15h ago

Ultra-processed food increases risk of early death, international study finds

www.theguardian.com

Consuming large amounts of ultra-processed food (UPF) increases the risk of an early death, according to a international study that has reignited calls for a crackdown on UPF.

Each 10% extra intake of UPF, such as bread, cakes and ready meals, increases someone’s risk of dying before they reach 75 by 3%, according to research in countries including the US and England.

UPF is so damaging to health that it is implicated in as many as one in seven of all premature deaths that occur in some countries, according to a paper in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

They are associated with 124,107 early deaths in the US a year and 17,781 deaths every year in England, the review of dietary and mortality data from eight countries found.

86 comments

It's a shame that bread and donuts are de facto considered ultra processed foods now. Done right, they totally aren't.
- The pictures also shows french fries and popcorn. In my house those are literally just potatoes and olive oil and popcorn and olive oil respectively, maybe some salt. Bad for me? Maybe, but ultra processed?
  
  I think they might be referencing the pre-packaged-already-popped popcorn or the microwavable version.
  
  I'm rather surprised you are able to pop corn with olive oil. Temp-wise you would hit the smoke point well before the oil was hot enough to pop the kernals, which would be smoky misery in the kitchen.
  
  Not true, I use EVOO and it doesnt smoke. Oil goes in with a couple of kernels on the heat, when they pop remove and add the rest of the kernels. Remove when popping stops.
  Maybe its a case of lower heat, more time?
  
  I use grapeseed oil in my dutch oven to make popcorn. I assumed olive oil wouldn't work, maybe I'll try a batch with olive oil. I'll let y'all know later if I smoke my kitchen out or not lol
  
  Isn't the reason it pops because of steam building up pressure inside the kernel? Then you would only need to heat them somewhere above 100C, and evoo doesnt smoke until 200C+
  
  Slicing them to vastly multiply their surface area so that more Maillard reaction can occur, and it's that Maillard reaction that causes the yummy browning, and causes the proteins and starches to change and become potentially harmful/carcinogenic, plus yes the addition of fatty oil that wasn't present at all.
  A lot of us think of "processing" as like, something a food processor does - reducing and changing the form. But it's also the chemical changes that occur during cooking as a result of the physical processes. When you look at the before/after of a potato and an equal volume of fries, it's apparent you've drastically changed the base food.
  
  Yeah, cutting, cooking, chemically altering, and dehydrating foods are all forms of processing them. There are very few foods people can actually eat without any form of processing, and the ones that we can offer basically no protein, fat, or complex carbohydrates, mostly just sugar, fiber and vitamins (not necessarily bad, but you need more)
- Even done fast they could be better.
  The Aerated Baking Company had bread close to as fast and cheap as the modern Chorleywood process, but it isn't ultra-glutenous. They were also an early feminist icon.

86 comments