Ultra-processed foods make people weak! Tianjin scholars study

Nowadays, ultra-processed foods (cola, bread, cakes, potato chips, candy, hamburgers, instant noodles, etc.) account for a large proportion of the daily diet of Chinese people. However, there is a lot of evidence that ultra-processed foods are not good for human health and are closely related to a variety of diseases.

Recently, a prospective cohort study published by scholars in Tianjin further found that if middle-aged and elderly people frequently eat ultra-processed foods, their grip strength will decline rapidly.

Multivariate analysis showed that for every 10% increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in the diet of middle-aged and elderly people, grip strength would decrease by an average of 0.3708 kg per year, and weight-corrected grip strength would decrease by 0.0057 kg/kg.

Subgroup analyses based on age, sex, body mass index, physical activity, hypertension, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and healthy eating score showed that in most subgroups, the more ultra-processed foods consumed, the faster the decline in grip strength.

The study included 5409 adults aged ≥40 years, of whom 61.3% were men. Ultra-processed food intake was obtained using a validated food frequency questionnaire and categorized according to the NOVA classification system. Grip strength was measured annually using a handheld grip dynamometer.

Source: China Circulation Magazine