More ultra-processed foods in the diet linked to higher disease risk

• A new study suggests that higher ultra-processed food (UPF) intake was associated with greater risks of several health problems, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, obesity, diabetes, digestive diseases, depression, anxiety, and death from any cause.
• The findings suggest that every additional 100 grams of UPFs consumed per day was associated with a 14% higher risk of cardiovascular events, 11% higher risk of high blood pressure, 4% higher cancer risk, 3% higher risk of death from any cause, and 2% higher risk of metabolic syndrome/diabetes.
• The researchers suggest that additives and compounds formed during processing may affect the gut microbiome and contribute to inflammation or insulin resistance, although the mechanisms are not yet fully understood.
• However, the analysis relied in part on self-reported dietary information and could not fully account for broader lifestyle factors, so the findings do not establish cause and effect.

Common examples include packaged snacks, processed meat products, sugary drinks, and some ready-made meals.

Consumption of these foods has increased substantially in many parts of the world in recent decades, prompting researchers to investigate associations between UPF consumption and health risks.

Now, a large analysis of previous research suggests that eating larger amounts of UPFs may be associated with an increased risk of several chronic health conditions.

The researchers point to several possible explanations. UPFs can contain combinations of additives and other ingredients that may affect health. Previous research has also suggested that combining multiple additives could produce what experts call a potential “cocktail effect.”

“The “cocktail effect” refers to the idea that it’s not just individual additives that matter, but what happens when multiple additives combine and interact inside the body,” Liu explained to MNT.

“A French cohort study of about 100,000 people found that people’s exposure to different food additives tends to cluster into recognizable patterns — people aren’t exposed to just one additive at a time, but to whole mixtures. And there’s evidence these combinations can be more harmful together than any single ingredient alone,” he told us.

“For example, a mix of food colorings and sodium benzoate has been linked to increased ADHD symptoms in children. Animal studies have found that combinations of dyes like Brilliant Blue with flavor enhancers like glutamate and sweeteners like aspartame may have greater neurotoxic effects than any of them individually,” said Liu.

“This is still an area that needs much more research — we need larger human studies specifically designed to tease apart how different additive combinations interact,” he cautioned.

“There’s already substantial research showing that different foods have distinct effects on gut microbial composition,” Liu noted.

“The additives and preservatives in ultra-processed foods may have particularly strong effects on gut bacteria, altering the structure of the microbiome in ways that promote chronic inflammation and disease — not just digestive conditions, but potentially cardiovascular disease and other systemic illnesses as well. This is an important area for future research.”

– David Xiao Liu, MD, PhD

Certain compounds produced during food processing may also be relevant. For example, acrylamide can form when some foods are exposed to high temperatures, while acrolein can be produced when fats are heated.

Research suggests that both of these compounds have been associated with cardiovascular disease and cancer. However, the precise mechanisms linking UPF consumption with long-term health remain an area of ongoing research.

“Nutritional content is certainly a big part of the picture — the high sugar, high salt, and excess calories in these foods are well-established risk factors,” Liu added.

“But processing itself adds additional concerns,” he told us. “For one, it introduces a range of additives: A study published in Nature Medicine found that artificial sweetener commonly used in sugary drinks can increase platelet aggregation, promoting blood clotting and raising heart disease risk.”

“For another, the processing itself causes loss of beneficial nutrients like vitamins. And then there’s the packaging — processing and packaging can introduce microplastics, which research now shows accumulate widely in the human body and may contribute to cardiovascular and other diseases,” he continued.

“That said, it’s very difficult to quantify exactly how much each of these factors contributes to disease, because ‘ultra-processed food’ covers an enormous range of products, each with different additives, different processing methods, and different packaging — so it’s hard to assign a precise share of blame to any single mechanism,” Liu admitted.

While highlighting an association, the study cannot establish that eating ultra-processed foods directly causes chronic disease or premature death.

One important limitation is that all of the included studies relied on participants’ dietary assessments. Food-frequency questionnaires and dietary recalls can be affected by difficulties accurately remembering or estimating food intake.

The researchers also excluded people younger than 18, meaning the findings cannot necessarily be applied to children or adolescents.

Additionally, people who eat more UPFs may differ from those who consume less in several other ways. Diet is often part of a broader pattern of lifestyle and behavior. This means that researchers may not be able to completely account for how every factor other than UPF intake could affect long-term health.

The findings add to a growing body of research examining potential links between UPF consumption and long-term health.

Rather than focusing on a single food or ingredient, the researchers suggest that reducing UPF consumption and replacing these foods with minimally processed alternatives could be relevant to chronic disease prevention and primary care.

For individuals, this could mean emphasizing foods such as vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and other minimally processed foods, while considering how frequently UPFs appear in their overall dietary plan.

“One challenge is that most countries don’t yet have labeling that tells consumers whether a food is ultra-processed — currently, only Colombia has introduced that kind of UPF national labeling,” Liu highlighted. “Most food labels focus on nutrient content, and while those can be a useful reference — choosing foods with better nutritional profiles is a reasonable starting point — they don’t directly tell you about the degree of processing.”

“What I’d recommend is focusing on building healthier eating habits overall: Eat more fresh vegetables and fruit, choose whole grains and other minimally refined foods, and cut back on fast food, deep-fried snacks, and heavily processed convenience foods. It’s less about following a strict rule and more about gradually shifting your diet toward foods that are closer to their natural form.”

– David Xiao Liu, MD, PhD

More research is still necessary to determine which types of UPFs are most strongly associated with particular health outcomes, whether there are specific consumption thresholds, and how much of the observed risk is attributable to processing itself versus the nutritional composition and broader lifestyle patterns associated with UPF consumption.