In a new study, older adults who reported consuming higher amounts of ultra-processed foods, as defined by the NOVA classification system, were about 10% more likely to die over a median follow-up of 23 years compared with those who consumed less processed food. The findings are based on a large study that has tracked over half a million U.S.
adults for nearly three decades. According to the results, higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with modest increases in death from any cause and from deaths related specifically to heart disease or diabetes, but no association was found for cancer-related deaths. Our study results support a larger body of literature, including both observational and experimental studies, which indicate that ultra-processed food intake adversely impacts health and longevity.
However, there is still a lot that we don't know, including what aspects of ultra-processed foods pose potential health risks." Erikka Loftfield, PhD, Stadtman Investigator at the National Cancer Institute Loftfield will present the findings at NUTRITION 2024, the flagship annual meeting of the American Society for Nutrition held June 29–July 2 in Chicago. The research drew data from more than 540,000 people who provided information about their eating habits and health in the mid-1990s, when they were between 50 and 71 years of age.
Over half of the participants have since died. The researchers analyzed overall rates of death among those who were in the 90 th perce.
