Health experts have long warned against sugary sodas and processed meats. It is known that excess sugar can lead to chronic inflammation in the heart and blood vessels while processed meats that have been preserved by salting, curing, smoking or adding chemical preservatives, can increase blood pressure.

Hence, researchers at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health tracked the ultra-processed food intake of more than 200,000 health professionals, followed up with them for about three decades to see if they developed heart disease or stroke and found out that consuming sugary or artificially sweetened drinks and processed meats may raise your risk of heart disease.

Details from the study

The Harvard study was published this week in The Lancet where the study authors divided the UPFs (representing 57% of the US adult diet — typically containing excess calories, added sugars, sodium and unhealthy fats) into 10 groups -

• Bread and cereals (with the sub-groups of breakfast cereals, dark/whole-grain bread and refined-grain bread)
• Sauces, spreads and condiments
• Packaged sweet snacks and desserts
• Packaged savoury snacks
• Sugar-sweetened beverages
• Processed red meat, poultry and fish
• Ready-to-eat or heat dishes
• Yogurt/dairy-based desserts
• Hard liquors
• Artificially-sweetened beverage

The observations

Among the participants, the three most popular types of UPFs were found to be bread and cereals, sweet snacks and desserts and ready-to-eat meals but the researchers determined that not all UPFs are bad as savoury snacks, cold cereals and yogurt/dairy-based desserts were associated with a lower heart disease risk while ultra-processed bread and cold cereals were linked to a lower stroke risk.

The study authors shared, “Reducing the content of sodium, saturated fats, added sugars and cosmetic additives non-essential for human health in whole-grain bread, cold cereals and some savoury snacks may enhance the otherwise nutritional value of these products in the US.”

Though the researchers asserted their findings suggest soft drinks and processed meats should be discouraged and the nutritional quality of UPFs should be considered before consumption, there were certain limitations to the Harvard study including a lack of information about how the food was made. Another drawback was the fact that there were also very few non-white participants.

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