A Powerful Threat to Your Health That You Can Change

Most of us know that fast food, chips, and sugary drinks aren’t the healthiest choices, but a new comprehensive study published in The BMJ pulls together results from nearly ten million people worldwide and makes the picture very clear: eating a lot of ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, is strongly linked to a wide range of serious health problems, from heart disease and diabetes to depression and even early death.

The researchers reviewed 14 major studies that together covered millions of people. Instead of focusing on one illness at a time, they examined dozens of outcomes, and the verdict was consistent: the more ultra-processed food people ate, the higher their risks for at least 32 different and common health problems.

So, what exactly are ultra-processed foods? The term comes from the NOVA food classification system, which divides foods into four categories. The first is unprocessed or minimally processed foods such as fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, eggs, milk, and meat. The second is processed culinary ingredients such as oils, butter, sugar, and salt. The third is processed foods like canned vegetables, cheese, and simple breads. The fourth is ultra-processed foods, which are industrial products made mostly from substances extracted from foods like starches, oils, and protein isolates combined with additives like flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, and preservatives. You get the picture.  In these foods, little if any of the original whole food remains.

Examples include sugary breakfast cereals, soda and energy drinks, instant noodles, frozen ready meals, packaged snacks like chips and crackers, candy bars, fast food burgers and fries, flavored yogurts, protein bars, and many diet or low-calorie products with artificial sweeteners. They are designed to be cheap, convenient, tasty, and long-lasting, but they tend to be high in the bad things like sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats, and low in the good things like fiber, vitamins, and protective plant compounds.

The umbrella review revealed consistent links between higher UPF intake and worse health. People eating the most UPFs had a 50% higher risk of dying from heart disease, a 20% higher risk of dying early from any cause, and a substantially higher risk of heart attacks and strokes.

For type 2 diabetes (a powerful risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease), even a 10% increase in calories from UPFs raised risk by about 12%.

Mental health was also affected, with much higher rates of anxiety, depression, and poor sleep among heavy UPF consumers, and the risk for common mental disorders overall was about 50% higher.

Obesity was strongly predicted by UPF intake as one would expect. In controlled studies, people given unlimited access to UPFs ate about 500 extra calories per day without realizing it, quickly leading to weight gain. Other associations included asthma, digestive diseases, and some cancers, though the evidence there was weaker. Still, the overall trend was consistent: more UPFs meant more problems.

Why are these foods so harmful? Researchers point to several overlapping reasons. First, UPFs crowd out healthier foods and bring in an excess of sugar, salt, and unhealthy fats, while lacking fiber, protein, and micronutrients. Second, additives like artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, and colorings can disrupt the gut microbiome and fuel inflammation. Third, industrial processing itself creates harmful by-products such as acrylamide and advanced glycation end products, which can damage cells and promote chronic disease. Fourth, packaging materials can leach contaminants like BPA and microplastics into food. Finally, UPFs are engineered to be hyper-palatable, easy to chew, and fast to eat, which encourages overeating and makes it difficult to stop at small amounts.

The good news is that this is a risk we can control. You don’t need to give up every packaged food, but you can shift the balance of your diet toward real, minimally processed options. Start by learning to spot UPFs by reading labels. If you see a long list of unfamiliar additives like maltodextrin, carrageenan, or aspartame, or words that are unfamiliar to you, it is almost certainly ultra-processed. Swap common UPFs for simpler alternatives: choose sparkling water with lemon instead of soda, oatmeal instead of packaged cereal, plain, unsweetened, yogurt with fruit instead of flavored yogurt, and nuts or homemade popcorn instead of chips. Cooking at home is another powerful step. You don’t have to cook every meal, but batch-cooking beans, roasting vegetables, or making a big pot of soup can give you convenient, ready-to-eat options that don’t rely on UPFs. When shopping, prioritize the perimeter of the grocery store to focus on produce, meats, dairy, and bulk items, rather than the center aisles full of eye catching, packaged goods. And think about adding healthier foods rather than only subtracting UPFs. Add fruit, eggs and even vegetables to breakfast, a salad with dinner, or a handful of nuts as a snack. When your diet is rich in real foods, there’s naturally less room for the packaged stuff.

This large review leaves little doubt: diets heavy in ultra-processed foods are tied to higher risks of disease and shorter life expectancy, with the strongest evidence connecting them to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and poor mental health.

But unlike age or genetics, this is a powerful health influencing factor you can change. You don’t have to aim for perfection; even small, steady reductions in UPF intake, like replacing soda with flavored water or fast food with a home-cooked meal, can lower your risks for a spectrum of diseases in meaningful ways. The key message is simple: choose foods closer to their natural state whenever possible. Your heart, your brain, your waistline, and your future self will thank you.