Researchers have raised concern for those who follow a plant-based diet, as the study said vegetarians and vegans consumed more ultra-processed food than meat eaters. They primarily consumed industrial plant-sourced meat and dairy substitutes.
When it comes to leading a good quality life and ensuring the health of the heart, a clean diet is very important. It is important to cut down on certain foods and add more fruits and vegetables to your plate to boost your health and promote immunity. In recent years, there has been a lot of focus on plant-based foods that claim to provide healthier alternatives to meat products, rich in taste and good for the environment, too. But, a new study has found that if you eat too much of ultra-processed frozen food — even if it is plant-based — you risk causing harm to your heart and also bring yourself closer to death. So, it does not matter whether you are eating plant-based meals, ultra-processed foods are bad for health.
Negative Cardiovascular Health
Citing the study, a People magazine report mentioned that it looked at the diets of more than 1,18,000 people in England, Scotland and Wales — between the ages of 40 years and 69 years — and compared it with their corresponding medical records. It was found that the people who consumed a diet that is high in plant-based ultra-processed food (UPF) were more likely to see ‘negative’ cardiovascular health, as opposed to those who ate unprocessed plant-based diets and experienced many health benefits.
Cardiovascular Threat
“We observed that higher dietary contribution of plant-sourced non-UPF were associated with a lower risk of fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events, while contribution of plant-sourced UPF was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular events,” researchers were quoted as saying in the study, which was published in The Lancet Europe.
What Is The Connection?
According to the researchers, since ultra-processed foods have a ‘high content of unhealthy fats, sodium, and added sugars’ that can contribute to ‘dyslipidemia, atherosclerosis, hypertension, insulin resistance, obesity, and metabolic disorders, all [cardiovascular disease] risk factors’.
The Main Culprits
According to the researchers, the main culprits are problematic food items like ultra-processed plant-sourced sausages, nuggets, and burgers. They are ‘produced with ingredients originating from plants and marketed as meat and dairy substitutes’. Interestingly, however, the participants in the study reported eating ‘packaged bread’, ‘pastries’, and ‘cakes’ that are meatless.
The researchers raised concern for those who follow a plant-based diet, as the study said that ‘vegetarians’ and ‘vegans’ consumed ‘more UPF than meat eaters, primarily through the consumption of industrial plant-sourced meat and dairy substitutes’.
Impact Of Ultra-Processed Foods On Health
Earlier this year, another research had found that eating ultra-processed foods can cut-short a person’s life and predispose them to an early death. A CNN report stated that according to a review of 45 meta-analyses on almost 10 million people, consumption of ultra-processed foods ‘raises the risk of developing or dying from dozens of adverse health conditions’.
Highly-processed or ultra-processed foods have added ingredients like sugar, salt, fat, and artificial colours or preservatives. They are made from substances extracted from foods, like fats, starches, added sugars and hydrogenated fats. Examples are frozen meals, soft drinks, hot dogs and cold cuts, fast food, packaged cookies, cakes, and salty snacks.
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