Ultra-Processed Foods Tied to Cancer, Diabetes, Dementia, Depression and Early Death

Hundreds of scientific studies provide strong evidence that consuming ultra-processed foods is linked to early death and serious diseases, including cancer, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, depression, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease.

Food companies heavily market (and profit from) ultra-processed foods, and they also formulate these foods addictive – with added sugars, fat, chemical additives, and other attributes that make the foods highly palatable and easy to overeat.

Over the last 20 years, Americans have continued to increase their consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Today, more than half of our calories come from UPFs. In this post, we provide an overview of ultra-processed foods – what they are, how much we eat, and key news coverage.