Following on from my last two posts, there have been recent developments in research into the effect of UPFs on health, this paper by Lane et al [1] was published in February 2024 and is considered important as it uses a meta-analysis to carry out it’s analysis, this combines the results of multiple studies all aiming to answer the same research question and is considered the strongest form of scientific evidence. A summary of the research:
- The study used NOVA as it’s classification system.
- 45 studies were included which in total assessed a population of 9888373.
- Multiple health outcomes assessed included mortality, cancer, mental health, respiratory health, cardiovascular health, gastrointestinal health, metabolic health.
- 71% of adverse health outcomes were associated with greater exposure to UPFs including both dose and non-dose related.
- 9% of evidence was considered ‘Convincing’ this included cardiovascular disease, mental health disorders and type II diabetes.
- 16% of evidence was considered ‘Highly Suggestive’ and included all cause mortality, adverse sleep related, wheezing, obesity, and type II diabetes.
- Possible mechanisms suggested are poor nutrient content of UPFs, displacement of non-UPFs from diet, alteration of the food matrix of UPFs due to intensive industrial processing, chemicals arising from industrial processing contaminating the UPFs e.g. acrylamide, trans fatty acids and microplastics from packaging.
- The evidence shows that irrespective of the nutrient profile of the UPFs, overall consumption is consistently linked with increased risk of chronic disease.
This and other research indicate that reducing overall consumption of UPFs which current figures estimate make up 57% of UK diet would be beneficial for overall health [2, 3]. This requires careful consideration as some UPFs can be an important source of nutrients [4] for example wholemeal bread, low sugar fruit yogurts, reduced sugar and salt baked beans, low sugar wholegrain breakfast cereals, unsaturated fat spreads. One important way to assess which UPFs to reduce is to check the ingredients of the food item and if it contains many items that would not be found in the average household store cupboard then it should probably be avoided for example emulsifiers, colourants, and nitrates/nitrites, examples of some of these UPFs are shown below.
References
1. Lane, M.M., et al., Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. Bmj, 2024. 384: p. e077310.
2. Pagliai, G., et al., Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health status: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Nutr, 2021. 125(3): p. 308-318.
3. Srour, B., et al., Ultra-processed foods and human health: from epidemiological evidence to mechanistic insights. Lancet Gastroenterol Hepatol, 2022. 7(12): p. 1128-1140.
4. Marino, M., et al., A Systematic Review of Worldwide Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods: Findings and Criticisms. Nutrients, 2021. 13(8).
MLT Nutrition 