Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Associated with Incident Hypertension among Chinese Adults-Results from China Health and Nutrition Survey 1997-2015

Preference for ultra-processed foods may edge an individual closer to developing hypertension.

This study investigated the processed food-hypertension connection hypothesis. With the aid of dietary questionnaires, researchers assessed the ultra-processed food intake levels of 15,054 Chinese men and women over a 9.5-year period. During the course of the study, 4,329 participants received a diagnosis of hypertension.

Researchers discovered that hypertension occurred at a higher rate among consumers than in non-consumers of ultra-processed foods. This 2022 study of Chinese men and women documented that high dietary ingestion of ultra-processed foods may put an individual on the path to becoming hypertensive.