Ultra-processed foods such as cereals, protein bars, fizzy drinks, ready meals and fast food significantly raise the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, heart attacks and strokes, two studies have suggested.
In twin presentations to the annual meeting of the European Society of Cardiology in Amsterdam, researchers revealed that just a 10% increase in consumption of such ultra-processed foods (UPFs) can heighten the risk of heart disease significantly.
It is estimated that, in the UK and US particularly, well over half the average diet now consists of ultra-processed foods, with this especially the case for people who are younger, poorer or from disadvantaged areas, who can sometimes have a diet comprising as much as 80% of UPFs.
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The first study, by academics at the University of Sydney, tracked 10,000 women for 15 years and found that those with the highest proportion of UPF in their diet were 39% more likely to develop high blood pressure than those with the lowest. This was the case even after adjusting for the effects of salt, sugar and fat.
The second study, a meta-analysis of more than 325,000 men and women, showed those who ate the most UPFs were 24% more likely to have cardiovascular events including heart attacks, strokes and angina.
Increasing daily UPF consumption in calorie intake by 10% was associated with a 6% increased risk of heart disease, according to the research led by the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi’an, China. Those with UPF making up less than 15% of their diet were least at risk of any heart problems.
Speaking to reporters in Amsterdam, one of the researchers behind the first study, Anushriya Pant, of the University of Sydney, said many people were unaware that food they assume is healthy, such as shop-bought sandwiches, wraps, soups and low-fat yoghurts, were in fact UPF.
“It could be that foods you think are healthy are actually contributing to you developing high blood pressure,” The Guardian newspaper reported Pant saying.
Separately, but presented at the same conference, a study has suggested that the old adage “laughter is the best medicine” may contain an element of truth, at least when it comes to heart health.
Laughter causes the tissue inside the heart to expand and increases oxygen flow around the body, the study by doctors at the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre in Brazil concluded.
Patients with coronary artery disease who engaged in a course of laughter therapy had reduced inflammation and better health, the research found.
“Our study found that laughter therapy increased the functional capacity of the cardiovascular system,” said the lead author, Professor Marco Saffi, of the Hospital de Clínicas de Porto Alegre in Brazil, again reported in The Guardian.
The study involved 26 adults with an average age of 64, all diagnosed with coronary artery disease.
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