We already know that Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) make up at least 75 percent of the products on our grocery store shelves. But now, researchers have quantified the risk we face from consuming UPFs. And the numbers are alarming!
“Ultra-processed foods are everywhere in the American diet, and researchers are finding alarming consequences.” So begins an abstract of the latest study on the risk factors involved in consuming UPFs…
Yes, ‘alarming’!
Scientists are usually loath to employ terms such as ‘alarming’. But in this case, they are not holding back. A new study by researchers at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has finally placed a number on the risk factors UPFs hold for heart disease and strokes.
What they did
The study looked at the long-term health records of 4,787 US adults aged 18 and older, collected be-tween 2021 and 2023. Researchers focused on self-reported dietary records and whether participants had suffered heart disease or stroke.
The subjects were divided into 4 groups based on their UPF consumption, ranging from lowest to highest.
What they found
The team found an elevated risk of heart disease and stroke in folks who regularly consumed UPFs.
In fact, “those with the highest intake of UPFs suffer a statistically significant and clinically important 47 percent higher risk of cardiovascular disease,” said study report Senior Author Dr Charles Henne-kens of the FAU Schmidt College of Medicine.
The takeaway
“These results have major implications for future research as well as clinical care and public policy,” Hennekens asserts.
“Addressing UPFs isn’t just about individual choices – it’s about creating environments where the healthy option is the easy option,” he explains. “Clinical guidance and public health education are necessary to make nutritious foods accessible and affordable for everyone.”
My take
It’s one thing to say UPFs increase your risk of heart disease and stroke. But it’s quite another to put a number on that risk – and a frighteningly high number at that!
It should be enough to make folks sit up and take notice -and, hopefully, reduce their intake of UPFs.
And one hopes it’s also enough to get governments to get off their duffs and take meaningful action against the manufacturing, advertising and sale of UPFs…
~ Maggie J.