You may want to think twice before deciding what to devour at your next baseball game, because depending on what concession you buy, you could be shaving precious moments off your life.
Nutritionist Luis Alberto Zamora has revealed how unhealthy products affect life expectancy in a television segment on ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
He referenced a study from researchers at the University of Michigan, which calculated exactly how much time popular UPFs take off of a person’s life.
Zamora said the study found that a hot dog cost you an average of 36 minutes — and if you wash that down with a soda, you’re shaving off another 12 minutes from your life.
The research wasn’t all bad news, though, as scientists also found eating certain types of fish could gain you 10 minutes of life.
The study ranked more than 5,800 American foods and determined their health costs by analyzing them based on their additives and micro- and macro-nutrients, like fats, calories and sugars.
While many favorites like hotdogs, pizza and mac and cheese were found to shorten someone’s lifespan, others — such as fruits, vegetables and even peanut butter and jelly sandwiches — were actually found to help someone live longer.
The researchers also found that for every 10 percent of daily calories from fruits and vegetables instead of beef and processed meat, someone could add an estimated 48 minutes to their lifespan.
Dr Olivier Jolliet, who led the study, said at the time: ‘The urgency of dietary changes to improve human health… is clear. Our findings demonstrate that small, targeted substitutions offer a feasible and powerful strategy to achieve significant health and environmental benefits without requiring dramatic dietary shifts.’
Nearly 75 percent of food consumed in the US is considered ultra-processed and it is teeming with additives and potentially harmful ingredients.
Numerous studies have found an association between a high UPFs diet and more than 30 conditions, including multiple cancers, and an early grave.
In the study, the foods analyzed ranged from processed meats and sweets to healthier dishes like fish and vegetables.
Overall, the University of Michigan study found hotdogs were the worst foods, followed by cured meats like prosciutto, which could cost you 24 minutes of life.
Egg and breakfast sandwiches were third, with each shaving 13.6 minutes off someone’s healthy lifespan.
Hotdogs in particular have a higher risk of cutting life short because they contain nitrites and nitrates, which are preservatives.
However, these can be converted into a substance linked to colon cancer by the body after they are consumed.
They are also high in sugar and fat, which could be a risk factor for diabetes.
Both bacon, which takes off six minutes of life, and cheeseburgers, which take off nine, may also raise the risk of an early death because they are red or processed meats.
Some studies have linked these ingredients to cancer.
Burgers may also be cooked in a vegetable oil that can contain compounds — like aldehyde — that raises someone’s cancer risk.
And concerns have also been raised over sweeteners like aspartame used in sugar-free sodas, which rob you of 12 minutes of life, after animal studies suggested high concentrations raised the risk of cancer.
Scientists are yet to prove a link in humans, however.
The above is a stock image of Diet Cokes, which a study suggested are among the sugar-sweetened beverages that could shave 12 minutes off someone’s life for every one consumed
The above shows a burger, with scientists also warning that a cheeseburger could shave up to nine minutes off someone’s life
On the other hand, switching to a more plant-based diet and staying away from red and processed meats has been shown to boost life-expectancy – through reducing risk of cancers and other ailments.
The researchers found that a peanut butter and jelly sandwich was best food for adding healthy years — affording 32 minutes of a healthy lifespan.
Meanwhile, nuts and seeds were second best — at plus 24 minutes — and fruits were third — at plus 10 minutes.
Dr Jolliet previously told the Toronto Star that PB&J had ranked highest because of the peanut butter it contained.
‘When we do the analysis, we don’t necessarily see all the effects of any food on the body mass index,’ she said, ‘but [the PB&J’s] beneficial because of the peanuts.’
‘This is really the reason, not the jam. And the bread is probably neutral, although, if it’s a whole grain bread, it’s a little bit better.’
For the study, the team developed a new rating dubbed the ‘Health Nutritional Index’, which calculated the health burden of given servings of food in terms of the minutes of healthy living lost or gained from eating them.
Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Donald Trump Jr, and RFK Jr are seen posing with McDonald’s meals onboard Trump Force One as Speaker Mike Johnson smiles behind them
It was developed from the Global Burden of Disease study, in which the total incidence of and mortality from given illnesses were linked to food choices by individuals.
It comes after scientists working on the new US dietary guidelines suggested that Americans should be told to eat less red meat.
The report stated people should emphasize plant-based proteins such as beans, peas and lentils and limit their consumption of red and processed meats.
This was based on a review of numerous studies which linked the meats to a higher risk of diabetes, heart disease and obesity.
Researchers said overall people should consume 26 ounces of meat per week, but that ‘less’ of this should come from red meats.
