Eating ultra-processed foods—think sweetened breakfast cereals, chicken nuggets or hotdogs—is associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and CVD mortality, according to new research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
The study’s authors noted that processing is known to alter the health potential of different foods, taking away key nutrients and increasing the intake of additives and other nonbeneficial substances. Consuming ultra-processed foods has already been linked to obesity, hypertension and type 2 diabetes in different studies.
For this latest analysis, the research team tracked data from more than 3,000 adults participating in the ongoing Framingham Offspring Study. All participants were free from CVD at baseline. During follow-up appointments, the team identified 251 cases of hard CVD, 163 cases of hard coronary heart disease (CHD) and 648 cases of overall CVD.
The average study participant consumed 7.5 servings of ultra-processed foods. Each additional serving, the team explained, could increase a person’s risk of hard CVD by 7%, hard CHD by 9%, overall CVD by 5% and CVD mortality by 9%.
“As poor diet is a major modifiable risk factor for heart disease, it represents a critical target in prevention efforts,” lead author Filippa Juul, MS, PhD, a faculty fellow at the New York University School of Public Health, said in a prepared statement. “Our findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting cardiovascular benefits of limiting ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods are ubiquitous and include many foods that are marketed as healthy, such as protein bars, breakfast cereals and most industrially produced breads. Population-wide strategies such as taxation on sugar-sweetened beverages and other ultra-processed foods and recommendations regarding processing levels in national dietary guidelines are needed to reduce the intake of ultra-processed foods.”
Read the full analysis here.
Michael has more than 16 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.