Want to reduce your risk of developing chronic disease and live longer while also helping the planet? Eat a plant-based diet, experts say.
Does that mean you can fill your plate with boxed macaroni and cheese, deep-dish frozen veggie pizza or fast-food French fries and have a doughnut or three for dessert?
While all of those ultraprocessed choices may be meat-free, they are not without risk, said Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior teaching fellow at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, United Kingdom.
“We can’t always assume plant-based means healthy, as after all sugar is plant-based,” Mellor said in a statement.
“Many foods that do not contain animal products, which includes biscuits, crisps, confectionary and soft drinks, are technically plant-based but would not be considered essential as part of a healthy diet by the majority of people.”
In fact, eating such plant-based junk foods dramatically raises bad cholesterol and hypertension and can lead to associated heart disease and early death, according to a new study authors call “the first” to show ultraprocessed plant foods are associated with an increase in the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
“Eating plant-based products can be beneficial, acting as protection against health problems, or it can represent a risk – it all depends on the level of processing of these foods,” said senior study author Renata Levy, a researcher in the Epidemiological Research Center in Nutrition and Health at the University of São Paulo, known as Nupens/USP, in Brazil.
Ultraprocessed foods undergo multiple industrial processes, such as heating, fracking of nutrients and proteins, molding and compression, and have added chemicals to cosmetically alter their colour, smell, taste and texture.
Foods in this category are formulated to be hyper-palatable to human taste buds and are often extremely convenient, requiring little to no preparation time.
Unprocessed foods include fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs and milk.
Minimally processed foods include culinary ingredients such as salt, herbs and oils, and foods such as canned goods and frozen vegetables that combine culinary ingredients with unprocessed foods.
“Food additives and industrial contaminants present in these foods might cause oxidative stress and inflammation, further aggravating the risks,” said first author Fernanda Rauber, a researcher with Nupens/USP.
