Vegetarians eat more ultra-processed foods (UPF) than their meat-eating counterparts, a major UK study has revealed.
While the diet may be packed with fresh fruits and vegetables, vegetarians can also consume large amounts of UPF, such as chocolate bars, ready meals, frozen pizzas, and soft drinks.
A team of experts, led by Imperial College London, surveyed almost 200,000 Britons about their average daily intake of UPF and their overall diet.
They found that UPFs made up a fifth of all participants’ diets, but vegetarians were the most likely to rely on them.
Overall, the researchers found that they ate significantly more ultra-processed foods than “regular red meat eaters,” defined in the study as eating red meat more than once a week.
Vegans, despite a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and legumes, were also high consumers of UPF and ate as much as carnivores.
Instead, it was those who ate red meat sporadically and moderately and Pescatarians who were least likely to rely on UPF.
The authors said their results also found an increase in the consumption of UPF plant milks and fake meats among plant-conscious vegetarians, vegans and Pescatarians, which they called “worrying.”
“The UPF industry is increasingly promoting UPFs produced exclusively from plant-based substances as healthy and sustainable alternatives to drive consumers’ transition toward meat-based diets,” they wrote in the magazine. ECclinicalMedicine.
Vegetarians eat more ultra-processed foods (UPF) than their more carnivorous counterparts, a major study of Brits has revealed. stock image
“It is therefore important that urgently needed policies that address the sustainability of the food system also promote the rebalancing of diets towards minimally processed foods and away from UPF.”
Multiple experts have highlighted how plant-based milks and fake meats are not the healthy substitutes that consumers might assume, and could even be linked to cardiovascular disease.
The authors of the current study, which also included scientists from France and Brazil, highlighted research suggesting that UPF consumption in general is linked to a number of health problems, including obesity, type 2 diabetes and even cancer. and death.
Although vegans consume, on average, as much or more UPF than meat-eaters, experts noted that their diets were generally healthier, with more fiber and fewer total calories, saturated fat and salt than other groups.
The authors attributed this to higher overall consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.
The study had a number of limitations, one of which was the low proportion of vegans included: only 159.
Experts also noted that the data, collected as part of a long-running study between 2006 and 2010, was based on participants’ memories of their diet, which is known to be subjective and unreliable.
They also noted that the study group appeared to eat less UPF than the average Briton, with some estimates suggesting that these foods now make up 57 per cent of the national diet, the highest proportion in Europe.
UPF is a staple of the modern British diet and is an umbrella term that covers a host of foods packed with artificial colours, sweeteners and preservatives that extend shelf life.
UPFs cover a lot of foods and beverages full of artificial colors, sweeteners and preservatives, plus, typically, calories and sugar.
Examples include ready meals, ice cream, and even ketchup.
They typically undergo multiple industrial processes that research shows degrade the physical structure of food, making it faster to absorb.
This, in turn, can increase the risk of blood sugar spikes and spikes, which reduces satiety.
It has also been said to damage the microbiome, the community of “friendly” bacteria that live inside us and that we depend on for good health.
UPFs are believed to be a key driver of obesity, which costs the NHS around £6.5 billion a year.
However, experts have repeatedly urged caution when linking UPF consumption to health problems.
Many consider the term UPF to be too broad, as it considers a loaf of whole wheat bread, which has some health benefits, and a prepared dish rich in salt, fat and sugar, as the same type of food according to its classification system. .
Some experts argue that this can make it unclear which UPFs might be causing specific health problems.
Researchers have also highlighted that UPFs themselves may not be directly causing the health problems seen in the studies.
Instead, they suggested that eating a lot of UPF could be a symptom of other problems such as poverty, which can reduce people’s intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.