Add debilitating bone disease to the growing list of ailments attributed to ultra-processed foods (UPFs).
Previous research has linked UPFs, which include products like packaged snacks, sugary drinks, mass-produced bread, fruit yogurt, some breakfast cereals and meat alternatives, to a host of adverse health effects, from obesity and diabetes to heart disease, depression, dementia and more. One study has even suggested that eating these foods may raise the risk of early death.
And now, according to new research, the walk to that early grave may be especially painful as UPFs could be a factor in the development of osteoarthritis of the knee.
The most common form of arthritis, osteoarthritis, is primarily caused by wear and tear on the protective layer of cartilage on the ends of our bones — similar to wearing down the tread on a tire.
“Osteoarthritis is most common in the hip joints, causing pain in the groin and sides of the hips, and the knee joints, leading to pain in the front, sides or back of the knees,” Dr. Vinay K. Aggarwal, a hip and knee reconstruction specialist at NYU Langone, recently told The Post.
Studies show that every pound of excess body weight can increase pressure on knee joints, creating four to six times the force on those joints.
For this most recent study, presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), researchers specifically focused on the relationship between UPF intake and intramuscular thigh fat.
“The novelty of this study is that it investigates the impact of diet quality, specifically the role of ultra-processed foods in relation to intramuscular fat in the thigh muscles assessed by MRI,” said study author Zehra Akkaya, M.D., researcher and former Fulbright Scholar in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging at the University of California, San Francisco.
“This is the first imaging study looking into the relationship between MRI-based skeletal muscle quality and quality of diet.”
The team analyzed data from subjects at risk for but not yet affected by osteoarthritis.
Of the 666 individuals assessed (455 men, 211 women), the average age was 60. The test group was mostly overweight, with an average BMI of 27. Approximately 40% of the foods test subjects ate in the past year were ultra-processed.
For reference, recent research has shown that 60% of Americans’ daily caloric intake comes from ultra-processed foods.
Researchers found that the more UPFs people consumed, the more intramuscular fat they had in their thigh muscles, regardless of how many calories they consumed or whether or not they were physically active.
“In an adult population at risk for but without knee or hip osteoarthritis, consuming ultra-processed foods is linked to increased fat within the thigh muscles,” Akkaya said. “These findings held true regardless of dietary energy content, BMI, sociodemographic factors or physical activity levels.”
Specific factors that accelerate osteoarthritis, like age and genetic predisposition, are beyond our control. Yet, as the study underscores, the management of knee osteoarthritis is contingent on modifiable factors like a healthy diet that limits UPFs.
“Osteoarthritis is an increasingly prevalent and costly global health issue,” Akkaya said. “Since this condition is highly linked to obesity and unhealthy lifestyle choices, there are potential avenues for lifestyle modification and disease management.”
Akkaya is hopeful that by illustrating the relationship between UPFs and muscle composition, people will make more informed dietary decisions. “Understanding this relationship could have important clinical implications, as it offers a new perspective on how diet quality affects musculoskeletal health.”
A previous large-scale study found that medications like Ozempic and Wegovy can seriously reduce knee pain for those with moderate to severe osteoarthritis.
