Scientists from Johns Hopkins University and elsewhere found that 12 metabolites are linked to ultra-processed food intake and three among them are linked to chronic kidney disease.
Chronic kidney disease is a condition in which the kidneys are damaged and cannot filter blood as well as they should.
Because of this, excess fluid and waste from blood remain in the body and may cause other health problems, such as heart disease and stroke.
High ultra-processed food intake is linked to a higher risk of chronic kidney disease.
However, there is no biomarker for ultra-processed food, and the mechanism through which ultra-processed food is linked to kidney disease is not clear.
Metabolomics can provide biomarkers of ultra-processed food and provide important insights into the mechanisms by which ultra-processed food is linked to the risk of chronic kidney disease
In the current study, researchers aimed to identify metabolites linked to ultra-processed food intake and examine whether ultra-processed food-associated metabolites are related to incident chronic kidney disease.
The team used data from 3751 men and women (aged 45-64 years) in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study.
They used a food questionnaire to assess the dietary intake of ultra-processed food in these people.
The findings showed 12 metabolites (saccharine, homostachydrine, stachydrine, N2, N2-dimethylguanosine, catechol sulfate, caffeine, 3-methyl-2-oxovalerate, theobromine, docosahexaenoate, glucose, mannose, and bradykinin) were strongly linked to ultra-processed food intake.
The 12 ultra-processed food-related metabolites strongly improved the prediction of ultra-processed food consumption.
Moreover, the team found higher levels of mannose, glucose, and N2, N2-dimethylguanosine were linked to a higher risk of chronic kidney disease after a follow-up of 23 years.
Based on the findings, the researchers suggest that 12 metabolites are linked to ultra-processed food intake and three of them are positively associated with chronic kidney disease.
Mannose and N2, N2-dimethylguanosine are novel markers of CKD that may explain the associations between ultra-processed food and chronic kidney disease.
The research was published in The Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and conducted by Donghan Su et al.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about how to protect your kidneys from diabetes, and drinking coffee could help reduce the risk of kidney injury.
For more information about kidney health, please see recent studies about foods that may prevent the recurrence of kidney stones, and eating nuts is linked to a lower risk of chronic kidney disease and death.
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