Little time to cook, low economic cost, less energy expenditure for their preparation (they are ready to eat) and hyperpalatable qualities, are the ingredients that have made the highly unrecommended ultra-processed foods displace fresh foods and other healthier meals in many homes. . Ultra-processed foods are industrial formulations with high levels of chemical components, such as sweeteners, colorants and additives, a group of foods that includes everything from soft drinks or packaged snacks; to pastries, biscuits, sugary breakfast cereals, to an immense variety of pre-processed ready-to-eat or heat-up products such as hamburgers, frozen fish sticks, pastas and pizzas.
These ultra-processed foods are harmful to health, as has already been shown by numerous investigations that have linked them to a higher risk of developing cognitive impairment, dementia, inflammatory bowel disease, respiratory problems in children, or frailty in older adults, among other conditions. Now, two new studies confirm the dangers of including this type of low-quality product in the daily diet because their results, which have been published in the British Medical Journal, confirm that their consumption is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease or cancer of the breast. colon, or even die prematurely.
In Spain, the traditional Mediterranean diet, whose health benefits have also been proven by science, is being replaced in many homes by precooked dishes, processed meats, industrial pastries, soft drinks, etc., which have amounts of salt, sugar and fat. that exceed the recommended daily intake and whose nutritional contribution is scarce. In addition, if they are taken frequently, the consumption of other foods rich in fiber, vitamins and minerals, which are more nutritious and healthy, decreases.
32% higher risk of dying from cardiovascular disease
The first of the studies has been carried out by scientists from Tufts University and Harvard (United States) who analyzed the relationship between the intake of ultra-processed products and the risk of colorectal cancer in 46,341 men and 159,907 women, who were followed for 20 years. They found that men who ate more ultra-processed foods had a 29% higher risk of colon cancer than those who ate fewer products of this type. This association was found for distal colon cancer (not proximal or rectal cancer), and the link was strongest with ready-to-eat meat, poultry, or fish-based products and with sweetened milk-based beverages.
Men who ate more ultra-processed foods had a 29% higher risk of colon cancer, an association not found in women
The link between intake of ultra-processed foods and colon cancer was not observed among female participants, although it was found that a high consumption of certain ultra-processed foods, such as ready-to-drink products, was associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer in women. The causes of these differences between men and women have not been established, but it is possible that female estrogens exert a certain protective effect, indicate the authors of the work in the publication, and add that not all ultra-processed estrogens are equally harmful: “For For example, women may have made relatively healthier food choices within the yoghurt- and dairy-based dessert category, and therefore the protective effects (for example, due to higher calcium content) may outweigh the harmful effects (due to higher sugar content)”.
Scientists conducting the second study, based on a large prospective investigation in Italy, examined data from 22,895 Italian adults (48% men), focusing on their diet and other risk factors associated with cardiovascular disease. They found that people who consumed the most ultra-processed foods had a 19% increased risk of dying from any cause and a 32% increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease compared to those who consumed the least amount of these products.
The authors suggest that a significant proportion of the excess risk of mortality associated with a poor diet is explained by a greater degree of food processing. And it is that, the intake of ultra-processed foods remained associated with mortality even after taking into account the poor nutritional quality of the diet.
Mediterranean frugal diet to prevent colorectal cancer
Both studies are observational, so it has not been possible to determine a cause-effect relationship between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and damage to health, but their findings add to those of similar ones found in previous research.
“The results are convincing and supported by good methodology after three decades of follow-up. I know these cohorts well and they are the best quality that exist in nutritional epidemiology. They coincide with the higher mortality that we also observed in Spain in association with ultra-processed foods, including cancer mortality, in an article that we published in the same journal three years ago. They coincide with other studies, such as that of Dora Romaguera, with whom we also collaborate from our group and which they cite here. The results have biological plausibility due to the increased risk of adiposity that is associated with the consumption of ultra-processed foods, due to the carcinogenic effect of certain additives and also due to the pro-inflammatory and pro-oxidant effects of a food pattern rich in ultra-processed products”, explained Miguel Ángel Martínez, Professor of Preventive Medicine at the University of Navarra and one of the researchers who has studied in greater detail the effects of diet on health, in statements to Science Media Center Spain.
“The implications are clear and they are what we have been repeating: return to the traditional Mediterranean diet (that of the 50s and 60s of the last century) which is based on unprocessed or minimally processed foods, natural, of more vegetable than animal origin and which is frugal. We are all concerned about the growth in the incidence of colorectal cancer, especially in young people, and this frugal Mediterranean diet would be a great solution”, proposes this expert.
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