From obesity and diabetes to cardiovascular disease, cancer and depression, ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have been singled out for their harmful effects on health. A new European study now identifies an increased risk of cancer and cardiometabolic disease, but not for all these foods, since bread and cereals may not be affected.
Research from France’s Inserm found that the consumption of UPFs could be associated with “the recurrence of depressive symptoms”. These findings are supported by research from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School that highlights an increased risk of depression in women, and add to other studies implicating this type of food in the risk of cancer and cardiometabolic diseases such as diabetes.
These industrially processed convenience foods, which contain additives or additional ingredients, are now the subject of a new large-scale study in Europe by researchers at the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a specialist agency of the World Health Organization, in collaboration with the University of Vienna.
To conduct their research, the scientists drew on data involving no fewer than 266,666 participants in seven European countries who were free of cancer, cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes at the time of recruitment. Of them, 60% were women.
The authors assessed the participants’ food and beverage consumption over the previous 12 months via a questionnaire, classified items according to their degree of processing, and then analysed the risk of comorbidity – the simultaneous manifestation of two or more chronic diseases in an individual – involving cancer and cardiometabolic diseases.
Published in The Lancet Regional Health Europe, the study reports that 4,461 people, 39% of them women, developed comorbidities involving cancer and cardiometabolic disease after a median follow-up of 11.2 years.
The study notes that this risk is especially high for animal products and artificially sweetened drinks. Surprisingly, plant-based meat alternatives and ultra-processed breads and cereals are not associated with this increased risk, according to the researchers.
“Our study emphasises that it is not necessary to completely avoid UPFs; rather, their consumption should be limited, and preference be given to fresh or minimally processed foods,” said Heinz Freisling, co-author of the paper and IARC expert, speaking to the Guardian.
The British media outlet also interviewed nutrition researcher Dr Ian Johnson, who said: “These observations do suggest a role for some UPFs in the onset of multiple chronic diseases. But they also show that the common assumption that all UPFs are linked to adverse health events is probably wrong.”
“The findings of this study can inform preventive strategies for reducing the risk of comorbidities from cancer and cardiometabolic diseases through dietary recommendations, health policies, and other interventions,” the IARC experts thus concluded.
Notably, comorbidities are on the rise in many parts of the world.