Leading European heart specialists are calling for heart patients to be explicitly advised to prioritise home cooking and significantly reduce their consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs). In a new consensus statement, the experts also recommended adopting healthier eating habits such as eating more slowly and avoiding late-night meals.
The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) statement underscores that UPFs “have become a significant public health concern,” linking them to an increased risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and high blood pressure. It specifically cites studies showing that consumption of UPFs is “associated with increased cardiovascular risk, often independent of overall diet quality”.
However, the authors acknowledge that UPFs are “unrecognised” in current dietary advice given in heart clinics. “Current dietary counselling in clinical practice tends to overlook the potential adverse impact of UPFs, with patients not receiving comprehensive nutritional guidance,” the statement says.
The guidance offers advice for medics, including encouraging patients to cook more at home to avoid UPFs, eating slower, and avoiding late eating. “Cardiologists can encourage patients to cook at home more frequently by asking about current cooking habits and providing simple meal-planning resources or referrals to nutrition services,” it states.
Professor Luigina Guasti from the University of Insubria in Italy, a lead author, said: “UPFs, made from industrial ingredients and additives, have largely replaced traditional diets. Research suggests these foods are linked to several risk factors for cardiovascular disease... However, this evidence has not yet made its way into the advice we give to patients on healthy eating.”
Tracy Parker, senior dietician at the British Heart Foundation, commented: “This consensus statement reinforces the substantial body of evidence that shows diets high in ultra processed foods are associated with an increased risk of heart and circulatory diseases... To reduce this risk, we need to support people to cut down on UPFs as part of improving overall diet quality.”
