Eating ultraprocessed foods can lead to 32 dangerous health conditions, study finds

Eating a lot of so-called ultraprocessed foods may raise the risk for a multitude of illnesses, including heart disease, cancer and diabetes as well as for premature death, a new study suggests.

The impact of ultraprocessed foods on health has been studied many times before, but this new research is the first comprehensive review to assess more broadly the quality of existing evidence on the topic, according to a press release.

The researchers, based in Australia, found a link between high consumption of ultraprocessed foods and 32 negative health outcomes, which also include respiratory, gastrointestinal, metabolic and mental health issues.

They hope the findings will prompt more research into how these foods impact health, the study’s first author, Melissa Lane, Ph.D., a postdoctoral research fellow at Deakin University, Barwon Health in Geelong, Australia, tells TODAY.com.

What are ultraprocessed foods?

Typically, ultraprocessed foods are ready to eat or pop into a microwave — such as frozen entrees, soft drinks, sugary cereals, reconstituted meats and packaged baked goods — and usually contain high levels of fat, added sugars and salt.

Because the original food has been highly processed (another term for this type of food), ultraprocessed foods comprise only extractions of whole foods and are low in fiber and vitamins. They're also often higher in calories but keep you full for less time.

What is known about ultraprocessed foods is “they’re often packed with things like salt, fat and sugar, which, in excess, are not great for us,” Lane says via email. “But there is emerging research suggesting that other aspects of ultraprocessed foods, like how they are made and the industrial ingredients they contain, might also be contributing to health problems.”

The design of these foods is “all about making them taste good and stay fresh for a long time, which makes them very tempting to buy,” Lane explains. “They are everywhere because they are convenient, cheap and heavily advertised.”

In the U.S., ultraprocessed foods account for 58% of the average person’s diet, according to the researchers.

Ultraprocessed foods are different from just processed foods, which can still have high nutritional value. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines processed food as any food that has its original state changed before reaching consumers, including freezing, dicing or juicing. Baby carrots and canned beans are examples.

What the study found about ultraprocessed food and health

The new study, published Feb. 28 in the BMJ, combined information from 45 previous analyses published within the past three years, which gave the researchers a very large pool of participants — 9,888,373 to be exact.

Lane and her colleagues found some scary associations between ultraprocessed foods and serious illnesses. Overall, high consumption of ultraprocessed foods was found to have a direct association with an increased risk of 32 health conditions.

The researchers came to this conclusion by grading the quality of the evidence from the previous research. The highest tier was dubbed "convincing evidence" and the second-highest was "highly suggestive," followed by suggestive, weak or no evidence.

The convincing evidence found that eating more ultraprocessed food was associated with:

• 50% increased risk of cardiovascular disease-related death

• 48%-53% increased risk of anxiety and other common mental health disorders

• 12% greater risk of Type 2 diabetes

Evidence that fell into the "highly suggestive" camp came to similar conclusions:

• 21% greater risk of premature death due to any cause

• 40-66% increased risk of heart disease-related death, obesity, Type 2 diabetes and sleep problems

• 22% increased risk for depression

"Overall, the authors found that diets high in ultra-processed food may be harmful to most — perhaps all — body systems," an editorial about the research explained.

The researchers noted that because the study is a high-level overview, it is possible that other factors besides ultraprocessed food consumption could have influenced the results.

Eating fewer ultraprocessed foods

The new study underscores the importance of avoiding processed foods as much as possible, Dr. Paul Leis, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai West in New York, tells TODAY.com. “The more natural the food is, the better it is for you,” says Leis, who was not involved in the new research. “The focus should be on decreasing processed food consumption and eating more natural foods.”

A good rule of thumb, Leis says, is “if there is an ingredient on the label that you can’t pronounce, it’s probably something you should not be eating.”

While there have been numerous studies showing that ultraprocessed foods can cause harm, the size of this study adds strength to the findings, says Dr. Jeffrey Berger, director of the Center for Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at NYU Langone Health in New York.

“This study reinforces the very important concept that we need to be serious about what we eat,” adds Berger, who was not involved in the new research. “Most of these foods have so many ingredients it’s hard to keep up with what’s healthy or not. What’s amazing, in my opinion, is this is a problem we can do something about,” by simply changing our eating habits.

Unfortunately, for some people that’s not so easy to do, Berger says. Ultraprocessed foods are often less expensive than other options, and people with lower incomes may find it hard to afford healthier, more expensive choices. What's more, producing ultraprocessed foods is highly profitable for manufacturers.

That's why the researchers and writers of the editorial are calling on policy makers to: stress the important of whole and minimally processed foods in dietary guidelines, make ultraprocessed foods easily identifiable to consumers, restrict advertising and sales near schools and hospitals, and take steps to make healthier foods less costly.

If it's unrealistic for you to avoid processed foods all together, then a good goal is to have 85% of your diet come from nutrient-dense foods, registered dietitian Kristin Kirpatrick previously told TODAY.com.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com