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Nearly 70% of all foods in the food stores in the United States are ultra -processed, which means that foods contain supplements used to add aroma and color, create texture, extend the shelf life and prevent the ingredients from separation.
However, there are small studies on the effects of health supplements and what data the possible damage of individual ingredients, such as nutritional dyes and armored vegetable oil, are considered, as well as pollutants that leak into packaging foods.
However, the clusters of supplements often used by the industry in certain categories of foods can be more harmful when eaten together than themselves, according to a new study, which detects two such mixtures associated with a small but significant increase in type 2 diabetes.
“Studies have shown that taking certain clusters of supplements increases the risk of diabetes outside the effect of each individual supplement,” says Carlos Augusto Monteiro, a professor of emery at the Sao Paulo University of Public Health in Brazil, in an email.
“The fact that the regulation of supplements deals with their impact on health individually, not as part of a combination, is criticized, since these supplements are consumed in clusters, not alone,” Monteirro said. “The study shows that this criticism is absolutely valid.”
Monteiro, who did not participate in the study, created a commonly used NOVA classification system that groups food at processing levels. Foods in their natural state, such as fruits, vegetables, meat, milk and eggs, are considered unprocessed or minimally processed.
Salts, oils and spices are processed for cooking ingredients. Canned vegetables and fruits, bread and cheese are considered processed. Packaged and ready -to -eat foods, processed meats and sugary and dietary drinks that contain supplements that are never used or rarely used in kitchens and which undergo extensive industrial processing are considered ultra -processed.
The International Board of Beverages Associations, which is an industry, told CNN by email that the survey was “absurd”.
“The statement of this study is very misleading and serves only to inspire fear and confusion among consumers. Decades of stable scientific evidence show that these ingredients are safe,” said ICBA CEO Kate Loatman.
Additive clusters
Supplements often used in ultra -procedural foods include preservatives for resistance to mold and bacteria; emulsifiers to prevent incompatible ingredients; artificial colors and dyes; flavors and scent enhancers; Anti-Fuaming, accumulation, whitening, jelly and glazing; And add or altered sugar, salt and fat, designed to make the food more attractive.
The industry often combines the same supplements over and over in a certain type of food as they have complementary properties, said senior study author Matilde Tuvier, director of the Food Epidemiological Team at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, a public research organization.
“Dietary soda will contain a mixture of artificial sweeteners, dyes and sunshines such as aspartame, Acesulfam potassium (ACE-K), sulphite ammonia caramel and citric acid,” Tuvier says by email. “The same for flavored yogurt – with emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners – or industrial bread with emulsifiers, preservatives, etc.”
In addition, people often eat certain foods together, thus creating unique groups of supplements, said Tuvier, who is also the chief researcher of the Nutrinet-Santé cohort, a long-term study of the relationship between nutrition and health.
Take a regular fast food user who eats typical food from a burger for industrial bun, fries and soda or hot dogs on industrial bread with chips and soda. Eating the same ultra -processed foods together can regularly contribute to the creation of these clusters of chemicals, she said.
People often eat the same ultra -processed foods regularly together, thus exposed to certain clusters of additives. – south_agency/istockphoto/getty images
More harmful together than themselves
The new study, published on Tuesday at PLOS Medicine, analyzes the food and health data of over 108,000 adults involved in the French study by Nutrinet-Santé. Previous studies using this population have revealed a link between artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers such as Polysorbate 80, Carrageenan, Xanthan and Guar Gum and nitrates found in processed meats with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes.
Participants were asked for their dietary brand intake at the beginning of the study, using the Open Food Food Food Food Food Databases, Allergens and Nutritional Facts of over 3 million foods from 150 trademark countries. Knowing the list of food and ingredients for each food has allowed researchers to create a database with known supplements eaten by each person.
“These mixtures are based on data,” says first study, Marie Payen de la Guaranters, a doctoral student in the Food Epidemiology Study team at the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research.
“We didn’t solve” a priori “for group supplements together. These 5 mixtures reflect those most commonly absorbed by participants in Nutrinet-Santé, “says de la guarantors in email.” This study is the first to evaluate the exposure to food supplements in a large group of the general population and analyze their connection to the type of type 2 diabetes. “
The nutritional data were then compared to medical records until December 2023 to see who developed type 2 diabetes.
“We carefully adjust all the energy intake models, added sugars, saturated fatty acids, sodium, dietary fiber, etc. to isolate the potential effect of the studied mixtures, regardless of the well -known effect of sugar on type 2 diabetes,” Tuvier said.
Of the five supplements, two are associated with a modest increase in the risk of diabetes, regardless of the nutritional quality of the diet or sociodemographic and lifestyle.
The first cluster consisted of modified starch, pectin, guar gum, cargenan, polyphosphate, potassium sorbates, curcumin and xanthan gum. Xantan and guy gum are obtained from plants and are usually safe, even useful, according to some studies. However, other studies have found interruptions in the gut microbiota and inflammation.
Foods in this cluster will include creamy milk desserts, such as ready -to -eat puddings, fat sauces such as cheese and broth.
“Modified starch is a group of phosphate supplements,” says Elizabeth Dunford, an assistant professor at the Department of Nutrition at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, which did not participate in the study.
“There are numerous studies to show the harmful administration of phosphate on the kidney function, and it is certainly associated with negative effects in type 2 diabetes,” Dunford says in an email.
The second cluster associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes included citric acid, sodium citrates, phosphoric acid, ammonia caramel sulfite, potassium from Aszulfam or Ace-K, Aspartam, sucralose, Arabic gum, malicious acid, carnava wax extract. These supplements are usually found in sweet and artificially sweetened drinks.
“One of the clusters contains several emulsifiers, while the other contains several sweeteners that are not sugars-two groups with separate components whose diabetes is already demonstrated, so the findings are very consistent,” Monteiro said.
Much more research needs to be done to obtain a “deeper understanding” of the potential interactions of the mixtures of nutritional supplements on metabolism, said de la Garandators.
“The research seems in depth,” Dunford said. “I think this document is a good first step to highlight the potential negative health effects from specific combinations of supplements.”
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