Are some ultra-processed foods really good for your health?

A recent study provides clues but was misinterpreted by many

I was shocked to see a recent news headline proclaiming certain ultra-processed foods as “good for our health” and an effective way to reduce our risk of multiple chronic diseases. 

Surely, this couldn’t be true and must be media hype?

These news stories are based on a large epidemiological study published in The Lancet – Regional Health Europe, a good reliable journal. 

Led by scientists at The International Agency for Research on Cancer – part of the WHO – this study included 266,666 men and women from seven European countries who were followed up over roughly 11 years. 

At the start of the study, the participants filled in a food questionnaire describing their diet over the past 12 months. None of them suffered from chronic diseases, such as cancer, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, at this point.   

The researchers used the data from the food questionnaire to work out that male participants consumed, on average, 413 g of ultra-processed foods per day, and women consumed 326 g per day. This included alcoholic drinks and added up to a combined 34% and 32% of daily calories coming from UPF each day, respectively. 

Photo by Seriously Low Carb

Interestingly, these percentages are actually a bit lower than our averages here in the UK, where the average consumption is somewhere between 50 and 70%. This is important when we consider how to apply the results here to the UK.