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Study Shows “Ultra-Processed” Foods Are Linked to Much Higher Rates of IBD

AHA Publisher — Wed, 20 Apr 2022 07:00:48 +0000

Lori Alton via NaturalHealth365 – Over 3 million Americans have been diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), a potentially debilitating gastrointestinal condition that includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. More prevalent in developed nations, IBD is becoming more common in countries where it was previously rare, and scientists think they know why. The increase in IBD parallels the growing adoption of the Western diet (also known as the Standard American Diet, or SAD). The SAD – which relies heavily on processed foods – is high in calories, trans fats, saturated fats, added sugars, and salt while low in fiber and essential vitamins and minerals. Yet, little research examining the link between SAD and IBD existed – until now. An extensive international study newly published in BMJ examines the effect of “ultra-processed” foods on rates of IBD – with alarming implications. Let’s take a closer look at the revealing research. Large Amounts of Ultra-Processed Foods May Cause IBD Risk to Skyrocket To conduct the study, an international team of researchers gathered detailed information from over 116,000 adults in 21 different countries (including Bangladesh, Sweden, Turkey, Brazil, and the United States) for 13 years. First, participants were questioned about their daily diets, including their consumption of “ultra-processed” foods – such as heavily processed, packaged baked goods, sugar-laden cereals, carbonated sugary drinks and reconstituted meat and fish products. They were then followed for nine years, with new diagnoses of IBD being recorded. To say that the study supported a link between “ultra-processed” foods and higher levels of IBD is an understatement. The team found that participants who consumed five or more servings a day of ultra-processed foods had a stunning 82 percent greater risk of being affected by IBD than those who ate less than one serving a day! For those who consumed one to four servings of ultra-processed food a day, the increased risk was 67 percent. While the study did not show that the foods caused IBD, it certainly suggested a powerful association. In any case, the researchers called for more studies to identify and explore contributory factors among processed foods that might be responsible for the increased risk. Ingredients in Ultra-Processed Foods Disturb the Balance of the All-Important Gut Microbiome The researchers commented that IBD is believed to stem from dysbiosis (imbalances in the microbiome, or community of gut bacteria) in susceptible people. Studies have shown that the bacterial balance of the microbiome can be changed through diet, and this can, in turn, alter the intestinal immune response in the digestive tract, leading to inflammation. While it is too early to say for sure, scientists suspect certain additives – such as added sugars, stabilizers, preservatives, and artificial flavors – of being the culprits. For example, an emulsifier known as carboxymethylcellulose has been shown to increase the ability of bacteria to adhere to the epithelial lining of the intestines. Other suspects are refined sugars and potentially inflammatory omega-6 acids in processed foods. Best Foods to Eat to Help With IBD Some foods appeared to be “off the hook” when it comes to a connection with IBD. For example, consumption of unprocessed white meat, unprocessed red meat, dairy products, starch, fruits, vegetables, and legumes was not associated with an increased risk in the study. In fact, high consumption of fruits and vegetables has been linked in studies with a decreased risk of a form of IBD known as ulcerative colitis. For people undergoing episodes and “flares” of IBD, experts recommend well-cooked vegetables such as green beans, carrots, mashed potatoes, steamed asparagus tips, and pureed squash. Some also advise peeled apples, ripe bananas, melon, and canned fruit to calm a troubled gastrointestinal tract. (While natural health experts ordinarily endorse eating the antioxidant- and fiber-rich peels of apples and the skins of potatoes, a flare-up calls for temporarily lowering fiber intake). Well-cooked, tender, unprocessed meats, scrambled eggs, and tofu are also on the “OK” list. In addition, it’s important to get adequate amounts of vitamin D, calcium, and probiotic and prebiotic foods. So, naturally, you will want to “put the kibosh” on all ultra-processed foods. And, for maximum benefit, opt for organic foods whenever possible. Here Are Some Tips to Support Your Gut Health Naturally Other natural interventions exist for IBD. The American College of Gastroenterology recommends a low-FODMAP diet – a short-term intervention that involves the restriction of fermentable carbohydrates. If you have IBD, your integrative physician may recommend this strategy. In addition, stress management techniques such as acupuncture, mindfulness meditation, breathing exercises, and yoga have been shown to benefit IBD. Not only is IBD a frustrating, painful, and potentially serious disease, but it appears to be linked to other chronic conditions. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that people with IBD are more likely to suffer from heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and ulcers. Therefore, banishing ultra-processed foods from your diet is a practical, common-sense step you can take to optimize your health and steer clear of troublesome IBD. Sources for this article include: ScienceDaily.com UHHospitals.org CDC.gov To read the original article click here.

