Food processing and risk of hypertension: Cohort of Universities of Minas Gerais, Brazil (CUME Project)

Abstract

AbstractObjective:To analyse the association between food consumption according to the degree of processing and incidence of hypertension in CUME project participants.Design:Longitudinal study in which food consumption was evaluated according to the percentage contribution of daily energetic intake (%/d) of each NOVA classification group (unprocessed/minimally processed foods and culinary preparations (U/MPF&CP); processed foods and ultra-processed foods (UPF)). Hypertension was defined according to American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) criteria. Adjusted relative risks (RR) and their 95% confidence intervals (95 % CI) were estimated by Poisson regression models with robust variances.Setting:Brazil.Participants:1221 graduates classified as non-hypertensive at baseline and monitored for 2 years.Results:Daily energetic percentage from each group according to degree of processing was 64·3 (sd 12) % for U/MPF&CP; 9·9 (sd 5·8) % for processed foods and 25·8 (sd 11) % for UPF. Incidence of hypertension was high (152/1000 person-years; n 113, 193/1000 person-years in males and n 257, 138/1000 person-years in females). After adjusting for potential confounders, participants in the upper quintile of daily energetic intake of U/MPF&CP presented a reduced risk of hypertension (RR: 0·72; 95 % CI 0·52, 0·98), while those in the upper quintile of daily energetic intake of UPF presented an increased risk of the outcome (RR: 1·35; 95 % CI 1·01, 1·81).Conclusions:In this prospective cohort of Brazilian middle-aged adult university graduates, the highest consumptions of U/MPF&CP and UPF were associated with, respectively, reduced and increased risk of hypertension. Additional longitudinal studies are needed to confirm our results.