Nutrients (Jul 2021)

Use of Different Food Classification Systems to Assess the Association between Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Cardiometabolic Health in an Elderly Population with Metabolic Syndrome (PREDIMED-Plus Cohort)

  • Celia Martinez-Perez,
  • Rodrigo San-Cristobal,
  • Pilar Guallar-Castillon,
  • Miguel Ángel Martínez-González,
  • Jordi Salas-Salvadó,
  • Dolores Corella,
  • Olga Castañer,
  • Jose Alfredo Martinez,
  • Ángel M. Alonso-Gómez,
  • Julia Wärnberg,
  • Jesús Vioque,
  • Dora Romaguera,
  • José López-Miranda,
  • Ramon Estruch,
  • Francisco J. Tinahones,
  • José Lapetra,
  • Lluis Serra-Majem,
  • Aurora Bueno-Cavanillas,
  • Josep A. Tur,
  • Vicente Martín Sánchez,
  • Xavier Pintó,
  • José J. Gaforio,
  • Pilar Matía-Martín,
  • Josep Vidal,
  • Clotilde Vázquez,
  • Emilio Ros,
  • Maira Bes-Rastrollo,
  • Nancy Babio,
  • Jose V. Sorlí,
  • Camille Lassale,
  • Beatriz Pérez-Sanz,
  • Jessica Vaquero-Luna,
  • María Julia Ajejas Bazán,
  • María Concepción Barceló-Iglesias,
  • Jadwiga Konieczna,
  • Antonio García Ríos,
  • María Rosa Bernal-López,
  • José Manuel Santos-Lozano,
  • Estefanía Toledo,
  • Nerea Becerra-Tomás,
  • Olga Portoles,
  • María Dolores Zomeño,
  • Itziar Abete,
  • Anai Moreno-Rodriguez,
  • Oscar Lecea-Juarez,
  • Stephanie K. Nishi,
  • Júlia Muñoz-Martínez,
  • José M. Ordovás,
  • Lidia Daimiel

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13072471
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 7
p. 2471

Abstract

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The association between ultra-processed food (UPF) and risk of cardiometabolic disorders is an ongoing concern. Different food processing-based classification systems have originated discrepancies in the conclusions among studies. To test whether the association between UPF consumption and cardiometabolic markers changes with the classification system, we used baseline data from 5636 participants (48.5% female and 51.5% male, mean age 65.1 ± 4.9) of the PREDIMED-Plus (“PREvention with MEDiterranean DIet”) trial. Subjects presented with overweight or obesity and met at least three metabolic syndrome (MetS) criteria. Food consumption was classified using a 143-item food frequency questionnaire according to four food processing-based classifications: NOVA, International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), International Food Information Council (IFIC) and University of North Carolina (UNC). Mean changes in nutritional and cardiometabolic markers were assessed according to quintiles of UPF consumption for each system. The association between UPF consumption and cardiometabolic markers was assessed using linear regression analysis. The concordance of the different classifications was assessed with intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC3, overall = 0.51). The highest UPF consumption was obtained with the IARC classification (45.9%) and the lowest with NOVA (7.9%). Subjects with high UPF consumption showed a poor dietary profile. We detected a direct association between UPF consumption and BMI (p = 0.001) when using the NOVA system, and with systolic (p = 0.018) and diastolic (p = 0.042) blood pressure when using the UNC system. Food classification methodologies markedly influenced the association between UPF consumption and cardiometabolic risk markers.

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