The consumption of large quantities of cakes, cookies, prepared dishes or similar foods could increase the risk of premature death, according to an analysis of research carried out in eight countries.
Dr. Eduardo Nilson’s team from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation in Brazil (Fiocruz) analyzed data on ultra-transformed foods (UPF) from Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The study published Monday in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine includes experts calling for governments to issue food recommendations aimed at reducing FUP consumption.
In Brazil, half of the adults are overweight and one in four is clinically obese, according to 2022 data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Fiocruz has led the country’s work of the country’s work on the fight against this growing health crisis.
The study revealed that premature deaths attributable to FUP ranged from 4 % of premature deaths in low-consumption countries, such as Colombia, to 14 % of premature deaths in the United Kingdom and the United States, according to their mathematical modeling.
They calculated this based on the fact that the FUP represented 53 % of the energy intake of adults in the United Kingdom, the second highest rate of the study after the United States.
The researchers suggested that in 2018-19, some 17,781 premature deaths in the United Kingdom could have been linked to the FUP, according to their model.
“The figures accumulate. I do not think that the increase in the risk of mortality linked to the FUP is very surprising, “said Dr. Megan Rossi, research manager in the Nutrition Department of King’s University in London.
“We have known for a very long time that certain foods – which contain phytochemical substances and fibers – protect our cells from oxidation and inflammation. These foods are essential and super-protection against diseases, and we know that if we delete them, we lose this protection, “she told BBC.
She explains that the negative impact is twofold: if you fill up on UPF, you do not consume all antioxidant foods like fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, the UPFs being “predicted”, the transformation made them so appetizing that they do not satisfy you very long, which means that you eat more and more.
The diagram
If scientists agree that sun protection factors are bad for health, the difficulty is to be 100 %sure.
Many studies have highlighted a link between the sun protection index and poor health, but they cannot prove that one is at the origin of the other, because there is not yet final evidence.
It is true, however, that researchers have found coherent correlations between the sun protection index and many health problems.
-A study on nearly 10 million people consuming UPF, published last year in the British Medical Journal, revealed that these people presented a higher risk of death due to cardiovascular disease, obesity, type 2 diabetes, anxiety and depression.
However, even with this study, it is difficult to determine whether it is the transformation of foods which is at the origin of diseases, or simply the fact that most of them are rich in fat, sugar and salt. These elements are a known cause for weight gain and certain cancers.
However, several scientists specializing in nutrition report the limits of research by Dr. Nilson.
Stephen Burgess, statistician at the MRC biostatistic unit at the University of Cambridge, said that the study was based on observation and that it could not prove the existence of a cause.
“This type of research cannot prove that the consumption of ultra-transformed food is harmful, but it provides evidence linking consumption to less good health results,” he said.
“It is possible that the real causal risk factor is not ultra-transformed foods, but a related risk factor such as better physical condition, and that ultra-transformed foods are only an innocent spectator. »»
“But when we see that these associations are repeated in many countries and cultures, we suspect that ultra-transformed foods could be more than a simple spectator. »»
How do you know if you consume an ultra-transformed food?
Food production has evolved dramatically over the past 50 years.
UPFs are defined by the number of industrial processes to which they have been subjected and by the number of ingredients – often unpronounceable – appearing on their packaging. Most are rich in fat, sugar or salt; Many of them are described as “fast food”.
The lowest category of this ranking is that of foods such as fruits and vegetables, which are not at all processed – while processed foods have been modified to make them last longer or give them better taste, generally using salt, oil, sugar or fermentation.
The ice creams, transformed meats, crisps, bread made of mass, certain breakfast cereals, cookies and carbonated drinks are all examples of FUP.
We consume too much of these products because many of them are designed to have a lot of taste, are inexpensive, practical and are the subject of intensive advertising, especially with children.
One of the reasons for this phenomenon is that people who consume the most ultra-transformed foods are also more likely to have other harmful behaviors for health, such as smoking and doing less exercise, underlines Dr. Rossi.
The alert signs are as follows:
- ingredients that you cannot pronounce
- more than five ingredients listed on the packaging
- All that your grandmother would not recognize as food
Some ingredients may point out that a food or a drink is ultra-transformed:
- thickening like modified starchs
- gums (xanthane gum, gum guar)
- emulsifiers (like soy lecithin and carraghenine)
- sugar substitutes (such as aspartame and stevia)
- synthetic food colors that do not come from plants
- Artificial aromas and other ingredients that you will not find in the cupboards of your kitchen, or even in the supermarket.
Related news :