Ultra-Processed Foods Health Effects Backed By Evidence

Key Takeaways

• Ultra-processed foods are industrial products with additives, extracts and little whole food.
• Higher intake links with weight gain, heart disease, diabetes and earlier death.
• A short feeding trial found these foods drove higher calorie intake and weight gain.
• These products often crowd out simple meals built from eggs, meat, dairy and fruit.
• Eating fewer ultra-processed foods can support steadier hunger, energy and long term health.

NOVA Basics

Ultra-processed foods are not just foods that were cooked, canned or frozen. In the NOVA system, they are industrial formulations made with ingredients such as refined starches, sugars, oils, protein isolates, flavorings, colors, emulsifiers and sweeteners. These products are built to be ready to eat, highly tasty and easy to overuse (Monteiro et al., 2019).

Common examples include soft drinks, packaged snacks, candy, instant noodles, sweet breakfast cereals, mass produced breads, reconstituted meat products, frozen meals and many fast foods. A simple clue often helps. If a label lists many added substances that would not be used in a home kitchen, the food is often ultra-processed (Monteiro et al., 2019).

Easy To Overeat

These foods are usually soft, fast to chew and very rewarding to the brain. They also tend to combine refined carbohydrate, fat, salt and flavor additives in ways that make stopping harder.

A small trial at the National Institutes of Health tested this idea in real time. Adults ate either an ultra-processed diet or an unprocessed diet for two weeks, then switched. The ultra-processed diet led to higher calorie intake and about 0.9 kilograms of weight gain, even though the diets were matched for calories offered, sugar, fat, sodium and fiber on paper (Hall et al., 2019).

That study matters because it moved past simple food surveys. It showed that food structure, texture and reward can change how much people eat, even during a short period (Hall et al., 2019; Fardet, 2016).

The Evidence

Weight & Metabolic Health

Large reviews now show a broad pattern. Higher intake of ultra-processed foods is linked with overweight, obesity and worse health status across many populations. A systematic review and meta-analysis by Pagliai and colleagues found that higher intake was associated with greater odds of overweight or obesity and other poor health outcomes (Pagliai et al., 2021).

Another systematic review by Chen and colleagues reached a similar result across epidemiological studies. Higher intake was associated with a greater risk of obesity, heart disease, diabetes and all cause mortality, though most included studies were observational and cannot prove cause by themselves (Chen et al., 2020).

Cohort studies also point in the same direction. In the SUN cohort, higher intake was associated with a higher risk of becoming overweight or obese over time. In a separate SUN analysis, higher intake was also linked with a higher risk of hypertension (Mendonça et al., 2016; Mendonça et al., 2017).

Heart Disease & Diabetes

The NutriNet-Santé cohort in France found that higher intake of ultra-processed foods was associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular disease. The same research group later reported that higher intake was also associated with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes (Srour et al., 2019; Srour et al., 2020).

These findings do not mean one packaged meal causes disease by itself. They do show that a food pattern heavy in industrial products tracks with worse metabolic health over time. That pattern also makes sense when the diet brings more added sugars, refined starches, damaged fats and fewer intact foods with better satiety and nutrient density (Rauber et al., 2018; Elizabeth et al., 2020).

Mortality Signals

Several prospective studies have found that people who eat more ultra-processed foods face a higher risk of earlier death. In the SUN study, eating more than four servings a day was associated with a 62 percent relative increase in all cause mortality and each extra serving was linked with higher risk (Rico-Campà et al., 2019).

A French cohort study also found that a 10 percent increase in the share of ultra-processed foods in the diet was associated with a 14 percent higher mortality risk (Schnabel et al., 2019).

A 2024 umbrella review brought together many meta-analyses and found that greater exposure to ultra-processed food was associated with higher risk of adverse outcomes, especially cardiometabolic disease, common mental disorders and mortality. Much of the evidence was low or very low quality, so the signal is broad but the exact size of harm remains uncertain (Lane et al., 2024).

Health Risk

Diet Quality Drops

Ultra-processed foods do more than add empty calories. They often replace real meals. When a diet leans heavily on packaged products, it can crowd out eggs, beef, lamb, fish, shellfish, yogurt, cheese, fruit and other simpler foods. Those foods tend to offer better protein quality, more useful minerals and more satisfying meals.

Research from the United Kingdom found that as the share of ultra-processed foods rose, diets contained more free sugars, total fat, saturated fat and sodium, while protein, fiber and potassium fell (Rauber et al., 2018). In the United States, higher intake has also been associated with excess weight among adults (Juul et al., 2018).

Hunger Gets Less Stable

Many people notice stronger cravings when they eat more packaged food. That lived experience fits the trial evidence. Foods that are easy to chew and quick to swallow can weaken normal stopping signals.

Fardet also reported that minimally processed ready to eat foods were more satiating and less glycemic than ultra-processed choices in a preliminary comparison (Fardet, 2016). This helps explain why a person can finish chips, sweet drinks, cereal bars or frozen desserts and still want more food soon after. The body got energy, but the meal often did not feel complete.

Avoiding Ultra-Processed Foods

Real Food

A practical way to cut ultra-processed foods is to stop thinking in terms of snacks and start thinking in terms of meals. One to three meals a day made from simple foods can lower exposure without making life too hard.

Helpful meal bases include the following choices.

• Eggs, beef, lamb, chicken, fish, shellfish, yogurt and cheese
• Fruit, roots, herbs and other simple side foods that fit the meal
• Water, mineral water, milk or plain coffee with the meal

This pattern can support steadier hunger because the meal has more substance and less engineered reward.

