Post: Are all ultra-processed foods equally bad for health?

Are all ultra-processed foods alike in how harmful they are to health? Some experts believe we should take a more nuanced approach. Image credit: James Leynse/Getty Images. A growing body of research has suggested that the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) has severe consequences for health.

However, some researchers are now suggesting that many of the studies on UPFs and their adverse effects on health are not accounting for the differences in processing and ingredients of certain subgroups.

Experts say that avoiding certain UPFs like deli meats, hot dogs, sugary drinks, and salty snacks are of greater importance than attempting to avoid anything processed at all.

A growing body of research has suggested that the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) has severe consequences for health, such as a higher rate of overall death causes , an increased risk of dementia , and the development of type 2 diabetes, among other complications.

However, a new opinion paper published by researchers in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests that some of the alarm may be misguided.

Essentially, the paper suggests, many of the studies on UPFs and their adverse effects on health are not accounting for the differences in processing and ingredients of certain subgroups. By lumping them all together, these approaches tend to paint all UPFs with the same brush.

“Different groups of UPF evaluated within the same epidemiological study often show markedly different associations with the incidence of the health endpoints,” the authors wrote.

“Statistical analyses are based on numerous assumptions such as the food intake is measured accurately and precisely, that food composition is known quantitatively, the methods of food storage, preparation and cooking have no effect on the values, etc. Those assumptions are potentially questionable, and so are the corresponding results,” they suggested. Do cooking methods affect how healthy food is?

Melanie Murphy Richter, MS, RDN , a registered dietitian nutritionist and the director of communications for the nutrition company Prolon, who was not involved in the paper, told Medical News Today that almost all foods are processed in some form, but there are […]

Are all ultra-processed foods equally bad for health?