Eating Ultra-Processed Foods Can Cause Premature, Avoidable Death

 A recent study from Brazil found a strong link between eating foods that have undergone extensive processing and an increased risk of dying young and avoidable deaths.

The results, according to experts, emphasise how important it is to discourage the consumption of processed foods and promote healthier eating habits.
Additionally, they assert that whole foods are safer, healthier, and more nutrient-dense than excessively processed meals.

It is well known that highly processed meals can be unhealthy and play a role in chronic diseases like obesity, diabetes, and hypertension.

An increase in the consumption of UPF was linked to a large rise in all-cause premature, avoidable deaths in Brazil in 2019, according to a recent study that was published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Furthermore, the researchers point out that Brazilians consume a lot less food that has undergone extreme processing than those in other high-income nations like the United States.

According to a study by Eduardo A.F. Nilson, ScD, a researcher at the Center for Epidemiological Research in Nutrition and Health, University of So Paulo, and Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil, ultra-processed food consumption, which accounts for 23.7% of the diet's total energy, is linked to over 10% of premature, avoidable deaths in that country.

According to this, ultra-processed food intake in Brazil is responsible for roughly 57,000 adult fatalities annually.

 He described how the researchers, using data from 2019, utilized statistical analysis to estimate the percentage of overall deaths that may be attributable to eating UPFs and what effect cutting intake of these products by 10, 20, and 50% within those age categories had on mortality.

Over 500,000 persons between the ages of 30 and 69 died prematurely in 2019, and roughly 300,000 of those deaths were brought on by treatable, non-communicable diseases, according to the study's findings.
the need to consume less food that has undergone extreme processing
Nilson remarked that his study is one more piece of evidence supporting the rising body of literature emphasizing the need to limit consumption of ultra-processed foods.


In addition to their "altered food matrix," substances (i.e., food additives), and "neo-contaminants," he stated it's important to take into account their unbalanced nutritional makeup.

According to him, a high intake of ultra-processed meals has been linked to a number of illnesses, including depression, several types of cancer, diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease.

Nilson also cautioned that the negative health effects of ultra-processed foods may be worse in wealthy nations where they are even more prevalent in standard diets.

Nevertheless, Nilson claimed that by reducing consumption of ultra-processed foods by 20% to levels seen a decade ago, approximately 11,000 deaths per year could be avoided.

The anticipated impact of these meals will be considerably larger, according to Nilson, because ultra-processed foods can account for up to 57% of the total energy in a diet in high-income nations like the United States.

All processed meals are they bad for you?

Registered dietician Emily Feivor at Long Island Jewish Forest Hills, a division of Northwell Health in New York, stated that foods that have undergone a lot of processing are nearly entirely made up of chemicals and other compounds.


She made a point of highlighting the fact that these goods frequently lack protein, fibre, and many common micronutrients while being high in calories, sugar, total fat, and saturated fat.

Feivor highlighted, however, that some processed foods, such as cured or smoked meats, cheese, bread, oils, pasta, flour, sugar, and salt, canned fruits and vegetables, seasoned nuts, and so forth, are not always harmful to health.

These can all be included in a healthy diet and are occasionally unavoidable to eat,

Health and diet are related

People who consume fewer processed foods enjoy lower incidence and prevalence of some or all of the potential health issues, according to Dr. Theodore Strange, head of medicine at Staten Island University Hospital in New York


According to him, "Diets that are more natural, less processed have been connected to greater overall health and have demonstrated to have decreased occurrences of ailments including diabetes, hypertension, atherosclerosis, diverticulosis, migraine, and some malignancies, to mention a few.
In addition, Dr. Strange stated that trans fats, processed sugars, and diabetes all have a "direct link" with atherosclerosis, hypertension, and atherosclerotic colon cancer.

"Trans fat diets, high sugar diets, and high salt diets are unhealthy and can be risky over time, increasing the chances of adverse health effects," he stated.


"These meal options are more likely to be healthier and better for you if there is more colour on the plate," the saying goes.

The final word

A new study adds to the body of research that links eating foods that have undergone extreme processing to chronic illness and early death.


Nilson, the study's author, concurred with other nutrition specialists that a healthy, balanced diet should focus on fresh and less processed foods, if feasible, in addition to avoiding foods that have undergone extensive processing.

According to Nilson, "the continuation of the current trends with incremental rises in ultra-processed food consumption would increase premature mortality." He also said that his research shows the necessity for a change in the law on ultra-processed foods.

Expanding nutrition education and enhancing accessibility in food deserts are two potential policies that discourage the consumption of ultra-processed foods and may make healthy food options more widely available and more reasonably priced.