No link between ultra-processed food consumption and cardiovascular events risk

Eating ultra-processed food products does not appear to contribute to a significant increase in the risk of cardiovascular events, according to a study.

Researchers used data from the Isfahan cohort study and assessed the incidence of cardiovascular events and cardiovascular mortality in relation to the contribution of ultra-processed foods to daily energy intake. The analysis included 6,504 participants at least 35 years of age.

All participants provided data on their dietary intake by completing a validated food frequency questionnaire. The NOVA system was applied for ultra-processed food classification. The main study outcomes was any new case of cardiovascular events, including fatal and nonfatal myocardial infarction or stroke, unstable angina, and cardiovascular disease-related death.

There were 819 cardiovascular events, 164 cases of myocardial infarction, 348 cases of unstable angina, 172 strokes, and 181 cardiovascular deaths recorded over 61,352.5 person-years of follow-up. The median frequency of intake of ultra-processed foods was 2.47 times per week.

In a fully adjusted Cox proportional hazards regression model, the risk of the outcomes did not differ significantly between participants in the highest intake quartile of ultra-processed foods and those in the lowest quartile of intake. This was true for incident myocardial infarction and unstable angina (hazard ratio [HR], 1.12, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.87–1.46; p=0.364 for trend), stroke (HR, 0.93, 95 percent CI, 0.58–1.46; p=0.601 for trend), cardiovascular mortality (HR, 0.95, 95 percent CI, 0.61–1.47; p=0.596 for trend), and cardiovascular events (HR, 1.08, 95 percent CI, 0.88–1.34; p=0.515 for trend).