Read Labels Fast

A short label scan can save time. Foods are more likely to be ultra-processed when they contain long ingredient lists with isolates, emulsifiers, gums, colors, flavor enhancers, or sweeteners. Foods are less likely to fit that category when they look close to their original form and have only a few familiar ingredients (Monteiro et al., 2019).

Lowering intake does not require a perfect diet. Replacing even one daily packaged product with a simple meal can cut exposure in a meaningful way over weeks and months.

Credit – amazon.com

Before changing your diet, supplements or health routine, talk with a licensed healthcare professional. For any health concerns or questions about a medical condition, get guidance from a physician or another appropriately trained clinician.

FAQs

What counts as an ultra-processed food?

Ultra-processed foods are industrial products made with refined ingredients and additives. They often come ready to eat, ready to heat or ready to drink.

Are all processed foods harmful?

No. Freezing, fermenting, drying and canning can be useful forms of processing. Ultra-processing is the main concern because it creates heavily altered products with many added substances.

Can ultra-processed foods cause weight gain?

A short randomized feeding trial found that people ate more calories and gained weight on an ultra-processed diet. Many long term studies also link higher intake with overweight and obesity.

Do ultra-processed foods raise disease risk?

Large observational studies link higher intake with higher risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and earlier death. Those studies show association, while the strongest causal trial evidence is still short term.

What is the easiest first step to reduce them?

The easiest first step is to replace one daily packaged food with a simple meal made from eggs, meat, dairy, fruit or other basic foods.

Research

Pagliai, G., Dinu, M., Madarena, M.P., Bonaccio, M., Iacoviello, L. and Sofi, F. (2021) ‘Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health status: a systematic review and meta-analysis’, British Journal of Nutrition. Available at: Cambridge Core

Chen, X., Zhang, Z., Yang, H., Qiu, P., Wang, F., Zhao, Q., Fang, J. and Nie, J. (2020) ‘Consumption of ultra-processed foods and health outcomes: a systematic review of epidemiological studies’, Nutrition Journal, 19(86). Available at: Springer

Hall, K.D., Ayuketah, A., Brychta, R., et al. (2019) ‘Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain: an inpatient randomized controlled trial of ad libitum food intake’, Cell Metabolism, 30(1), pp. 67–77.e3. Available at: PubMed

Srour, B., Fezeu, L.K., Kesse-Guyot, E., et al. (2019) ‘Ultra-processed food intake and risk of cardiovascular disease: prospective cohort study’, BMJ, 365, l1451. Available at: BMJ

Srour, B., Fezeu, L.K., Kesse-Guyot, E., et al. (2020) ‘Ultraprocessed food consumption and risk of type 2 diabetes among participants of the NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort’, JAMA Internal Medicine, 180(2), pp. 283–291. Available at: JAMA Network

Rico-Campà, A., Martínez-González, M.A., Alvarez-Alvarez, I., et al. (2019) ‘Association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and all cause mortality: SUN prospective cohort study’, BMJ, 365, l1949. Available at: BMJ

Schnabel, L., Kesse-Guyot, E., Allès, B., et al. (2019) ‘Association between ultraprocessed food consumption and risk of mortality among middle-aged adults in France’, JAMA Internal Medicine, 179(4), pp. 490–498. Available at: JAMA Network

Mendonça, R.D., Pimenta, A.M., Gea, A., et al. (2016) ‘Ultraprocessed food consumption and risk of overweight and obesity: the University of Navarra Follow-Up (SUN) cohort study’, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 104(5), pp. 1433–1440. Available at: PubMed

Mendonça, R.D., Lopes, A.C.S., Pimenta, A.M., Gea, A., Martinez-Gonzalez, M.A. and Bes-Rastrollo, M. (2017) ‘Ultra-processed food consumption and the incidence of hypertension in a Mediterranean cohort: the SUN project’, Public Health Nutrition, 20(13), pp. 2365–2372. Available at: PubMed

Bonaccio, M., Di Castelnuovo, A., Costanzo, S., et al. (2021) ‘Ultra-processed food consumption is associated with increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the Moli-sani Study’, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 113(2), pp. 446–455. Available at: ScienceDirect

Juul, F., Martinez-Steele, E., Parekh, N., Monteiro, C.A. and Chang, V.W. (2018) ‘Ultra-processed food consumption and excess weight among US adults’, British Journal of Nutrition, 120(1), pp. 90–100. Available at: PubMed

Rauber, F., Louzada, M.L.C., Martinez Steele, E., Millett, C., Monteiro, C.A. and Levy, R.B. (2018) ‘Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases-Related Dietary Nutrient Profile in the UK (2008–2014)’, Nutrients, 10(5), 587. Available at: PMC

Monteiro, C.A., Cannon, G., Levy, R.B., et al. (2019) ‘Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them’, Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), pp. 936–941. Available at: PMC

Elizabeth, L., Machado, P., Zinöcker, M., Baker, P. and Lawrence, M. (2020) ‘Ultra-Processed Foods and Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review’, Nutrients, 12(7), 1955. Available at: PMC

Fardet, A. (2016) ‘Minimally processed foods are more satiating and less hyperglycemic than ultra-processed foods: a preliminary study with 98 ready-to-eat foods’, Food & Function, 7(5), pp. 2338–2346. Available at: PubMed

Monteiro, C.A., Cannon, G., Moubarac, J.C., et al. (2018) ‘The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing’, Public Health Nutrition, 21(1), pp. 5–17. Available at: PubMed

Lawrence, M.A. and Baker, P.I. (2019) ‘Ultra-processed food and adverse health outcomes’, BMJ, 365, l2289. Available at: BMJ

Lane, M.M., Gamage, E., Du, S., et al. (2024) ‘Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses’, BMJ, 384, bmj-2023-077310. Available at: BMJ