Ultra-processed foods increase risk of cancer cases and deaths

by

New research concludes that consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with increased risks of developing cancer, especially ovarian cancer. The chances of dying from the disease also increase when there is a history of excessive consumption of this type of product.

Examples of these foods are soft drinks, dairy drinks, margarines, packaged snacks and packaged breads.

To reach these conclusions, the study, published in the journal eClinicalMedicine, used data from 197,000 people compiled at the UK Biobank, a bank that gathers health information from the UK population. Each of the participants had reports of meals made on five different days between the years 2009 and 2012.

The participants’ diet was segmented into four types: no intake or very little consumption of processed foods; use of processed ingredients such as olive oil and butter; consumption of processed foods (such as canned vegetables, cheeses and homemade breads); and food based mainly on ultra-processed foods. The latter accounted for about 23% of daily calorie intake among all participants.

The researchers followed all the study participants for about ten years, in order to observe which of them developed some type of tumor –in total, there were 15,921– and to compare the appearance of the disease with the observed dietary pattern.

In general, the research concluded that the increase of 10% of the daily intake of ultra-processed foods in a person’s diet already entailed a greater chance of risk of any cancer by about 2%. For some types of tumors, however, this percentage was higher.

Ovarian cancer is the main one: for every 10% increase in the intake of ultra-processed foods, the risk of developing cancer increases by 19%. Then comes thyroid cancer, with an increase of 11%.

Groups at the two extremes of eating habits were compared: those who ate low levels of ultra-processed foods, in which intake was restricted to around 10%; and the group formed by participants who abused this type of food and had more than 40% of their daily diet based on them.

In that comparison, some types of tumors posed a high risk for those with meals filled with unhealthy foods. One of them is the brain: ultra-processed foods represented a 52% increase in tumor appearance.

Mortality

It wasn’t just the development of associated cancer that the researchers investigated. They also sought to understand the impact of this type of food on the chance of dying from a tumor.

In this case, the analysis had similar results to those on the onset of the disease. For every 10% increase in ultra-processed food intake, cancer mortality rose by about 6%. In the case of ovarian cancer, this percentage was around 30%.

All research findings corroborate with other perceptions about the relationship between type of diet and cancer. The authors mention that one of the ways to prevent tumors is to adopt a more balanced diet, with low levels of intake of ultra-processed foods. This type of food is usually low in nutrients, in addition to being high in fats, sodium and sugars.

Another point is that these foods are known to potentially increase the risk of becoming overweight, which is also related to the appearance of cancer. In the study, the authors explain that obesity is associated with tumors in the digestive tract and, at best, with some related to hormones.

You May Also Like

Recommended for you