Health experts have long warned against sugary sodas and processed meats . It is known that excess sugar can lead to chronic inflammation in the heart and blood vessels while processed meats that have been preserved by salting, curing, smoking or adding chemical preservatives, can increase blood pressure. Hence, researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health tracked the ultra-processed food intake of more than 200,000 health professionals, followed up with them for about three decades to see if they developed heart disease or stroke and found out that consuming sugary or artificially sweetened drinks and processed meats may raise your risk of heart disease.
Details from the study The Harvard study was published this week in The Lancet where the study authors divided the UPFs (representing 57% of the US adult diet — typically containing excess calories, added sugars, sodium and unhealthy fats) into 10 groups - Bread and cereals (with the sub-groups of breakfast cereals, dark/whole-grain bread and refined-grain bread) Sauces, spreads and condiments Packaged sweet snacks and desserts Packaged savoury snacks Sugar-sweetened beverages Processed red meat, poultry and fish Ready-to-eat or heat dishes Yogurt/dairy-based desserts Hard liquors Artificially-sweetened beverage The observations Among the participants, the three most popular types of UPFs were found to be bread and cereals, sweet snacks and desserts and ready-to-eat meals but the researchers determined that not a.