This Food May Cause Cancer, A New Study Says

Processed foods have long been known to be less healthy than whole foods. They include things that are heated, frozen, diced, juiced, etc, says the American Heart Association. But ultra-processed foods or things with added colors, flavors, and emulsifiers are even worse. And new research is confirming that.

A study published recently in The BMJ says that a diet high in ultra-processed foods can cause cancer. This includes things like soft drinks, chips, candy, and ready-to-eat and microwavable foods. The lack of nutritional value and higher amounts of sodium, sugar, fat, and unnatural additives are a bad combination, according to Harvard Health. 

In the new study, the food records of almost 105,000 adults in France were studied. They found that those with diets made up of 10% or more ultra-processed foods also had more than a 10% greater risk of breast and other cancers. This result was found even though the authors of the study removed other cancer risk factors. These include things like age, body mass, family history, and smoking.

"It was quite surprising, the strength of the results," Mathilde Touvier, the co-author of the study, said, according to CNN. "They were really strongly associated, and we did many sensitive analysis and adjusted the findings for many co-factors, and still, the results here were quite concerning."

There has been significant research on ultra-processed foods and obesity, heart issues, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. They usually contain a lot of calories, and the long-term effects of the additives put in to keep the foods stable on shelves aren't known yet.