Summarised by Centrist
New studies appear to indicate that vegan ultra-processed foods (UPFs), drinks, cereals and ready-to-eat products may be devoid of vitamins and fibre. This is because they’re high in emulsifiers, sugar, saturated fat, and salt, so these ‘healthy’ foods can cause increased risk of heart attacks.
University of São Paulo and Imperial College London researchers assessed the diets of 118,000 British study participants aged 40 to 69. They found that plant-based foods generally lessen the risk of death from heart disease by 20%. However, if participants were eating high amounts of ultra-processed plant-based meals, the result was a 12% rise in heart disease deaths.
The reason?
According to study author Fernanda Rauber, it’s because the additives, industrial contaminants and processing methods of UPFs leads to oxidative stress, inflammation, higher blood pressure and higher cholesterol.
Rauber’s advice?
“Those shifting towards plant-based foods should also think about the degree of processing involved before making their choices.”
One study author, Dr Eszter Vamos, cautioned that plant-based foods shouldn’t market themselves as healthy if their ingredients are highly processed, pointing out that foods made purely from plants include biscuits, crisps, confectionery and soft drinks – hardly healthy eating.
