Ultraprocessed Food Linked to Severe Intestinal Diseases – Doctors Warn of Increasing Risks

Ready meals, frozen pizzas, and sweet drinks are taking up more and more space on our plates and tables. Now, warning signals are growing stronger: extensive research points to clear links between ultraprocessed food and serious chronic diseases. According to doctors, the consequences are already noticeable in healthcare – and the situation risks getting worse.

Christmas is often associated with an abundance of food, but it is not primarily during the holidays that ready-made and heavily processed food dominates. In everyday life, ultraprocessed foods have become a natural part of many people’s diets.

At the same time, the body of research has grown stronger. Studies are increasingly linking this type of diet to diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and various intestinal inflammations.

One who is seeing the effects up close is Johan Burisch, chief physician at the gastroenterology department at Hvidovre Hospital and professor at the University of Copenhagen.

– The link between ultraprocessed food and disease is very well established. We see clearly in healthcare that more and more patients need help. This is something we really have to take seriously, he says in a comment to DR.

Sharp Increase in Crohn’s Disease

One of the diseases increasing fastest in the Western world is Crohn’s disease – a chronic, autoimmune intestinal disease that can cause diarrhea, fever, fatigue, and unintentional weight loss. In severe cases, it can lead to parts or all of the bowel being surgically removed, and the patient needing a stoma, or “bag on the stomach.”

Burisch believes that the increased intake of ultraprocessed food plays a significant role in the rise of Crohn’s disease. Denmark has one of the highest incidences of the disease in the world, and within 10–15 years, the number of cases is feared to almost double.

Facts: Crohn’s Disease

Chronic inflammatory bowel disease
Often affects people in their 20s to 30s
Influenced by both genetic factors and lifestyle (diet, smoking, exercise)

Diet Influences the Gut’s Immune System

According to Johan Burisch, about half of the risk for inflammatory bowel diseases can be explained by lifestyle factors such as diet, smoking, and physical inactivity – with food accounting for a large part.

Ultraprocessed foods often contain large amounts of salt, sugar and fat, additives and flavor enhancers, few or no whole ingredients, and altered, often very soft texture.

All of this affects the interaction between gut bacteria and the immune system. In the long run, it can trigger inflammatory bowel diseases, Burisch explains.

However, he emphasizes that it is not dangerous to eat a frozen pizza or drink soda on occasion.

– The problem is the quantity. If almost half of your energy intake comes from ultraprocessed food, we know that’s too much – and that the risk of disease increases over time.

“Apart from Smoking, There’s Nothing Worse”

Anja Viendahl Olsen, senior researcher at the Danish Cancer Society and professor of lifestyle and cancer at Aarhus University, also sees a clear pattern.

– Smoking is still the single worst thing you can do to your health. But after that come ultraprocessed foods. I can’t see any other habit that so consistently increases the risk of so many different diseases, she says.

How to Recognize Ultraprocessed Foods

It is not always easy to determine what is ultraprocessed. But according to Anja Viendahl Olsen, it often suffices to look at the ingredient list.

If you see that the food contains substances you don’t have access to at home, or the food is processed in a way you couldn’t replicate in your own kitchen, that’s often a sign that you’re dealing with ultraprocessed food.

Puffed breakfast cereals are a clear example. They may be based on oats, but the grain has been broken down and processed so heavily that any chew resistance disappears.

Ultraprocessing pushes food in the wrong direction, where something initially healthy is processed into something less healthy or even harmful. It affects how the body breaks down and absorbs nutrients, the professor explains.

Facts: Ultraprocessed Foods

Often contains a lot of salt, sugar, and fat
Contains few whole ingredients
Examples: ready meals, frozen pizzas, cookies, chips, candy, ice cream, and soft drinks

A Food Culture Heading in the Wrong Direction

Anja Viendahl Olsen sees a bigger structural problem.

– We have created a food culture where we systematically degrade our food products. Almost everything is made a little worse than it needs to be – and I think that’s deeply problematic.

A Global Problem – Especially in the USA

The debate about ultraprocessed food has exploded internationally, especially in the USA, where up to 60 percent of total energy intake comes from this type of food. Several large studies have linked such diets to obesity, depression, cardiovascular disease, and premature death.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and researchers behind the NOVA classification warn that the trend risks heavily burdening healthcare systems if nothing changes. The Trump administration, through Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has become deeply involved in the issue.

The message from the research community is clear: ultraprocessed food is not just a convenient choice – it is a growing public health risk.