It is very important to keep the lungs healthy. Apart from polluted air, what we eat can also affect our lungs. A new study has found that eating a diet rich in processed foods can significantly increase the risk of death from chronic respiratory disease (CRD).

According to this study published in the European Journal of Nutrition, the amount of nutrition in processed food items is very low, and nutrients like essential antioxidants are also not found in them. The study found that people whose diet included more than 40% processed foods had a 26% higher risk of death from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is a lung disease in which the flow of air gets blocked, causing difficulty in breathing.

Risk of lung cancer:

Researchers found that a diet rich in processed food also increases the risk of other lung-related diseases such as lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and asthma by 10%. Researchers analyzed dietary data of more than 96,000 people in the US between 1999 and 2018.

Processed food also increases the risk of diabetes.

Tefera Mekonnen, the lead author of the study, told news agency PTI that people who ate the most processed food were generally younger, had a higher body mass index (BMI), and were less likely to have diabetes. The risk of emphysema and high blood pressure was also high. Additionally, the overall quality of their food was also low. Chips, chocolate, lollipops, biscuits, processed meat, fried chicken, and cold drinks were included as processed food items in the study.

More Preservatives and Additives in Processed Food

Mekonnen said that these food items are full of preservatives and additives, which can increase oxidative stress and chronic inflammation in the blood, which makes lung diseases more serious. Researchers say that this study is the largest study to date, which shows how the consumption of processed food affects the health of the lungs.

What is the solution?

Mekonnen further said that our research shows that reducing the amount of processed food can significantly improve lung health and also reduce the risk of death from CRD. The research team says that such research is needed in the future to find out how diet affects lung health.

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