Have you been munching into some greasy fries, chips and pizzas a bit too often lately? It's time you start practicing some moderation. According to a French study, we face a 14 percent higher risk of early death with each 10 percent increase in the amount of ultra-processed food we take in. The study was published in the journal JAMA Internal medicine.
Ultra-processed foods are manufactured in industries and are often teeming with many additives. Ultra-processed foods are mostly consumed in form of snacks, desserts, or ready-to-eat or -heat meals. Their consumption has increased massively in the past few decades. The scientists said that this trend may up the risk of early death due to chronic illnesses, including cancer and cardiovascular disease.
According to the study, in the United alone 61 percent of an adult's total diet comes from ultra processed foods. In Canada, the figure is around 62 percent while in the UK, that proportion is 63 percent.
To examine the relationship between ultra-processed foods and the risk of an earlier-than-expected death, the researchers enlisted the help of 44,551 French adults for two years. Their average age was 57, and nearly 73 percent of the participants were women. All provided 24-hour dietary records every six months in addition to completing questionnaires about their health, physical activities and sociodemographics.
For the study, the researchers calculated each participant's overall dietary intake and consumption of ultra-processed food. The findings said that it accounted for a whopping 14 percent of the weight of total food consumed and about 29 percent of total calories. It was also observed that ultra-processed food consumption was associated with people of younger age, lower income, lower educational level, living alone, higher BMI and lower physical activity level.
Through the course of the study period, as many as 602 participants died. After adjusting for factors such as smoking, the researchers said that there is a 14 percent higher risk of early death for each 10 percent increase in consumption of ultra-processed.
The authors said that there is a high possibility of that the additives, high temperature processing and storage may take a toll on your health. Sometimes even at the stage of packaging, some chemicals may leech into the food making it unfit to consume.
(With inputs ANI)