Including mental health!
An umbrella review in BMJ synthesised 14 meta‑analyses (45 pooled analyses) including 9,888,373 participants, found people who eat more ultra‑processed foods (packaged snacks, fizzy drinks, instant meals, process meats) tend to get more diseases and die earlier, even when we account for other lifestyle factors… although we can’t yet prove it is all caused by the processing.
Examining ultra‑processed food (UPF) exposure (by NOVA classification) and health outcomes, it found “convincing” evidence (class I) linked higher UPF exposure to cardiovascular disease mortality, and incident type 2 diabetes, as well as common mental disorders. “Highly suggestive” evidence (class II) showed associations with all‑cause mortality, heart‑disease mortality, obesity, poor sleep, and depression. Overall, 32 of 45 pooled outcomes (71%) showed higher risk with higher UPF exposure, although most underlying studies were graded low or very low quality, and confounding by overall diet quality and socio‑economic factors is substantial.
Source: Ultra‑processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta‑analyses,” BMJ, 2024
For patients and clinicians:
Frame simple swaps, encourage replacing UPFs with minimally processed options, water or unsweetened tea instead of soda/fizzy pops, nuts/fruit instead of crisps, home‑cooked legumes and whole grains instead of instant noodle or microwave meals. And think when faced with anxiety, depression, and sleep problems; could diet be playing into this?
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