Ultra-processed foods linked to colon cancer risk in new study

The CDC says we Americans get more than half our calories from what are called ultra processed foods, which is why a new study caught our attention. The study in a medical journal says there may be a link between ultra processed foods and a higher risk of colon cancer. Dr Celine Gounder is here to help us understand this. We've long had our suspicions, Celine, but what the study actually find. So, first of all, ultra processed foods. If there's an ingredient in there you cannot pronounce, it's probably an ultra processed food. What does this particular study show? They looked at how many servings of ultra processed food participants in the study consume per day. When you increase from three servings up to 10 or more servings a day, the risk of having a pre cancerous polyp in the colon increased from 3% to 5%. So that's a pretty significant jump that we're seeing related to ultra processed foods. What kinds of foods are we talking about here, Dr Gounder? And what is the link maybe between these foods and colon cancer? Yeah, so foods like sodas, which could include diet sodas, um, packaged foods, snacks ready to eat meals. And then, uh, perhaps not obvious to people, condiments and sauces also were high risk for, um, these, uh, this increased risk and colon cancer. How does this happen? Well, we think that eating ultra processed foods affects the, uh, bacteria in your gut, which leads to inflammation. Also, type two diabetes and obesity can also lead to inflammation. We don't have it pinned down all the way down to that level of detail we might like. But big picture, this is really suggestive that this is driving increased cancer risk.