Ultra-Processed Foods Linked to Higher Risk of Premature Death

Fact checked by Nick BlackmerFact checked by Nick Blackmer

• A new study found that people who ate high amounts of ultra-processed foods had 4% higher risk of all-cause mortality and a 9% higher risk of death from causes other than cancer and heart disease.

• Ultra-processed foods go through multiple steps of processing, typically including added sugars, fats, and flavorings.

• Processed meats and sugar-sweetened beverages were most closely linked with increased risk of premature death.

Most people know that foods such as chips, candy, or hot dogs aren’t the best for our health—but new research suggests a diet high in ultra-processed foods might actually put a person at higher risk of premature death.

A new study—published in The BMJ on May 8—revealed that a higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with a slightly elevated risk of all-cause mortality, driven especially by causes other than cancer and heart disease.

The research adds to what we already know about highly processed foods, said Valerie Sullivan, PhD, MHS, RD, assistant scientist in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health.

“There is a growing body of literature linking ultra-processed foods to numerous chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease, among others,” she told Health.

These associations led researchers to dig deeper into ultra-processed foods’ impact on overall mortality over an extended period.

“There has been great interest from both the public and scientific community in understanding the health impact of ultra-processed foods, which now account for over 60% of daily calories in Americans,” study author Mingyang Song, ScD, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard University T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told Health.

Here’s what experts had to say about the new research and how ultra-processed foods affect diet, health, and life expectancy.

What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?

Before diving into the study’s results, it’s helpful to clarify what “ultra-processed” foods actually are. This term is relatively new and can be confusing, Alyssa Pike, RD, senior manager of nutrition communications at the International Food Information Council (IFIC), told Health. She noted that a recent IFIC survey found 70% of Americans do not fully understand what a processed food is.

For the purposes of the BMJ study, researchers used a classification system called NOVA, which separates foods into categories based on their culinary usage and degree of processing. But in the world of everyday eating, these clinical definitions aren’t always the most useful.

In general, ultra-processed foods are high in fat, sugar, and salt, have a long shelf-life, and are “quasi-addictive,” according to one 2019 review. Something that is ultra-processed will also likely have substances not usually found in traditional food prep, including added flavors, sweeteners, colors, emulsifiers, and more.

“Given the complexity [of] how ultra-processed foods are defined, it might be helpful for consumers to conceptualize ultra-processed foods as foods you could not easily recreate in a home kitchen,” said Sullivan.

These might include packaged candies or pastries, artificially-colored drinks, deli meats, frozen meals, and flavored chips.

Related: Most Americans Don't Know What 'Ultra-Processed' Foods Are

The Link Between Ultra-Processed Foods and Mortality

With how common ultra-processed foods have become in American diets, there has been a fair amount of research looking into how they impact health. However, prior studies looking at the connection between ultra-processed foods and risk of death “are limited by small sample size, short duration, and lack of repeated dietary assessment over a long period of time,” Song explained.

To look at the broader picture, Song and his colleagues used data spanning 30 years taken from two large cohort studies: the Nurses’ Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study. Combined, these studies evaluated the diets of over 172,000 subjects, all of whom answered food frequency questionnaires every four years starting in the mid-1980s.

The researchers divided the types of ultra-processed foods people ate into nine categories, which included breads and breakfast foods, packaged sweet snacks and desserts, and ready-to-eat meat, poultry, and seafood products.

Song and his team found participants who ate the most ultra-processed foods (about seven servings per day on average) had a 4% increased risk of death from any cause. They also had a 9% increased risk of death from causes other than cancer and cardiovascular disease, including an 8% increased risk of death from neurodegenerative diseases.

However, not all nine categories of ultra-processed foods had the same effects, Song noted.

“Certain subgroups of ultra-processed foods showed a much stronger association with mortality—[for example], processed meat and sugar-sweetened beverages—indicating the significance of reducing the consumption of these foods,” he explained.

The fact that certain ultra-processed foods may be able to shorten lifespan more than others is not necessarily surprising, Sullivan added.

“Processed meat intake has consistently been associated with higher risk of diseases, including heart disease and cancer,” she said. And a large 2019 study associated sugar-sweetened beverages with greater mortality, in large part due to cardiovascular disease.

On the other end of the spectrum, however, Pike said there are other ultra-processed foods that have much milder effects on health.

“Some processed foods that would be considered ultra-processed according to NOVA—like whole grain bread or yogurt with fruit added—are perfectly acceptable options and should not be discouraged,” she said.

Related: Diet and Sugary Drinks Linked to Higher Atrial Fibrillation Risk, Study Shows

Limiting Ultra-Processed Foods for Longevity

Though research indicates some ultra-processed foods could harm our health, these foods take up a significant portion of the American diet—it may not be realistic to purge everything packaged and processed from your pantry and fridge.

“Eliminating all ultra-processed foods from the diet would be a radical dietary change that may be difficult to sustain in our current food environment,” said Sullivan.

Rather than strictly curtailing your diet (which can lead to feelings of restriction and fear), it may be more helpful to think about what you can add instead.

“Researchers and health professionals agree that adding foods such as fruits, vegetables, dairy, whole grains, healthy fats, nuts and seeds, lean proteins, beans, and legumes can improve our health and potentially offset the effects of eating some of the foods associated with an increased risk of certain diseases,” Pike said.

The results of the BMJ study seem to be in line with this idea, she added.

“Improved diet quality (in other words, eating a healthier diet) mitigated some of the ultra-processed food concerns,” said Pike.

Of course, while you’re at it, you can also scale back on those ultra-processed foods identified as top contributors to mortality.

“My top two ultra-processed foods to avoid would be processed meats (bacon, sausage, most deli meats),” Sullivan said, “and sugar-sweetened beverages [such as] soda, fruit drinks, sweetened teas, and lemonades.”

Related: A Guide to an Unprocessed Foods Diet

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