Skip to content

,

  • A study found that people who eat a lot of processed foods have a higher risk of developing cancer.
  • Every 10% increase in ultra-processed foods in the diet is associated with a 2% higher risk of cancer.
  • Highly processed foods include packaged snacks, meat products, and ready meals.

A study has shown that people who eat a lot of processed foods have a higher risk of developing cancer.

The study spanned 10 years and involved nearly 200,000 participants in the UK, with an average age of 58. Researchers assessed how much UPF they ate to develop 34 types of cancer.

In the study, UPFs included products such as soft drinks, mass-produced industrial breads, sweet or savory packaged snacks, breakfast cereals, reconstituted meat products and prepared foods.

According to the British Heart Foundation charity, ultra-processed foods “typically have five or more ingredients and contain industrial ingredients such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners and artificial colors and flavours.”

This is the latest research that shows that UPF, which makes up a large part of the human diet, including in the US and UK, increases the risk of certain diseases.

Last year, a US study found that men who ate high amounts of UPF had a 29 percent higher risk of developing stomach cancer.

Researchers in the United Kingdom have found that middle-aged adults who eat more UPF are more likely to develop cancer overall, as well as certain types of cancer, such as brain cancer and ovarian cancer.

Every 10% of ultra-processed foods in the participants’ diets was associated with a 2% higher risk of cancer, rising to 19% for ovarian cancer, the researchers said.

The higher a person’s risk of dying from cancer, the more UPFs they have. Each 10% increase was associated with a 6% higher risk of death, a 16% higher risk for breast cancer, and a 30% higher risk for ovarian cancer.

“The average person in the UK gets more than half of their daily energy intake from highly processed foods,” Dr Kiara Chang, author of the study, published in the journal Clinical Medicine, said in a press release.

“Ultra-processed foods are everywhere and are marketed at high prices with cheap prices and attractive packaging.

One expert said more research is needed on UPF and cancer.

Tom Saunders, professor of nutrition and dietetics at King’s College London, UK, who was not involved in the study, said there were many statistically significant differences between those who ate the most and those with the least UPF, including smoking and being overweight. It made it “statistically impossible” to count them in the study.

This type of study “may be useful in picking up some new risk factors for further investigation. But the definition of highly processed foods is so vague that it makes any cause-and-effect relationship problematic.”

Dr Simon Stenson, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, who was not involved in the study, said: “High levels of UPFs in the diet can be an indicator of a poor diet overall.”

Poor diets are often “high in energy, fat, salt and free sugar, and low in fruit, vegetables, fiber and essential nutrients – dietary factors that have a negative impact on health”.

He continued: “An issue with the concept of UPFs is that this category can include foods that provide nutrients, such as packaged wholegrain bread, fiber and essential vitamins and minerals, or high-fibre, low-sugar breakfast cereals.” “

These types of foods “provide affordable and widely available options that can form the basis of nutritious meals as an essential part of a healthy, balanced diet,” he said.

[ad_2]

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *