Reduce ultra-processed food
UPF intake correlates with mortality independent of total calories. The category, not just the calories, matters.
Why
Foods classified as ultra-processed (NOVA group 4), packaged snacks, sweetened drinks, reformulated meats, ready meals, predict cardiovascular and all-cause mortality even after adjusting for total calories and macronutrient profile. Mechanisms include altered satiety signalling, additive effects, and displacement of whole foods.
Slot in your day
How to do it
How
Aim for the bulk of the diet to be foods you'd recognise in a kitchen 100 years ago. Convenience foods are fine occasionally; the issue is when they become the default.
Sticking with it
Don't fight cravings in front of the cupboard, fight them at the supermarket.
Markers this may influence
Evidence
Lane 2024 BMJ umbrella review (45 meta-analyses across ~10 million participants): higher ultra-processed food intake was convincingly associated with all-cause mortality, cardiovascular mortality, type 2 diabetes, and common mental disorders, effects persisting after adjusting for total calories and macronutrient profile. The category, not just the calories, predicts risk.