Purpose
For decades, it has been customary to relate human health to the nutritional composition of foods, and from there was born food composition databases, composition labelling scores and the ...recommendation to eat varied foods. However, individuals can fully address their nutritional needs and become chronically ill. The nutrient balance of a food is only a small part of its overall health potential. In this paper, we discussed the proof of concept that the increased risk of chronic diseases worldwide is primarily associated with the degradation and artificialization of food matrices, rather than only their nutrient contents, based on the assumption that “food matrices govern the metabolic fate of nutrients”.
Methods
An empirico-inductive proof of concept research design has been used, based on scientific data linking the degree of food processing, food matrices and human health, notably on the glycaemic index, nutrient bioavailability, satiety potential, and synergistic effects.
Results
We postulate that if the nutrient content is insufficient to fully characterize the diet-global health relationship, one other dimensions is necessary, i.e., the food matrix through the degree of processing. Both matrix and nutrient composition dimensions have been included under the new concept of the 3V index for Real (Vrai), Vegetal (Végétal), and Varied (Varié) foods. The Real metric, reflecting the integrity of the initial food matrix, is the most important, followed by the Vegetal (nutrient origin) and the Varied (“composition” effect) metrics.
Conclusion
Concerning their effects on health, food matrix comes first, and then nutrient composition, and calorie quality matters more than calorie quantity.
...progress in tobacco control has been underpinned by a deliberate focus on the tobacco industry as an object of public health inquiry and action.2 Key here is Article 5.3 of the WHO Framework ...Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC);4 this Article, informed by evidence on the tobacco industry's misconduct, recognised the inherent conflict between its interests and public health.2 Article 5.3 therefore required parties to the FCTC treaty (now 183 in total) to protect the “setting and implementing of their public health policies…from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry”.5 Although tobacco industry attempts to undermine policy continue and implementation of Article 5.3 remains inadequate,4 it has driven efforts to exclude the tobacco industry from policy arenas, reducing its power and influence.2,5 This approach has been key to progress.2,5 The second lesson is that such protection from industry influence is insufficient to secure long-term advances. The enormous gains made in tobacco control are now under threat: long-standing declines in global cigarette sales6 and smoking prevalence—both globally7 and in every world region8—have stalled, and policy implementation has slowed.9 This is because the tobacco industry, concerned by the threat to its profits, is fighting back.6 From 2012 revenue from global cigarette sales (excluding China) began to be seriously threatened, largely as a result of implementation of the FCTC.6 Since then transnational tobacco companies began selling a variety of new addictive products (eg, e-cigarettes, oral nicotine, and cannabis) and later launched global public-relations campaigns that claimed they had changed and were, therefore, now part of the solution to the tobacco epidemic they had created.6 Inevitably, behind the glossy public-relations façade, the tobacco industry continues to market to children,10 oppose policies that would reduce smoking, and buy up new cigarette companies—all in an effort to expand sales of tobacco while adding new addictive products into the mix.6,11 How can the global NCD community apply these lessons? A Mokhtari via Getty Images Second, the stalling of tobacco control shows that governments must move well beyond these initial measures to address the system problems that are simultaneously driving ill health and making it harder to develop and implement effective solutions to it.1 The 2023 Lancet Series on the CDOH was instrumental in outlining these problems and ways to address them.1,16 A few of the recommendations from this Series are worth highlighting.16 Upstream policies need to be reformed to ensure they no longer favour corporate interests and hinder the passage of public-interest legislation.1 Changes to the way science is funded and published are required to ensure science functions in the public interest.12 This is particularly the case given the growth in private sector funding of science as public funding stagnates.17 Perhaps above all, governments need to ensure that health-harming industries pay for the harm they cause rather than being incentivised to keep causing that harm.16 This requires, among other things, addressing evidence that an estimated 40% of multinational profits end up in tax havens18 and US-listed corporations selling ultra-processed food, alcohol, fossil fuels, and tobacco globally are paying ever fewer taxes while causing increasing disease burdens.19 Until governments make these more radical changes, long-term progress in reducing NCDs and tackling the climate crisis will remain under threat.
The association between changes in ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and cardiometabolic risk (CMR) factors remains understudied. We evaluated the association between changes in UPF consumption ...over 12 months of follow-up and changes in CMR factors in adults diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.
