So, like, apparently, ultra-processed foods are taking over the US food supply. I mean, we’re talking about packaged snacks, sugary drinks, processed meats, and sweetened breakfast cereals. According to a recent analysis, these not-so-healthy foods make up over 70% of what Americans are chowing down on.
The study, led by Carlos Augusto Monteiro, a nutrition and public health professor at the University of São Paulo in Brazil, looked at data from the US and seven other countries. They wanted to see how many preventable deaths could be linked to the consumption of ultra-processed foods. Spoiler alert: it’s not looking good.
Monteiro and his team found that for every 10% increase in calories from ultra-processed foods, the risk of premature death goes up by nearly 3%. That’s a pretty scary statistic, if you ask me. The results were published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, so you know it’s legit.
Previous research has already shown that ultra-processed foods are linked to a bunch of health problems, like heart disease, cancer, Type 2 diabetes, and even mental health issues. Yikes. In 2018 alone, around 124,000 premature deaths in the US were due to people munching on these unhealthy goodies. That’s a lot of lives lost, folks.
To put things into perspective, more Americans died from eating ultra-processed foods in 2018 than from fentanyl overdoses in 2022. That’s pretty wild, don’t you think? Eduardo Augusto Fernandes Nilson, the lead researcher of the study, and his team used a computer model to estimate the percentage of early deaths related to ultra-processed food consumption. They looked at data from almost 240,000 people and discovered some pretty alarming trends.
The results varied from country to country, with Colombia seeing a 4% rate of UPF-related early deaths, while the UK and US had rates closer to 14%. Other countries like Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Australia, and Canada fell somewhere in between. Basically, it’s not looking good for anyone who loves their packaged snacks and sugary drinks.
The researchers behind the study are urging governments to take action and include recommendations to reduce ultra-processed food consumption in national dietary guidelines. They believe that cutting back on these not-so-healthy foods could make a big difference in overall public health. But, not everyone is on board with these findings.
Nerys Astbury, a nutrition scientist from the UK’s University of Oxford, pointed out that the study couldn’t definitively say that UPFs caused the deaths. And Sarah Gallo, a senior vice president of a food industry association, wasn’t too happy about the study either. She thinks that demonizing ultra-processed foods could lead to people avoiding other, more nutritious options and ultimately worsen health disparities.
But hey, at the end of the day, we all gotta make our own choices when it comes to what we eat. Whether you’re a die-hard hot dog lover or a kale enthusiast, it’s important to be aware of the potential risks of indulging in too many ultra-processed foods. Who knows, maybe cutting back on those packaged snacks could do wonders for your health. Just something to think about, ya know?
