Navigation
Association of ultra-processed food consumption with all cause and cause specific mortality: population based cohort study
Fang et al. (2024) aimed to investigate how consuming highly processed foods relates to overall mortality and specific causes of death. 39,501 men and 74,563 women who had never had diabetes, cardiovascular disease, or cancer before were included in the research, derived from the 1986-2018 cohorts of the Health Professionals Follow-up Study and the Nurses’ Health Study. Using dietary data collected every four years via a food frequency questionnaire, the study assessed the link between consuming ultra-processed foods and mortality from various causes, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and other causes like respiratory and neurodegenerative issues. Over a median follow-up period of 34 years for women and 31 years for men, there were 30,188 women and 18,005 men deaths recorded. Compared to those consuming the least ultra-processed foods, participants with the highest consumption had a slightly higher overall mortality rate and a notably higher mortality rate from non-cancer or cardiovascular causes. Specifically, participants in the highest consumption group had a 4% higher overall mortality rate. Certain ultra-processed foods, such as meat/poultry/seafood-based ready-to-eat products, showed consistent and strong associations with mortality. Moreover, dairy-based desserts, highly processed breakfast items, and beverages with added sugar or artificial sweeteners have all been connected to higher overall death rates. Surprisingly, when the quality of the diet as a whole was taken into account, there were no consistent correlations found between ultra-processed items and mortality. However, better dietary quality was inversely associated with mortality regardless of the level of ultra-processed food consumption. In summary, the authors found that consuming more ultra-processed foods was linked to a somewhat greater risk of death overall, especially from causes other than cardiovascular and cancer disorders. The associations varied depending on the type of ultra-processed foods consumed, with ready-to-eat meat/poultry/seafood products showing the strongest links to mortality. [NPID: Processed foods, mortality, cardiovascular diseases, cancer, dietary data, food frequency questionnaire, health professionals, nurses, cohort study]
Year: 2024
