Eating This Common Food Could Be Making You Weaker
The latest study indicates that ultra-processed food is contributing to increased frailty among people.
A recent study has raised concerns about the health effects of consuming ultra-processed foods, as reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Another study published in the British Medical Journal revealed that approximately 60% of Americans’ energy intake comes from ultra-processed foods.
These foods include snacks, soft drinks, instant noodles, ready meals, and products with lengthy lists of unfamiliar ingredients and preservatives, according to Newsweek. Consuming such foods is associated with unhealthy lifestyles, making individuals more susceptible to neurological, cardiovascular, and other diseases.
The current research also highlights a link between consumption of ultra-processed foods and increased frailty or weakness. Frailty affects about 15% of adults aged 65 and older in the US, reducing their ability to respond to physical activity and injuries, weakening muscle strength, and heightening vulnerability to stressors and other bodily changes.
Led by Teresa Fung at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, the study found that daily servings of ultra-processed foods were directly associated with a higher risk of frailty. Specifically, increased frailty risk was observed with each daily serving of artificial and sugar-sweetened beverages, fats, spreads, condiments, yogurt and dairy desserts, and other ultra-processed items.
“Our study underscores the significant impact of diet on frailty risk in older women,” noted one of the researchers. “This suggests that it’s not just the content of our diet but also the degree of food processing that may play a critical role in aging and physical function.”