We analysed data from 5373 adults (aged 55–75 years) participating in the PREDIMED-Plus trial. Diet was evaluated at baseline, 6- and 12-month visits using a validated food frequency questionnaire, and UPF consumption (in grams/day and percentage of total daily dietary intake in grams) was categorized based on NOVA classification. We used mixed-effects linear models with repeated measurements at baseline, 6 and 12 months of follow-up to assess the associations between changes in UPF consumption and changes in CMR factors adjusting for sociodemographic and lifestyles variables.
In multivariable-adjusted models, when comparing the highest versus the lowest quartile of UPF consumption, positive associations were found for several CMR factors: weight (kg, β = 1.09; 95% confidence interval 0.91 to 1.26); BMI (kg/m2, β = 0.39; 0.33 to 0.46); waist circumference (cm, β = 1.03; 0.81 to 1.26); diastolic blood pressure (mm Hg, β = 0.67; 0.29 to 1.06); fasting blood glucose (mg/dl, β = 1.66; 0.61 to 2.70); HbA1c (%, β = 0.04; 0.01 to 0.07); triglycerides (mg/dl, β = 6.79; 3.66 to 9.91) and triglycerides and glucose index (β = 0.06; 0.04 to 0.08).
Higher UPF consumption was associated with adverse evolution in objectively measured CMR factors after 12 months of follow-up in adults with metabolic syndrome. Further research is needed to explore whether these changes persist for longer periods.
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•Ultra-processed food consumption was associated with unfavourable cardiometabolic risk factors.•Participants with higher ultra-processed food consumption showed higher weight and body mass index.•Higher ultra-processed food consumption was associated with higher diastolic blood pressure.•Higher ultra-processed food consumption was related to unfavourable diabetes mellitus indicators.•Participants with higher ultra-processed food consumption showed unfavourable triglycerides profiles.
This study examined the association between measures of acculturation to the US environment including place of birth, and language spoken at home and proportion of life in the US among foreign-born, ...in relation to the dietary contribution of ultra-processed foods. Ultra-processed foods, as defined by the NOVA food classification system, are formulations of macronutrients (starches, sugars, fats and protein isolates) with little, if any, whole food and often with added flavors, colors, emulsifiers and other cosmetic additives. We studied 14,663 participants from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011–2016, aged 20+ years, who completed a 1-day 24-h dietary recall. Food items were classified using NOVA into ultra-processed or non-ultra-processed foods. Linear regression models adjusted for age, sex, family income, education and race/ ethnicity, showed significant associations between general acculturation measures and dietary contribution of ultra-processed foods. Foreign-born adults consumed less ultra-processed foods than US-born adults (45 vs. 58%, p < 0.001). Within foreign-born adults, ultra-processed food consumption increased with English permeation at home from 40% among individuals speaking non-English languages only to 50% among those speaking English only (p for linear trend <0.001). In addition, ultra-processed food consumption increased from 41% among foreign-born adults who spent less than 30% of their life in the US to 48% among those who lived in the US for more than 50% of their lives (p for linear trend <0.001). Race/ethnicity emerged as an important effect modifier for the observed associations.
•Foreign-born consumed less UPF than US-born adults.•Within foreign-born, UPF consumption increased with English permeation at home.•UPF consumption increased among foreign-born with proportion of life spent in US.•Race/ethnicity emerged as an effect modifier for the observed associations.
The consumption of ultra-processed foods and drinks (UPF) has been associated with depression and inflammation and preclinical studies showed that some UPF components disrupt the amygdala-hippocampal ...complex. We combine diet, clinical and brain imaging data to investigate the relationship between the UPF consumption, depressive symptoms, and brain volumes in humans, considering interactions with obesity, and the mediation effect of inflammation biomarkers.
One-hundred fifty-two adults underwent diet, depressive symptoms, anatomic magnetic resonance imaging assessments and laboratory tests. Relationships between the % of UPF consumption (in grams) of the total diet, depressive symptoms, and gray matter brain volumes were explored using several adjusted regression models, and in interaction with the presence of obesity. Whether inflammatory biomarkers (i.e., white blood cell count, lipopolysaccharide-binding protein, c-reactive protein) mediate the previous associations was investigated using R mediation package.
High UPF consumption was associated with higher depressive symptoms in all participants (β = 0.178, CI = 0.008–0.261) and in those with obesity (β = 0.214, CI = −0.004–0.333). Higher consumption was also associated with lower volumes in the posterior cingulate cortex and the left amygdala, which in the participants with obesity also encompassed the left ventral putamen and the dorsal frontal cortex. White blood count levels mediated the association between UPF consumption and depressive symptoms (p = 0.022).
