Breakfast cereal, frozen pizza, ready meals and fizzy drinks are highly processed and can increase your risk of cancer – especially ovarian or brain cancer.
Unlike moderately processed foods like cheese, they usually contain more additives like artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, or preservatives. That’s the result of a new study.
Researchers from Imperial College London’s School of Public Health have now examined the dietary habits of almost 200,000 middle-aged adults in the UK over a ten-year period and found that higher consumption of highly processed foods was associated with a higher risk of cancer overall and specifically ovarian cancer and brain tumors.
The study was published in the journal Lancet’s eClinical Medicine was published in collaboration with researchers from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the University of Sao Paulo and the NOVA University of Lisbon.
Almost 16,000 developed cancer
Over the years, of the 197,426 people examined, 15,921 people developed cancer and 4,009 died from it.
Findings: For every 10 percent increase in ultra-processed foods in the diet, the risk of developing some form of cancer increased by 2 percent. In the case of ovarian cancer, it was even 19 percent. These associations persisted even following other factors such as smoking, physical activity, and body mass index (BMI) were accounted for.
It is unclear why the incidence of ovarian cancer was particularly high. However, separate research has linked the disease to acrylamide, an industrial chemical produced during high-temperature cooking processes.
‘Some potentially carcinogenic substances, such as some controversial food additives and chemicals derived from processing, can interfere with hormone action and thereby affect hormone-related cancers such as ovarian cancer,’ Eszter Vamos, the study’s lead author, told the Washington Post.
US at the top
Almost 60 percent of the calories consumed by adults in the United States come from ultra-processed foods. In countries like England, Canada, France or Japan, they account for 25 to 50 percent.
“Ultra-processed foods are ubiquitous and highly marketed, with cheap prices and attractive packaging to encourage consumption,” study author Kiara Chang said in a statement. “This shows that our food environment urgently needs to be reformed to protect the population.”
