• Increased intake of ultra-processed foods is associated with increased mortality in cancer survivors.
• Recent research shows that people who consume the most ultra-processed foods are 48% more likely to die from any cause and 57% more likely to die from cancer.
• Researchers say increased inflammation and higher resting heart rates may explain the link between eating ultra-processed foods and increased mortality..

Cancer survivors who consume more ultra-processed foods in their diets have a significantly increased risk of dying from all causes, not just cancer.

According to a new study, people who ate the most super processed All-cause mortality was 48% higher for food by weight. They were also 57% more likely to die from cancer than those who ate the least amount of ultra-processed foods.

“What people eat after death is cancer “Diagnosis can impact survival, but most studies in this population have focused solely on nutrients rather than how food is processed,” study author Marialaura Bonaccio, Ph.D., a researcher at IRCCS Neuromed’s Epidemiology and Prevention Research Unit in Pozzilli, Italy, said in the paper. Press statement.

“Substances involved in the industrial processing of food can interfere with metabolic processes and disrupt metabolism. intestinal floraadvertise inflammation. “As a result, ultra-processed foods may have more harmful effects on the body, even if their calorie content and nutritional content are comparable on paper to minimally processed or ‘natural’ foods,” Bonaccio continued.

To conduct the study, Bonaccio and his colleagues followed more than 24,000 people from March 2005 to December 2022.

Participants were over 35 years old at the start of the study and all lived in southern Italy.

Within that cohort, 802 cancer survivors were enrolled at the start of the study and provided detailed dietary information through a food questionnaire. The researchers used NOVA classification systemdivides foods into groups based on their degree of processing to determine whether a food is ultra-processed.

The researchers calculated as follows. The proportion of ultra-processed foods in a person’s diet using both weight ratios (total daily weight of ultra-processed foods divided by total daily weight of all foods and beverages) and energy ratios (total daily calories of ultra-processed foods divided by total daily calories). calorie).

The researchers controlled for other factors, including: smoking status, overall dietary quality, BMI and medical history, the individuals are divided into three groups based on the weight ratio of ultra-processed foods eaten.

Those in the top third of ultra-processed food intakes were 48% more likely to die from all causes and 57% more likely to die from cancer than those in the bottom third.

“The fact that the association between ultra-processed foods and all-cause mortality persisted even after controlling for overall diet quality suggests that the negative health effects are not explained solely by nutrient deficiencies, but that the level and nature of industrial food processing itself plays an independent role in long-term health effects,” Bonaccio said in a press statement.

Experts say: Nilesh VoraM.D., a board-certified medical oncologist and medical director of MemorialCare Todd Cancer Institute at Long Beach Medical Center in Long Beach, Calif., who was not involved in the study, said the findings are not surprising.

“There has been a lot published in recent literature and conferences about the foods that cancer survivors consume.We have seen data such as: colon cancerin breast canceris consistent with the fact that foods that promote inflammation Correlated with cancer recurrence in survivors. So I don’t think it’s all that surprising that ultra-processed foods may be associated with cancer recurrence,” he told Healthline.

“There’s some inflammation going on. could happen “When you have processed and ultra-processed foods…I think that’s one of the reasons why this happens,” he continued.

“Due to inflammation, We’ve been together for a long time With cancer. Therefore, whenever there is an inflammatory process, mutations can proliferate. And mutation propagation is the core of forming mutations within normal cells. [which] may lead to an increased risk of cancer” Vora said.

The study authors say their results are suggestive. That elevated resting heartbeat And increased inflammation may explain the association between increased intake of ultra-processed foods and increased mortality.

Dana Hannesa senior clinical dietitian at UCLA Health who was not involved in the study, said the findings are an important reminder of some of the problems associated with eating too much ultra-processed food.

“The toll that cancer takes on a person’s body at baseline may be even more difficult for cancer survivors, which in itself may increase the risk of all-cause mortality, or may be an effect multiple of the baseline risk associated with ultra-processed foods in general.”

To determine whether the content of certain ultra-processed foods influences mortality risk, researchers looked at data on seven groups of foods. These include:

Some of these food groups were associated with higher mortality rates, while others showed no clear pattern.

But Bonaccio argued that data on individual processed foods is difficult to interpret and that overall dietary patterns are important.

“The main message to the public is that consumption of ultra-processed foods as a whole is far more important than individual items,” she said in the paper. press statement.

“Focus on your overall diet, reduce ultra-processed foods overall, increase your consumption of fresh foods, minimal processinghome cooking is the most meaningful and beneficial approach to health,” she added.

“A practical way to do this is to check the label. Foods that contain more than five ingredients, or just one food additive, are likely to be ultra-processed.”

This study is observational and does not prove that ultra-processed foods cause increased mortality in cancer survivors.

However, Vola argues that there are still benefits for cancer survivors to reduce their intake of ultra-processed foods.

“Make a change now. Changing your lifestyle and focusing on what’s next won’t hurt anyone.” diet and exercise” he said.

“We can’t definitively tell patients that ultra-processed foods are definitely associated with cancer recurrence, because we don’t have large, randomized, prospective trials. But if we have enough clues that this might be the case, I would say we should make that change now.”