The present study precludes any causal conclusions.
UPF consumption is associated with depressive symptoms and lower volumes within the mesocorticolimbic brain network implicated in reward processes and conflict monitoring. Associations were partially dependent on obesity and white blood cell count.
•UPF consumption was associated with depressive symptoms.•Higher UPF consumption was associated with lower volumes in mesocorticolimbic brain regions.•White blood cell count levels mediate the association between UPF consumption and depressive symptoms.•The presence of obesity interacted with the associations found with UPF consumption.
Ultra-processed foods (UPF), as proposed by the Nova food classification system, are linked to the development of obesity and several non-communicable chronic diseases and deaths from all causes. The ...Nova-UPF screener developed in Brazil is a simple and quick tool to assess and monitor the consumption of these food products. The aim of this study was to adapt and validate, against the 24-hour dietary recall, this short food-based screener to assess UPF consumption in the Senegalese context.
The tool adaptation was undertaken using DELPHI methodology with national experts and data from a food market survey. Following the adaptation, sub-categories were renamed, restructured and new ones introduced. The validation study was conducted in the urban area of Dakar in a convenience sample of 301 adults, using as a reference the dietary share of UPF on the day prior to the survey, expressed as a percentage of total energy intake obtained via 24-hour recall. Association between the Nova-UPF score and the dietary share of UPF was evaluated using linear regression models. The Pabak index was used to assess the agreement in participants' classification according to quintiles of Nova-UPF score and quintiles of the dietary share of UPF.
The results show a linear and positive association (p-value < 0.001) between intervals of the Nova-UPF score and the average dietary share of UPF. There was a near perfect agreement in the distribution of individuals according to score's quintiles and UPF dietary share quintiles (Pabak index = 0.84).
The study concluded that the score provided by the Nova-UPF screener adapted to the Senegalese context is a valid estimate of UPF consumption.
Americans waste about a pound of food per day. Some of this is represented by inedible food waste at the household level. Our objective was to estimate inedible food waste in relation to diet quality ...and participant socio-economic status (SES). Seattle Obesity Study III participants (
= 747) completed the Fred Hutch Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ) and socio-demographic and food expenditure surveys. Education and geo-coded tax-parcel residential property values were measures of SES. Inedible food waste was calculated from diet records. Retail prices of FFQ component foods (
= 378) were used to estimate individual-level diet costs. The NOVA classification was used to identify ultra-processed foods. Multivariable linear regressions tested associations between inedible food waste, SES, food spending, Nutrient Rich Food (NRF
) and Healthy Eating Index (HEI-2015) scores. Inedible food waste was estimated at 78.7 g/d, mostly from unprocessed vegetables (32.8 g), fruit (30.5 g) and meat, poultry, and fish (15.4 g). Greater inedible food waste was associated with higher HEI-2015 and NRF
scores, higher food expenditures and lower percent energy from ultra-processed foods. In multivariable models, more inedible food waste was associated with higher food expenditures, education and residential property values. Higher consumption of unprocessed foods were associated with more inedible food waste and higher diet costs. Geo-located estimates of inedible food waste can provide a proxy index of neighborhood diet quality.
Meat adulteration is a worldwide concern. In this paper, a new droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) method was developed for the quantitative determination of the presence of chicken in sheep and goat meat ...products. Meanwhile, a constant (multiplication factor) was introduced to transform the ratio of copy numbers to the proportion of meats. The presented ddPCR method was also proved to be more accurate (showing bias of less than 9% in the range from 5% to 80%) than real-time PCR, which has been widely used in this determination. The method exhibited good repeatability and stability in different thermal treatments and at ultra-high pressure. The relative standard deviation (RSD) values of 5% chicken content was less than 5.4% for ultra-high pressure or heat treatment. Moreover, we confirmed that different parts of meat had no effect on quantification accuracy of the ddPCR method. In contrast to real-time PCR, we examined the performance of ddPCR as a more precise, sensitive and stable analytical strategy to overcome potential problems of discrepancies in amplification efficiency discrepancy and to obtain the copy numbers directly without standard curves. The method and strategy developed in this study can be applied to quantify the presence and to confirm the absence of adulterants not only to sheep but also to other kinds of meat and meat products.
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