From nbcnews.com
Eating combinations of common food additives may be tied to a slightly increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal PLOS Medicine.
A growing body of evidence has linked certain food additives to cancer, diabetes, heart disease and changes to the gut microbiome. Many of these studies, however, were focused on single ingredients.
“In real life, we ingest a mixture of additives,” said Mathilde Touvier, director of the nutritional epidemiology research team at Université Sorbonne Paris Nord and the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research, who co-authored the new study.
Touvier and her team looked at about eight years of data from more than 108,000 adults from the French NutriNet-Santé cohort, a long-running study that looks at the links between food and health.
Poring over the participants’ reported diets, the researchers identified five mixtures of additives people commonly consumed together. The combinations don’t look unlike an ingredient list you might find on the label of an ultra-processed food.
- Mixture 1: Sodium carbonates; diphosphates; glycerol; ammonium carbonates; potassium carbonates; sorbitol
- Mixture 2: Modified starches; pectins; guar gum; carrageenan; polyphosphates; potassium sorbate; curcumin; xanthan gum
- Mixture 3: Magnesium carbonates; riboflavin; alpha-tocopherol; ammonium carbonates
- Mixture 4: Ammonium carbonates; sodium carbonates; diphosphates; alpha-tocopherol; DATEM; magnesium carbonates; lecithins
- Mixture 5: Citric acid; sodium citrates; phosphoric acid; sulphite ammonia caramel; acesulfame K; aspartame; sucralose; arabic gum; malic acid; carnauba wax; paprika extract, capsanthin, and capsorubin; anthocyanins; guar gum; pectins
“It’s relatively uncommon for all of them to appear in a single product, however, it’s entirely possible to consume all of them across different foods throughout the day, especially when eating a variety of processed or ultra-processed foods,” said Mengxi Du, a research associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health who studies nutrition and health and wasn’t involved with the study.
Carrageenan and potassium sorbate, two additives in Mixture 2, are found together in sweetened condensed milk. Xanthan gum is commonly found in mayonnaise and gluten-free prepared foods. Pectin is in cream cheese.
“These are pretty common products in someone’s fridge and a lot of times we combine them,” Du said.
Two groups — Mixture 2 and Mixture 5 — were linked to an increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, the researchers found. People with more of these combinations in their diet were more likely to develop the disease, regardless of how healthy their diet was overall.
Mixture 2 was heavy in emulsifiers and thickening agents, including carrageenans, which are found in plant-based milks and processed meats, and modified starches, which thicken and stabilize packaged sauces, soups and baked goods. Mixture 5 contained ingredients commonly found in sugary and artificially-sweetened drinks, and included artificial sweeteners, natural dyes and acidifiers.
Still, the study was observational, meaning it doesn’t show cause and effect. Studies that require participants to recall their diets are also notoriously tricky. The limitations make it difficult to draw strong conclusions from the study, which Touvier and her team said will require more research.
“The additives may be markers of something else, rather than causing Type 2 diabetes themselves,” said Dr. Tom Rifai, an internal and lifestyle medicine doctor in Cleveland Clinic’s department of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism. Rifai owns a lifestyle coaching company that includes nutrition counselling. “These could be a marker for what we call calorie density.”
https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/eating-food-additives-together-may-increase-diabetes-risk-study-sugges-rcna200163cessed food creamy, sugar-free and shelf-stable may work together to increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes
Certain ingredients that make processed food creamy, sugar-free and shelf-stable may work together to increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes
Certain ingredients that make processed food creamy, sugar-free and shelf-stable may work together to increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes
Certain ingredients that make processed food creamy, sugar-free and shelf-stable may work together to increase the risk of Type 2 diabetes
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