Tag Archives: ultraprocessed food

The Link Between Ultra-Processed Foods and Irritable Bowel

Posted on by

S Wu et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2024; 22: 1497-1507. Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Long-Term Risk of Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Large-Scale Prospective Cohort Study

Methods: Participants (N = 178,711) who completed 24-hour dietary recalls during 2009 to 2012 from the UK Biobank, and free of IBS, celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease, and any cancer at baseline, were included. During a median of 11.3 years of follow-up, 2690 incident IBS cases were identified.

Key findings:

  • The mean UPF consumption was 21.0% (SD, 11.0%) of the total diet
  • An 8% higher risk of IBS (hazard ratio, 1.08; 95% CI, 1.04–1.12) was associated with every 10% increment of UPF consumption
  • Compared with the lowest quartile of UPF consumption, the highest quartile was associated with a significantly increased risk of incident IBS (hazard ratio, 1.19)

Discussion:

  • “The worsening global epidemic of IBS has coincided with increased dietary consumption of UPF over the past few decades…A similar positive association with IBS (odds ratio of quartile 4 vs quartile 1 = 1.25; 95% CI, 1.12–1.39) was detected in…the French NutriNet-Santé study”
  • High UPF consumption has been associated with “a 42% greater risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and a 22% greater risk of depression.”
  • The authors note that with an observational study, this limits the determination of causality between UPF and IBS

My take: Yet, another study showing that UPF are associated with negative health outcomes. This study reported that UPF consumption was 21% of participants’ diet. In U.S., the current estimate is 60-70% (Source: NPR May 2023: What we know about the health risks of ultra-processed foods). It would be helpful if these foods that are bad for our health did not taste so good!

Related blog posts:

Bryce Canyon

Risk Factors for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: Ultra-Processed Food (Part 1)

Posted on by

N Narula et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2023; 21: 2483-2495. Open Access! Food Processing and Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

JA Fitzpatrick et al. Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2023; 21: 2478-2480 (editorial). Open Access! Ultra-processed Foods and Risk of Crohn’s Disease: How Much is Too Much?

Figure 1 from editorial: The NOVA classification of food

A total of 1,068,425 participants were included (13,594,422 person-years) among 5 cohort studies published between 2020 and 2022. The average age of participants ranged from 43 to 56 years. Key findings:

  • Crohn’s disease:  During follow-up, 916 participants developed CD, and 1934 developed UC. There was an increased risk for development of CD for participants with higher consumption of ultra-processed foods compared with those with lower consumption (HR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.37–2.14; I2 = 0%) and a lower risk of CD for participants with higher consumption of unprocessed/minimally processed foods compared with those with lower consumption (HR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.53–0.94; I2 = 11%). 
  • Ulcerative colitis: There was no significant association between risk of UC and ultra-processed foods (HR, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.86–1.61; I2 = 74%) or unprocessed/minimally processed foods (HR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.68–1.02; I2 = 0%).

The associated editorial by Fitzpatrick et al, notes that “there are plausible mechanisms that explain the associations of higher UPFs and development of CD, such as: (1) displacing the intake of minimally processed foods and subsequently reducing exposure to beneficial micronutrients, antioxidants, and phytochemicals; (2) driving overconsumption of total calories7; and (3) increasing exposure to non-nutritive food substances that have been implicated in the development of CD in pre-clinical studies…The notion is that a lower UPF intake is better, but a cutoff value remains elusive.”8

My take (borrowed from editorial): “the population studies have indicated that the extremes of UPF intake are related to risk of CD and that such associations are underpinned by plausible biological mechanisms, suggesting causality.”

Related blog posts: