The Optimal DX Research Blog

The Ultra-Adverse Consequences of Ultra-Processed Food

Written by ODX Research | Jan 13, 2025 1:40:11 AM

Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with increased risks of adverse health outcomes, including higher mortality rates, cardiometabolic problems, and mental health disorders like anxiety and depression.

These negative effects stem from poor nutritional quality and the harmful physical and chemical changes caused by industrial processing methods and additives.

Ultra-processed foods encompass a broad range of ready-to-eat products, including

  • Packaged snacks
  • Carbonated soft drinks
  • Instant noodles
  • Ready-made meals

These products are characterized as industrial formulations primarily composed of:

  • Chemically-modified substances extracted from foods
  • Additives to enhance taste, texture, appearance, and durability
  • Minimal to no inclusion of whole foods

The shift from unprocessed and minimally processed foods to ultra-processed foods and their subsequent increasing contribution to global dietary patterns in recent years have been attributed to key drivers, including:

  • Behavioral mechanisms
  • Food environments
  • Commercial influences on food choices

Key characteristics of ultra-processed foods include:

  • Alterations to food matrices and textures
  • Potential contaminants from packaging material and processing
  • Presence of food additives and other industrial ingredients
  • Nutrient-poor profiles, including higher energy, salt, sugar, and saturated fat with lower levels of dietary fiber, micronutrients, and vitamins

These properties may pose synergistic or compounded consequences for chronic inflammatory diseases and may act through known or plausible physiological mechanisms, including changes to the gut microbiome and increased inflammation.

A 2025 umbrella review of 45 distinct pooled analyses, encompassing a total population of 9,888 373 participants and spanning seven health parameters related to mortality, cancer, and mental, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and metabolic health outcomes regarding ultra-processed food exposure confirms the following:

Overall, direct associations were found between exposure to ultra-processed foods and 32 health parameters spanning mortality, cancer, and mental, respiratory, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, and metabolic health outcomes.

Credibility and GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluation) ratings for associations between greater exposure to ultra-processed foods and risks of each adverse health outcome

 Convincing evidence (class I) supported direct associations between greater ultra-processed food exposure and higher risks of incident cardiovascular disease-related mortality and type 2 diabetes, as well as higher risks of prevalent anxiety outcomes and combined common mental disorder outcomes.

Highly suggestive (class II) evidence indicated that greater exposure to ultra-processed foods was directly associated with higher risks of incident all-cause mortality, heart disease-related mortality, type 2 diabetes, and depressive outcomes, together with higher risks of prevalent adverse sleep-related outcomes, wheezing, and obesity.

Optimal Takeaways

Greater exposure to ultra-processed food was associated with a higher risk of adverse health outcomes, especially mortality outcomes, cardiometabolic dysfunction, and common mental disorders, including anxiety, depression, and disordered sleep.

The adverse health outcomes associated with ultra-processed foods may not be fully explained by their nutrient composition and energy density alone but by physical and chemical properties associated with industrial processing methods, ingredients, and by-products.

  • Firstly, alterations in the food matrix during intensive processing, also known as dietary reconstitution, may affect digestion, nutrient absorption, and feelings of satiety.
  • Secondly, emerging evidence in humans shows links between exposure to additives, including non-sugar sweeteners, emulsifiers, colorants, and nitrates/nitrites, and detrimental health outcomes, including adverse effects on the gut microbiome.
  • Thirdly, intensive industrial food processing may produce potentially harmful substances, including acrolein, acrylamide, advanced glycation end products, furans, heterocyclic amines, industrial trans-fatty acids, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which have been linked to higher risks of chronic inflammatory diseases.
  • Finally, ultra-processed foods can contain contaminants with health implications that migrate from packaging materials, such as bisphenols, microplastics, mineral oils, and phthalates. inflammation

Reference

Lane, Melissa M et al. “Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses.” BMJ (Clinical research ed.) vol. 384 e077310. 28 Feb. 2024, doi:10.1136/bmj-2023-077310 This is an Open Access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.