London, Thanasis Gavos

They can be harmful to the human body in multiple ways so-called ultra-processed foodsconfirms the largest research that has been done worldwide on this particular way of eating.

As published in British Medical Review by the researchers from the universities of the USA (Johns Hopkins), Australia (Sydney) and France (Sorbonne), “overall a direct link was found between exposure to highly processed foods and 32 health parameters, covering mortality, cancer and conditions of mental, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal and metabolic health”.

In the category of over-processed products for human consumption include packaged sweets, such as cakes and cookies, snacks such as crisps, carbonated soft drinks, cereals containing sugar, packaged bread, ready meals, etc.

All this undergoes multiple industrial processes and often they contain artificial colors, emulsifiers and other additives. They tend to be high in sugar, fat and salt, while being low in vitamins and fibre.

There have been individual studies of these foods in the past, but the new study is the first “umbrella study” to be done based on the findings of 45 scientific analyzes from 14 articles published over the past three years. These analyzes concerned the study of the effects of the consumption of such foods in a total of 9.9 million people.

As the analysis “convincingly” shows, high consumption of ultra-processed foods increases the risk of death from cardiovascular disease by 50%, such as heart attack or stroke, by 48-53% the likelihood of anxiety and other common mental illnesses and by 12% the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The researchers also found “high evidence” of linking eating these foods with an increased risk of death from any cause of 21 percent. More specifically, increased by 40-66% is the possibility of death from heart disease, from obesity, from type 2 diabetes, but also from sleep disorders. A 22% increased risk of depression was also found.

Evidence has also emerged linking such a diet to respiratory problems such as asthma, gastrointestinal problems, certain cancers (mainly prostate, breast and colon) and cardiometabolic abnormalities such as low levels of good cholesterol and high levels of blood lipids.

The researchers’ conclusion-recommendation is that “a rationale emerges in favor of developing and evaluating the effectiveness of public health measures to target and reduce dietary exposure to highly processed foods for improved human health.”

Indicatively, it is stated that a state treatment of these foods similar to the treatment of cigarettes should be considered, with corresponding warnings about the risks they hide for health. Also, to prohibit their sale near schools and hospitals.

In the UK the problem is extremely large, as it is estimated that highly processed foods make up 57% of the average citizen’s diet.