The more you eat ultra-processed foods, the weaker you become. Are they more susceptible to invasion?

Ultra-processed foods are made from natural foods through many processes, and the food is no longer natural. They are foods that have been transformed into something unrecognizable to your mother after using "technology and hard work".

These foods usually have extra salt, sugar or other additives added to them, and include canned products, bread and preserved fruits.

Previous studies have found that people who eat ultra-processed foods consume about 500 more calories per day, and overall, their intake of carbohydrates and fat increases, compared to those who eat only unprocessed foods.

Some medical studies have also found that people who eat more ultra-processed foods have a higher risk of cardiovascular disease.

Recently, scientists from the University of Sydney and Shenzhen University School of Medicine collaborated to find that ultra-processed foods may be more harmful than previously discovered.

Ultra-processed foods can make the body less resistant to influenza viruses, and mice that often eat ultra-processed foods are more likely to die from influenza infection.

They found a group of mice, one group ate a whole-grain diet and the other group ate an ultra-processed diet, but the nutrient composition of the food obtained by both groups of mice was carefully calculated and kept consistent.

After a while of eating like this, the virus started to take hold. When the virus entered the mice's bodies, the differences began to emerge.

First, all mice experienced a trend of weight loss after infection, which is consistent with the changes we experience when we have a cold or get sick.

However, the mice that ate whole grains basically recovered by the 10th day of infection, but the mice in the ultra-processed food group were unable to recover and died within 12-14 days of infection.

In order to test the mice's antiviral ability, the researchers constantly adjusted the virus concentration.

When both groups of mice reached a 50% mortality rate, the viral load required for the mice in the whole-grain group to rise to about three times that of the mice on the ultra-processed food, meaning that only three times the amount of virus would kill the mice eating whole-grain food.

If mice were fed whole grains in the early stages and then ultra-processed foods, the mortality rate would also increase, which also shows that the type of food recently eaten directly affects the susceptibility and lethality of animals to influenza viruses.

As to why there is such a difference, the study believes:

The mice that ate ultra-processed food were more susceptible to the spread of infection because of their weakened recovery ability. In addition, the mice that usually ate ultra-processed food ate less after the infection, which in turn aggravated nutritional deficiencies and increased the risk of death.

The prevention and control of the new coronavirus epidemic has begun to change. Next, it may be time for everyone to compete for immunity. I think this study can give everyone some inspiration: eat well!

DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.111638