" foods are still something else – and new research suggests that they could be more harmful than we suspect.

A new large-scale study conducted by French scientists examining the dietary intake of more than 44,000 French French found that the consumption of ultra-processed foods (including mbad snacks, sugary drinks and cooked meals) was badociated with a higher mortality risk.

"Ultra-processed foods are food products containing many ingredients and manufactured in a variety of industrial processes," say researchers, led by nutritional epidemiologist Laure Schnabel of the Sorbonne University.

"These food products are generally ready to heat and eat, at affordable prices and hyper-palpable."

Although they are practical and tasty, the consumption of ultra-processed foods – also including highly processed bread, confectionery and processed meats – is known to be problematic because it was already badociated with a risk higher obesity, hypertension and cancer.

Until now, however, nobody had separately evaluated whether consuming ultra-processed foods also increased your risk of dying.

In the cohort studied, however, he did it.

Over a period of more than seven years, a 10% increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods was badociated with a higher risk of all-cause mortality.

The research team is eager to point out that the study is only observation, so it is impossible to demonstrate a causative effect. But the fact that a statistically significant badociation has been found is a subject for reflection.

"We should not be alarmist, nor say that eating a packaged meal increases the chances of dying by 15%," said AFP Mathilde Touvier, co-investigator of the NutriNet-Health cohort studied.

"This is another step in our understanding of the link between ultra-processed foods and health."

What is certain is that ultra-processed foods contain many things that are not found in whole foods: all sorts of additives, including preservatives, sweeteners, power enhancers, dyes, flavors, etc.

They also contain a lot of energy – as part of the study, they account for 14.4% of the total weight of food and beverages consumed, but 29.1% of the total energy intake.

According to epidemiologist Nita Forouhi of the University of Cambridge, epidemiologists who were not part of the study also consume more ultra-processed foods.

"A key message to remember is that the consumption of highly processed foods reflects social inequalities," Forouhi said.

"Such foods are attractive because they tend to be cheaper, they are very palatable because of their high sugar, salt and saturated fat content, are widely available, highly marketed, ready to eat, and their expiry date is long, they last longer. "

In the current state of affairs, despite the size and duration of this research, much remains to be done to fully understand why and how ultra-processed foods might be bad for us.

It's a job that's made much more difficult because of the multitude of food products we're talking about – not to mention the multitude of ingredients (artificial or otherwise) that ultra-processed foods contain.

"Some factors may be more harmful or less harmful than others." It's really too complex, "said CNN nutrition scientist, Nurgul Fitzgerald of Rutgers University, not involved in the research.

But if you're particularly concerned about ultra-processed foods, what they contain and what they could do to you, perhaps the best approach is to get back to basics the next time you go to the supermarket.

"Look at the list of ingredients – do you understand all the ingredients that go into your food?" Fitzgerald said. "[Buy those] with the fewest ingredients and ingredients you understand. "

The results are reported in JAMA Internal Medicine.