Chips, candy or even soft drinks… The more these foods are consumed, the greater the risk of mortality. This is what is reported by a study just published in The Lancet, carried out in nine European countries and which focuses on the association between processed foods and mortality.
A total of 428,728 participants (71.7% women) were included in the analysis and 40,016 deaths were documented after 15.9 years of follow-up. Various information was collected about them, particularly through questionnaires about their eating habits and frequencies.
Using a classification system called Nova, the researchers were able to classify each food into four groups: minimally or unprocessed foods, processed culinary ingredients, processed foods, and ultra-processed foods. Factors such as the percentage contribution of each food group to the total energy intake of each participant were also considered.
Significantly increased risk of mortality related to Parkinson’s disease
The conclusions of the study are unequivocal: higher consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with higher mortality from diseases related to the circulatory system, digestive diseases and even Parkinson’s disease.
“We report strong associations between consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods and all-cause and cause-specific mortality, including previously unevaluated mortality outcomes such as Parkinson’s disease,” the study authors write.
For each increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods compared to the average, the researchers observed that the risk of mortality related to circulatory diseases increased by 9%, while the risk of mortality related to digestive diseases increased by 12%. The risk is even higher in the case of deaths from Parkinson’s disease, increasing by 23%.
However, note that the study did not find a significant association between ultra-processed food consumption and mortality from cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. A previous study published in early 2023 in the journal eClinicalMedicine noted that the regular presence of ultra-processed products in a person’s diet increases the risk of developing cancer.
Reducing the consumption of these foods reduces the risk of mortality
These new results support other, increasingly numerous, studies showing that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods and lower consumption of unprocessed foods can have a negative impact on health.
Additionally, this study found that replacing 10% of processed and ultra-processed foods with an equal amount of minimally processed or unprocessed foods appears to be associated with a lower risk of mortality.
More precisely, these substitutions reduce the risk of mortality related to respiratory and digestive diseases with reductions of 6 to 9% depending on the food replaced.
“Promoting the consumption of unprocessed or minimally processed foods while discouraging highly processed foods in dietary recommendations may be beneficial for public health,” the study authors finally write.
Source: BFM TV
