Every 10pc increase in ultra-processed food intake may raise diabetes Risk

Love to binge on savoury snacks, ready meals, and sugar or artificially-sweetened beverages? Beware, every 10 per cent intake of these ultra-processed foods (UPF) may raise your risk of type 2 diabetes by 17 per cent, according to a study published in The Lancet Regional Health-Europe on Monday. 

Importantly, the study showed that the risk can be lowered by consuming less-processed foods instead, said researchers from the University College London (UCL), University of Cambridge, and Imperial College London.

To investigate the relationship between the degree of food processing and diabetes risk the team included 311,892 individuals from eight European countries in the study. They were followed over 10.9 years on average, during which time 14,236 people developed diabetes.

In the top 25 per cent of UPF consumers, where UPF made up 23.5 per cent of their total diet, sweetened beverages alone accounted for nearly 40 per cent of their UPF intake and 9 per cent of their diet overall.

On the other hand, substituting 10 per cent of UPF in the diet with 10 per cent of minimally processed food such as eggs, milk, and fruit or processed culinary ingredients such as salt, butter, and oil reduced diabetes risk by 14 per cent.

Further, replacing 10 per cent of UPF in the diet with 10 per cent of processed foods (PF) like tinned fish, beer and cheese reduced diabetes risk by 18 per cent. PF also includes salted nuts, artisanal breads, and preserved fruits and vegetables.

The findings add to the growing body of research that links consumption of UPF with a higher risk of certain chronic diseases including obesity, cardiometabolic diseases, and some cancers, said the team.