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Reducing Sugar in Packaged Foods Can Prevent Disease in Millions

AHA Publisher — Mon, 30 Aug 2021 07:00:38 +0000

Massachusetts General Hospital via Newswise – Cutting 20% of sugar from packaged foods and 40% from beverages could prevent 2.48 million cardiovascular disease events (such as strokes, heart attacks, cardiac arrests), 490,000 cardiovascular deaths, and 750,000 diabetes cases in the U.S. over the lifetime of the adult population, reports a study published in Circulation. A team of researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), the Friedman School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts University, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOH) created a model to simulate and quantify the health, economic, and equity impacts of a pragmatic sugar-reduction policy proposed by the U.S. National Salt and Sugar Reduction Initiative (NSSRI). A partnership of more than 100 local, state and national health organizations convened by the NYC DOH, the NSSRI released draft sugar-reduction targets for packaged foods and beverages in 15 categories in 2018. This February, NSSRI finalized the policy with the goal of industry voluntarily committing to gradually reformulate their sugary products. Implementing a national policy, however, will require government support to monitor companies as they work toward the targets and to publicly report on their progress. The researchers hope their model will build consensus on the need for a national-sugar reformulation policy in the US. “We hope that this study will help push the reformulation initiative forward in the next few years,” says Siyi Shangguan, MD, MPH, lead author and attending physician at MGH. “Reducing the sugar content of commercially prepared foods and beverages will have a larger impact on the health of Americans than other initiatives to cut sugar, such as imposing a sugar tax, labeling added sugar content, or banning sugary drinks in schools.” Ten years after the NSSRI policy goes into effect, the U.S. could expect to save $4.28 billion in total net healthcare costs, and $118.04 billion over the lifetime of the current adult population (ages 35 to 79), according to the model. Adding the societal costs of lost productivity of Americans developing diseases from excessive sugar consumption, the total cost savings of the NSSRI policy rises to $160.88 billion over the adult population’s lifetime. These benefits are likely to be an underestimation since the calculations were conservative. The study also demonstrated that even partial industry compliance with the policy could generate significant health and economic gains. The researchers found that the NSSRI policy became cost-effective at six years and cost-saving at nine years. The policy could also reduce disparities, with the greatest estimated health gains among Black and Hispanic adults, and Americans with lower income and less education—populations that consume the most sugar as a historical consequence of inequitable systems. Product reformulation efforts have been shown to be successful in reducing other harmful nutrients, such as trans fats and sodium. The U.S., however, lags other countries in implementing strong sugar-reduction policies, with countries such as the UK, Norway, and Singapore taking the lead on sugar-reformulation efforts. The US may yet become a leader in protecting its people from the dangers of excessive sugar consumption if the NSSRI’s proposed sugar-reduction targets are achieved. “The NSSRI policy is by far the most carefully designed and comprehensive, yet achievable, sugar-reformulation initiative in the world,” says Shangguan. Consuming sugary foods and beverages is strongly linked to obesity and diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of mortality in the U.S. More than two in five American adults are obese, one in two have diabetes or prediabetes, and nearly one in two have cardiovascular disease, with those from lower-income groups being disproportionately burdened. “Sugar is one of the most obvious additives in the food supply to reduce to reasonable amounts,” says Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, co-senior author and dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “Our findings suggest it’s time to implement a national program with voluntary sugar reduction targets, which can generate major improvements in health, health disparities, and healthcare spending in less than a decade.” To read the original article click here.

