Ultra-processed Foods and Risk of Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis: A Prospective Cohort Study
Lo CH, Khandpur N, Rossato SL, Lochhead P, Lopes EW, Burke KE, Richter JM, Song M, Ardisson Korat AV, Sun Q, Fung TT, Khalili H, Chan AT, Ananthakrishnan AN · Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology · 2022 June
DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2021.08.031
Objective
To investigate the association between consumption of ultra-processed foods and the risk of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
Conclusions
Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with an increased risk of incident Crohn's disease, particularly with specific types of ultra-processed foods. No consistent association was found with ulcerative colitis risk.
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Insights
Higher consumption of ultra-processed food is linked to an increased risk of developing Crohn's disease, with no consistent connection observed with ulcerative colitis.
A prospective cohort study was conducted using three nationwide cohorts of health professionals in the United States. The study utilized self-reported consumption of ultra-processed foods to assess its association with the risk of Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. It involved 245,112 participants and spanned several years of observation. The analysis primarily leveraged Cox proportional hazards models to estimate hazard ratios for Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis while adjusting for potential confounding factors.
The study observed a total of 369 cases of Crohn's disease and 488 cases of ulcerative colitis over the period of follow-up. The participants in the highest quartile of ultra-processed food consumption experienced a noteworthy surge in the risk of developing Crohn's disease. Ultra-processed breads, breakfast foods, frozen or shelf-stable ready-to-eat or heat meals, and certain spreads and gravies showed the strongest positive correlations with Crohn's disease risk. However, no clear association was seen between ultra-processed food intake and the incidence of ulcerative colitis.
