After the industrialization of human society, high-efficiency production has become the main theme. Not only supplies, but also food has become a type of product produced by industrial standardization. In such a production process, food ingredients are broken down into various small parts, and then gradually added to the production line to form the desired products according to the needs of the public. Such foods often containHigh caloric density, high salt, high sugar, high oil, low fiberThe characteristics of this food make it easy for people to overdose. This kind of food is the so-called [super processed food] — Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs).
As the number of cancers worldwide gradually increases, about 50% is considered to be preventable early, and diet is an important and controllable risk factor for cancer. Therefore, many scientists have begun to explore the relationship between diet and cancer. relevance, hoping to reduce the health hazards caused by cancer. In response to this problem, a study published in the large international journal "eClinicalMedicine" in 2023paper, provides great information for reference.
thispaperUsing data from the British Human Biodatabase, there are nearly 200,000 people (N=197,426, 54.6% are women) who meet the admission criteria, and their ages fall between 40 and 69 years old. These people completed the study between 2009 and 2012. An online dietary review questionnaire within 24 hours (using the NOVA food classification system) will ultimately track the health status of the recipients until January 31, 2021. During the study period, which was followed for an average of about 9.8 years, a total of 15,921 people developed cancer and 4,009 cancer-related deaths occurred.
The study adjusted for a number of socioeconomic, behavioral and dietary factors (such as smoking, alcohol consumption, BMI, activity status, caloric intake, etc.) in the analysis. The research results found that the average intake of [super-processed foods] in the diet of the inmates was 22.9% (defined as the proportion of UPF in the total diet weight, SD: 13.3%, unit: g/day, also in this paper There is sensitivity analysis using kcal/day); incancer riskIn part, for every 10% increase in the proportion of daily intake of [super-processed foods], the overall cancer risk increases by 2%, among whichovarian cancerThe highest susceptibility, the risk of occurrence will increase 19%; while inRisk of cancer-related deathPartially, for every 10% increase in daily intake of [super-processed foods], the overall risk of cancer-related death increased by 6%, among whichovarian cancer,Breast cancerThe highest susceptibility, the risk of ovarian cancer-related death is increased by 30%, and the risk of breast cancer-related death is increased by 16%.
To sum up, the author believes that excessive intake of [super-processed foods] is indeed a major hidden danger, and we should graduallyReduce your intake of [super-processed foods] to reduce related health hazards.
But are all [super-processed foods] necessarily bad? The author doesn't think so. First of all, the goal of reducing UPF intake can only be achieved when healthy eating conditions are available. Imagine that in a place where food is scarce, the residents’ primary goal is not healthy eating, but survival. This is cheap and easy. The [super-processed food] obtained has become an important resource for residents to survive; in addition, if you refer to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FAOdata, based only on differences in the degree of processing, if we classify foods into [unprocessed or low-processed], [processed cooking materials], [processed foods], and [super-processed foods], we will find some potential cognitive fallacies, such as : Formula milk and dairy products with added additional nutrients are defined as [super-processed foods], but it is obvious that these two types of products are not suitable to be compared with traditional super-processed foods that are high in calories, high in salt, high in sugar, high in oil, and low in fiber. . Therefore, the author believes that we should return to the nutritional analysis of the food itself to more truly demonstrate its health effects.
〈The author is former Attending Physician in National Taiwan University Hospital, and Master of Science from National Taiwan University〉
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