A metabolite index of ultra-processed food intake is associated with stroke, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality.
| Title: | A metabolite index of ultra-processed food intake is associated with stroke, cancer mortality, and all-cause mortality. |
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| Authors: | Ament Z; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA.; Duskin J; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA.; Demopoulos A; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA.; Bhave VM; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA.; Guarniz AG; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.; Comprehensive Stroke Center, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA.; Oladele CR; Equity Research and Innovation Center, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.; Judd S; Department of Health Behavior, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.; Tiwari HK; Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.; Pinheiro LC; Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, NY, USA.; Irvin MR; Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.; Levy DE; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.; Mongan Institute Health Policy Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.; Thorndike AN; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.; Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.; Kimberly WT; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.; Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.; Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA. |
| Source: | MedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences [medRxiv] 2026 Jan 12. Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Jan 12. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article; Preprint |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 101767986 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet NLM ISO Abbreviation: medRxiv Subsets: PubMed not MEDLINE |
| Abstract: | Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are associated with adverse health outcomes, but measurement of UPF intake in epidemiological studies remains challenging. Dietary assessments typically employ recall questionnaires, which may lead to measurement errors and misclassifications. Here, we develop a plasma metabolite index of UPF consumption to objectively measure UPF intake. Using two years of authentic food purchasing records from the ChooseWell 365 cohort, we identify metabolites associated with long-term UPF intake. We then apply the UPF-metabolite index to the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort, a population-based cohort of U.S. adults followed for incident health outcomes. The UPF-metabolite index was associated with leading causes of morbidity and mortality, including incident stroke, all-cause mortality, and cancer mortality. Mediation analysis revealed that the UPF-metabolite index accounts for 62% of the association between UPF intake and stroke risk. These findings suggest that the UPF-metabolite index offers an objective method for assessing UPF intake and its contribution to diet-related disease risk. |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests: Authors declare that they have no competing interests. |
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| Grant Information: | R01 HL125486 United States HL NHLBI NIH HHS; R01 NS099209 United States NS NINDS NIH HHS; K24 HL163073 United States HL NHLBI NIH HHS; R01 HL080477 United States HL NHLBI NIH HHS; R01 AG089361 United States AG NIA NIH HHS; U01 NS041588 United States NS NINDS NIH HHS; R01 DK114735 United States DK NIDDK NIH HHS |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260206 Date Completed: 20260209 Latest Revision: 20260328 |
| Update Code: | 20260328 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC12870671 |
| DOI: | 10.64898/2026.01.09.26343724 |
| PMID: | 41646705 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article; Preprint