Eat fewer ultra-processed foods, such as chips, instant noodles, pastries and ready meals
High consumers had about 20% higher mortality and 50% higher cardiovascular mortality than low consumers. Certainty was rated low, so the numbers deserve caution.
What it takes
A change in purchases rather than necessarily more spending, but cooking or selecting minimally processed ingredients takes time daily. Long-term resistance to convenience is the challenge.
What you may gain
An umbrella review of observational meta-analyses found RR 1.21 for all-cause mortality and RR 1.50 for cardiovascular mortality with higher ultra-processed-food exposure. These associations were classified as “highly suggestive” and “convincing,” respectively, under one evidence-grading scheme, but low or very low certainty under GRADE.
Context & considerations
Three issues remain: NOVA groups nutritionally diverse foods together; substantial overlap with sugary drinks and processed meat makes individual contributions hard to separate; and GRADE certainty is low. Additional benefit after addressing those two categories is uncertain. The counterweight is the same review's low certainty rating, not an original study showing the opposite. Start with those two changes.
Research & references
Lane MM et al. (2024). Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses. BMJ. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj-2023-077310