What's the Deal with Processed Foods and Health?
Lately, there's been a lot of talk about how the way our food is made might be linked to health issues. Have you heard about UPFs? They're foods that are made in factories using ingredients you won't typically find in your kitchen, like hydrogenated oils and modified starches. You know, those ready-to-eat, cheap snacks or drinks you find on store shelves? Yes those are UPFs.
Researchers have found that munching on these UPFs might up your chances of getting certain cancers. Ever heard of EPIC? It's a study where they found a connection between eating UPFs and higher risks of certain cancers in the head and neck area. Plus, these foods can lead to putting on extra weight, which is another risk factor for these cancers, especially in people who' have never smoked.
This big study looked at over 450,000 people to dig deeper into how much eating UPFs could raise the risk of these cancers. They did not just stop at looking at the overall risk – they even checked if different types of cancers in the head and neck were affected by UPFs. They also considered other things like smoking, drinking, and how active people were. And they looked at how body weight plays a role too.
Guess what they found? Eating more UPFs was tied to a higher chance of getting these cancers. And get this: men seemed to have a stronger link between UPFs and these cancers compared to women. But here's the kicker - they think there might still be some other things not considered that could have affected the results.
One thing they noticed is that eating these processed foods messes with your weight and the fat around your middle. These foods aren't packed with the good stuff your body needs, and some studies even say they mess with your gut bugs. And those changes might just be why the risk of these cancers goes up. But here's the thing, they found that weight alone might not explain everything.
The study is valid asit had loads of people in it and following them for a long time. They even measured body weight properly, not just asking people to remember! But there were some things that could have messed with the results, like assuming everything was measured perfectly and not considering some factors that might have affected the results.
So, eating too much of processed foods might not be great for avoiding certain head and neck cancers. But remember, this study might not cover everything, so it's good to see if other studies say the same thing.