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Study Shows Junk Food Harms Children’s Bone Quality

AHA Publisher — Tue, 27 Apr 2021 07:00:09 +0000

Abigail Klein Leichman via Israel21c – Parents may want to consider limiting their children’s consumption of ultra-processed packaged foods not only because these foods can lead to obesity and diabetes. They may also stunt bone growth. A definitive link between ultra-processed foods and reduced bone quality in the development stage was revealed by a team of researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The study, led by Prof. Efrat Monsonego-Ornan and Janna Zaretsky from the Department of Biochemistry, Food Science and Nutrition at the university’s Faculty of Agriculture, was published in the journal Bone Research. This is the first comprehensive study of the effect of widely available processed food products on skeletal development. Junk food is popular with consumers – and especially with children — because it’s tasty, easily accessible, relatively inexpensive and ready to eat. However, ultra-processed items often are high in refined sugar, fat, salt and preservatives, while lacking protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals required for growth and cellular function. Many also contain non-dietary ingredients. It was already known that the increasing consumption of junk food around the world has directly contributed to increased obesity and other metabolic conditions in people of all ages. However, few studies have focused on its direct developmental effects of a junk food-heavy diet on children, particularly young children. And none have looked at the effect on bones. Impaired Bone Development The Hebrew University study focused on three-week-old to nine-week-old lab rats whose skeletons were in the stages of growth from weaning to puberty. The rats that were fed a diet of ultra-processed foods high in fat and sugar suffered from growth retardation and their bone strength was negatively affected. Under the microscope, the researchers detected high levels of cartilage buildup in the rats’ growth plates, the “engine” of bone growth. Additional tests found that the RNA genetic profiles of cartilage cells in the rats eating junk food showed characteristics of impaired bone development. Harmful Even in Reduced Amounts The scientists then experimented with differing levels of processed foods in the lab rats’ diet to analyze how specific eating habits might impact bone development. “We divided the rodents’ weekly nutritional intake—30 percent came from a ‘controlled’ diet, and 70 percent from ultra-processed foods,” said Monsonego-Ornan. This diet caused moderate damage to bone density although there were fewer indications of cartilage buildup in the rats’ growth plates. “Our conclusion was that even in reduced amounts, the ultra-processed foods can have a definite negative impact on skeletal growth,” she said. A Warning for Parents These findings are significant because children and adolescents are intense consumers of ultra-processed food. According to some estimates, half of all American kids eat junk food every day. “When Carlos Monteiro, one of the world’s leading experts on nutrition, said that there is no such thing as a healthy ultra-processed food, he was clearly right,” said Monsonego-Ornan. “Even if we reduce fats, carbs, nitrates and other known harmful substances, these foods still possess their damaging attributes,” she added. “Every part of the body is prone to this damage and certainly those systems that remain in the critical stages of development.” The authors of the Israel Science Foundation-funded study say their findings “highlight, for the first time, the severe impact of consuming ultra-processed foods on the growing skeleton. This pathology extends far beyond that explained by the known metabolic effects, highlighting bone as a new target for studies of modern diets.” To read the original article click here. For more articles from Israel21c click here.

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Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods and Drinks Could Raise Colorectal Cancer Risk

AHA Publisher — Wed, 31 Mar 2021 07:00:38 +0000

Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) via News-Medical – Consumption of ultra-processed foods and drink could increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer. This was the conclusion of a large study undertaken by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a center supported by the “la Caixa” Foundation, based on questionnaires about food behaviors completed by around 8,000 people in Spain. The study, the first of its kind in the country, also analyzed the relationship between ultra-processed food and drink products and two other cancers; while no association was observed with prostate cancer, in the case of breast cancer a higher risk was observed in the sub-group of former and current smokers who reported a diet high in ultra-processed products. Social, economic and industrial changes have driven a rise in ultra-processed food and drink consumption, which currently accounts for between 25% and 50% of the total energy intake in diets in Europe and in high- and middle-income countries. The Nova classification system groups all foods and drinks into four categories according to how much processing they undergo. Ultra-processed foods–those that undergo the most processing–are industrial formulations with more than five ingredients which usually contain additional substances, such as sugar, fats, salt and additives. Examples of products in this category include sugary soft drinks, ready meals and mass-produced industrial baked goods. Several studies have linked the consumption of ultra-processed foods and drinks to health risk factors, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes and an increased risk of premature death. There are only a few studies on the relationship of these food products with cancer and the results are not entirely conclusive. A French study found an association between the consumption of ultra-processed foods and an increased cancer risk. A Canadian study found an increased risk of developing prostate cancer with a higher intake of processed foods, but not with ultra-processed foods. The aim of the present study was to assess whether the consumption of ultra-processed foods and drinks is associated with an increased risk of colorectal, breast or prostate cancer. To this end, the researchers undertook a case-control study of 7,843 adults living in different Spanish provinces: half of the participants had a diagnosis of colorectal (1,852), breast (1,486) or prostate cancer (953); and the other half were people with the same characteristics who did not have cancer. Data were obtained from the multicase-control study MCC-Spain. Dietary data was collected using a validated questionnaire designed to evaluate the frequency of consumption of usual food and drink items over a one-year period. The results were then classified according to the level of processing using the Nova classification. The study, published in Clinical Nutrition, concluded that the consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages is associated with an increased risk of colorectal cancer: a 10% increment in the consumption of ultra-processed foods and drinks was found to be associated with an 11% increase in the risk of developing colorectal cancer. Dora Romaguera, first author of the study and researcher at ISGlobal, the Institut d’Investigació Sanitària Illes Balears (IdISBA) and the CIBEROBN, says that this relationship can be explained, in part, “by the low intake of fiber, fruits and vegetables, which are known to offer protection against colorectal cancer, among people who eat a lot of ultra-processed foods, but also by the additives and other substances with carcinogenic potential typically used in processed food products.” In the case of breast cancer, no strong relationship was found, but an association was observed in the group of current and former smokers. Romaguera explains that “smoking is a risk factor for breast cancer, and smoking and certain dietary factors, such as the consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages, are known to have synergetic effects on cancer development.” No association was found between prostate cancer and a diet high in ultra-processed products. This finding is not surprising and is consistent with the results of previous studies of dietary factors and prostate cancer risk, in which no link was found.” Dora Romaguera, Researcher, ISGlobal Colorectal and Breast Cancer Cases: Less Healthy Diets The results of the study showed that people with breast and colorectal cancer, but not those with prostate cancer, reported less healthy diets than people without cancer in the control group. “We found differences in terms of their intake of energy, fiber, energy density and saturated fatty acids. Consumption of ultra-processed foods and beverages was higher among colorectal and breast cancer cases than in the controls”, says ISGlobal researcher Sílvia Fernández, joint first author of the study. The food groups that accounted for the largest proportion of ultra-processed food consumption were sugary beverages (35%), sugary products (19%), ready-to-eat foods (16%) and processed meats (12%). Processed meats have already been classified as carcinogenic by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). However, according to Pilar Amiano, researcher at the Guipúzcoa Public Health Service, which coordinated the study: “ultra-processed foods and drinks in general are not yet classified as carcinogenic because the aim of the IARC was not to assess the overall risk of an individual’s diet, but rather to focus on specific components that might be dangerous, such as processed meats”. She goes on to say that, in light of the results of the present study and the current scientific evidence on the health risks associated with ultra-processed foods and drinks, in particular with respect to cancer, the authors believe “that food and public health policies and the IARC should already be taking food processing into account and discouraging the consumption of ultra-processed products”. To read the original article click here.

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