We all know that eating too much sugary and ultraprocessed foods isn’t the best idea, but a new long-term study shows the risks may be even worse than we thought. Researchers followed over 500,000 people for nearly 30 years and found that eating large amounts of ultraprocessed foods can actually shorten life expectancy by more than 10%.
The more we rely on sugary and ultraprocessed foods, the higher our chances of serious health problems like heart disease and type 2 diabetes. So, let’s find out more about this.
Ultraprocessed foods
Ultraprocessed foods are products that often contain ingredients you would never use at home: preservatives, artificial colors, emulsifiers, sweeteners, and other additives designed to make food taste good and last longer on shelves. Although they can damage our health in the long term, we tend to eat them because they’re cheap, convenient, and tasty. Let’s have a look at some common examples:
- Sugary drinks like sodas, fruit punches, and diet soft drinks with artificial sweeteners.
- Processed meats such as bacon, ham, sausages, and deli slices.
- Packaged baked goods like cookies, cakes, and sugary breakfast cereals.
- Snack foods such as chips, candy, and flavored crackers.
What the study found
The study revealed that people who ate the most ultraprocessed foods were 14% to 15% more likely to die early than those who ate the least. Let’s see the role of different foods on this study:
- Sugary beverages were the biggest contributor to ultraprocessed food intake. Both regular sodas and diet soft drinks were linked to higher health risks.
- Processed meats came next, showing strong ties to heart disease and diabetes.
- Refined grains and packaged baked goods also played a role, but sugary drinks were the main driver.
Interestingly, this study did not find a higher risk of cancer-related deaths, but many earlier studies have linked processed meat and sugary foods to certain cancers, especially bowel cancer.
Why sugary drinks are a big problem
They deliver a huge dose of sugar without making you feel full, for example, a single can of soda can have 8 to 10 teaspoons of sugar, which is more than your body needs in an entire day!
Diet drinks aren’t much better. They may have little or no sugar, but they contain artificial sweeteners and other additives that still classify them as ultraprocessed. Research has linked diet sodas to higher risks of heart disease, obesity, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
In fact, a 2019 study showed that women who drank more than two sugary beverages a day had a 63% higher risk of dying early, while men who drank the same amount had a 29% higher risk.
The danger of processed meats
Don’t think sugary drinks are the only thing you should be concerned about, processed meats—like bacon, hot dogs, and chicken nuggets—are loaded with salt, preservatives, and added fats. Studies have linked them to heart disease, diabetes, and cancers of the stomach and bowel. So, why do we eat them then? Because a ham sandwich, a quick sausage meal, or a handful of nuggets feel harmless.
This matters for everybody
The study showed that even people with normal weight and otherwise healthy diets were at higher risk if they consumed a lot of ultraprocessed foods. That means you don’t need to be overweight to be affected—sugary and processed foods harm health no matter what.
And here’s another important point: the data in this study came from the 1990s, when fewer processed foods existed. Today, experts estimate that 60% to 70% of the calories Americans eat every day come from ultraprocessed foods. If anything, the risk is probably even higher now.
How to cut back on sugary and ultraprocessed foods
The good news is that small changes can make a big difference. Here are some tips:
- Drink water instead of soda. Add lemon, cucumber, or fruit slices for flavor.
- Limit diet drinks. Even without sugar, they still fall under the ultraprocessed category.
- Choose whole foods. Fresh fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains are your best allies.
- Read labels. If the ingredient list is long and full of things you don’t recognize, it’s probably ultraprocessed.
- Cut down on processed meats. Replace bacon or ham with fresh chicken, turkey, or plant-based proteins.
Now that you have more information about what we eat, would you like to start substituting chips and soda for apple slices and water?