Processed Foods Add To Heart Attack, Stroke Risk

 

 

“People who eat around nine servings a day of ultraprocessed foods like chips and doughnuts have about a 67% higher risk of heart attacks, strokes and dying from heart disease compared with those who eat about one serving a day, according to a new study.

 

The risks rose with each additional serving a person ate, according to the study published Tuesday in JACC: Advances, a journal of the American College of Cardiology.

 

The findings add to a growing body of research linking diets high in ultraprocessed foods to a range of health problems.

 

They were released as the Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. takes steps to discourage eating junk foods, including issuing new dietary guidelines advising Americans to avoid highly processed foods with added sugars and salt, such as packaged chips, cookies and candy.

 

Nutrition researchers generally define ultraprocessed foods as items containing ingredients that aren't generally found in a home kitchen, such as high-fructose corn syrup and emulsifiers. Most ultraprocessed foods would be considered junk food and are high in added sugars, saturated fat and sodium.

 

In the study, researchers followed more than 6,800 adults beginning when they were ages 45 to 84 and didn't have cardiovascular disease. The participants answered questions about what they typically ate. The researchers controlled for a variety of factors that can influence health including tobacco use, physical activity, daily caloric intake, blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

 

Each additional daily serving of ultraprocessed foods was associated with a 5.1% increased risk of cardiovascular disease, the researchers found.

 

The health risks associated with ultraprocessed foods were higher for Black people. Black people had a 6.1% increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and dying from heart disease for each additional daily serving of ultraprocessed foods, compared with a 3.2% increased risk for other racial groups.

 

That higher risk might be driven by chronic stress and the lack of access to fresh food in some communities, among other factors, said Dr. Amier Haidar, a cardiology fellow at UTHealth Houston and the lead author of the paper.

 

Ultraprocessed foods have certain qualities that might be contributing to the negative health effects, scientists have found. These foods tend to be energy dense, meaning they contain more calories per gram than less-processed foods.

 

They also often have particular combinations of fat, sugar, sodium and carbs that can make people crave them.

 

Certain additives common in ultraprocessed foods, like emulsifiers, can alter the gut microbiome in a way that might cause inflammation. Inflammation has been implicated in many health problems including Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.

 

Not all ultraprocessed products are equal -- and some may even be relatively healthy, nutrition scientists say. Among the healthier options are whole-grain breads, some soy and almond milks and some plant-based meat alternatives, said Maya Vadiveloo, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Rhode Island.

 

When Haidar talks to his patients about ultraprocessed foods, he encourages them to make small changes like eliminating sugary drinks and adding more fruits and vegetables. When you eat more vegetables "you increase your fiber, you feel full longer, and that helps mitigate the overeating from when you rely on ultraprocessed foods," he said.” [1]

 

1. U.S. News: Processed Foods Add To Heart Attack, Stroke Risk. Petersen, Andrea.  Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y.. 18 Mar 2026: A3.