When you sit in front of your laptop for work or study, what do you eat most? What is your child’s favorite evening snack? Clinging in to work for long or an evening appetite mostly leads us to consume ultra-processed foods like chips, hot dogs, soda, or ice creams. As you already know, these ultra processed foods won’t do anything more than increase your obesity or cholesterol; you don’t worry much. But this is the time you should worry and sincerely think about how to avoid ultra processed foods.
American Journal of Preventive Medicine published the latest study indicating that high consumption of those foods in 2019 caused more than 10% of Brazil’s overall premature and preventable deaths.
The alarming fact is that Brazilians are far less addicted to those foods than developed countries.
Methods: How was the Research Conducted to Prove the Danger?
Based on RRs derived from a previous meta-analysis along with data from national food consumption and demographic and mortality stats, a comparative risk assessment model was developed.
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Samples
The model involved three steps.
- Estimated baseline intakes of ultra processed foods
- Estimated reduction in the intakes for each sex and age group in different counterfactual scenarios
- Estimated impacts of reduced intake of UPF on mortality
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Steps
The Personal Food Intake module of Brazilians of 2017-18 provided a food recall of 24 hours to show the consumption of solid and liquid foods by Brazilian adults of different age and sex groups. There were four classifications of foods and beverages.
Results
Brazilian adults of all age groups intake over 13% ultra-processed foods of whole energy, and the contribution rate of UPFs in the total energy intake decreases with age.
In 2019, 541,160 Brazilian adults in the 30-69 age group had premature deaths, 62% of whom were men, and ultra processed foods caused premature death to 57,000 Brazilian adults in 2019.
Discussion: What is the Scenario, and what can be Done?
This study, the first of its kind, showed that consumption of UPFs contributes to premature deaths now, in men more than women, and reduction in UPF consumption by 10%-50% may prevent almost 6000-30000 premature deaths respectively every year.
Now imagine, if a country like Brazil stands here, what could be the scenario of developed nations? Citizens of high-income countries like the USA, the UK, Canada, and Australia are less concerned about their health nutrition. The study hints at the even higher impact of UPF consumption on premature deaths in those countries.
Researcher Dr. Edurado A.F. Nilson, the leader in this investigation, said that the ultra-processed foods list, which includes mass-produced bread, margarine, cakes, pies, pizza, ham, hamburgers, hot dogs, cookies, candies, salted products, doughnuts, sausages, and sweet beverages, replaces the whole foods like rice and vegetables.
About Upfs: Is Your Idea of Upfs Clear?
You are aware of some UPFs and the risk they are causing to your health nutrition. But what are ultra processed foods? The foods consisting of stuff obtained from processing foods in several steps and additives are called UPFs. They generally lack common micronutrients, fibers, and proteins and are full of sugar, calories, saturated fat, and total fat.
But oils, sugar, salt, flour, pasta, seasoned nuts, smoked or cured meats, bread, cheese, canned fruits, and vegetables don’t fall into the harmful category.
Avoiding Upfs: How can the Harm be Prevented?
Dr. Nilson also suggested how to avoid ultra processed foods. Creating and implementing concrete policies, making strict dietary guidelines, improving awareness, and changing the food environment can be fruitful, said the researcher.
Final Words: Why it is so Essential to Avoid Upfs
Besides causing premature deaths, Ultra-processed foods invite cardiovascular diseases, cancer, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, depression, migraine, atherosclerosis, and other severe diseases. The connection between diets involving these foods and health conditions is becoming inevitable daily, said researchers raising concerns. They insist on having whole grain and fresh foods with minimum consumption of processed foods.
