Ultra-processed foods increase Type 2 diabetes risk, reveals study

18 Dec 2019 --- A higher consumption of ultra-processed food may be linked to a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to a web-based cohort study in France. Scientific literature on this topic continues to point out the detrimental health effects caused by ultra-processed foods, including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension and dyslipidemia. Addressing this rising concern, public health authorities in several countries have recently started to recommend minimizing ultra-processed foods intake in their health guidelines.

“This research adds weight to the existing body of evidence for the associations between ultra-processed foods and human health, supporting nutritional guidelines and policies. Some countries, such as France and Brazil, now officially recommend limiting the consumption of ultra-processed foods and prioritize unprocessed or minimally processed foods,” one of the study’s authors, Dr. Bernard Srour, PharmD, from the University of Paris, France, tells NutritionInsight.

Published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal, the study observed 104,707 adult participants – consisting of 21 percent men and 79 percent women – from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort (2009 to 2019). The research team registered more than 3,500 different food items from the subjects’ dietary behavior and found that a higher proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with a higher risk of T2D.

Ultra-processed foods are abundant in the meat and dairy aisles.“We were surprised that the association between ultra-processed foods and T2D risk is not entirely explained by weight gain. Even if participants did not gain weight during follow-up, they were at risk of developing diabetes if their ultra-processed consumption was higher,” Dr. Mathilde Touvier, Head of the Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team at the University of Paris, also tells NutritionInsight.

The results remained statistically significant even after adjusting for several markers of the nutritional quality of the diet, such as metabolic comorbidities and for weight change. However, of the more than 100,000 study participants, only 821 developed diabetes during the study.

“The direct causal link between ultra-processed foods and T2D could not be established directly from this single study. However, the body of evidence for the associations between ultra-processed foods and human health is increasing with several studies. Additionally, the  associations we observed are very plausible,” Dr. Touvier notes. 

On the shelves and into our mouths
On average, ultra-processed foods have higher glycemic index and their consumption leads to an increase of glucose measures in the blood. While often used for their shelf-life preserving qualities, ultra-processed foods contain additives, among which several can be associated with metabolic health. 

“For example, emulsifiers, which are often found in ultra-processed foods – particularly carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate-80 – have shown potential roles in inducing inflammation, obesity or metabolic syndrome in animal models ,” says Dr. Srour.

Ultra-processed foods are increasingly found on supermarket shelves in both North and South Americas. According to a recent Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, sales of ultra-processed food products are the fastest growing in Latin America, increasing the population’s exposure to excessive amounts of sugar, sodium and fat. Moreover, around 80 percent of US adults’ calorie consumption comes from store-bought food and beverages, which are mostly ultra-processed and generally unhealthy, according to a study from Northwestern Medicine, US.

Advocating for a food system that respects human health, as well as the environment, the FAO actively promotes traditional diets – the Mediterranean, New Nordic and Traditional Japanese diets. These are touted as instrumental in tackling malnutrition and environmental degradation, Fatima Hachem, Senior Nutrition Officer, Nutrition and Food Systems Division, FAO, tells NutritionInsight.

By Anni Schleicher