New research adds to growing evidence that ultra-processed foods are linked to health risks.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) now supply nearly 60% of the calories consumed by U.S. adults and about 70% of those consumed by children. These industrial products include soft drinks, packaged cereals and snacks, and processed meats, and typically combine refined fats, oils, sugars, starches, salts, and other additives designed to alter flavor, texture, or shelf life, often at the expense of nutritional quality.
As UPFs have become a dominant part of the American diet, researchers have increasingly examined their possible health effects. Several biological mechanisms could potentially connect heavy consumption with cancer, including metabolic dysfunction, inflammation, oxidative stress, and changes in the gut microbiome. Much less is known, however, about whether eating large amounts of these foods is associated specifically with prostate cancer.
Research from Florida Atlantic University’s Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine now adds evidence of such a relationship. Men who consumed larger proportions of their daily calories from UPFs had higher observed risks of prostate cancer, the most commonly diagnosed cancer among U.S. men and the second leading cause of male cancer death after lung cancer.
Higher intake tracks greater prostate cancer risk
Published in The American Journal of Medicine, the analysis included 17,024 U.S. men ages 18 and older who participated in the nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) between 2003 and 2023. Researchers estimated the proportion of participants’ daily calories coming from UPFs using two 24-hour dietary recalls. They then applied the widely used NOVA classification system and divided the men into four groups, ranging from those getting less than about 20% of their calories from UPFs to those getting more than 44%.
Compared with men in the lowest consumption group, those in the three higher UPF groups had a 29% greater risk of prostate cancer, while men in the two highest groups had a 30% greater risk. After researchers adjusted for age, race and ethnicity, smoking, and poverty status, the increased risk remained statistically significant, ranging from 24% to 31%. Men in the highest intake group alone showed a possible 34% increase, although that result did not reach statistical significance, potentially because there were fewer prostate cancer cases in that group.
“Among adult men in this nationally representative U.S. population, those who consumed higher amounts of UPFs had significantly higher risks of the subsequent development of prostate cancer,” said Charles H. Hennekens, M.D., FACPM, FACC, senior author and the First Sir Richard Doll Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Population Health at FAU’s College of Medicine. “These findings add to emerging evidence that UPFs have major adverse health effects and underscore the need for large-scale observational studies and randomized trials to adequately test the hypothesis.”
Health concerns extend beyond prostate cancer
The prostate cancer findings join a broader body of research linking high UPF intake with other health problems. Previous studies have associated greater consumption with overweight and obesity, metabolic disease, inflammatory markers, cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attacks and strokes, and premature death.
The authors place the findings within a larger public health debate over the role of the food industry and the widespread availability of UPFs. They compare the developing evidence with the long history of tobacco research, noting that decades passed between the emergence of evidence about smoking harms and major policy changes intended to reduce cigarette use. In their view, UPFs could follow a similarly prolonged path as evidence accumulates.
“Reducing consumption of UPFs is a complex public health challenge, particularly given how prevalent and accessible these products are,” said co-author Timothy De Ver Dye, Ph.D., professor and chair of FAU’s Department of Population Health. “Healthcare providers should recognize that many patients face barriers to accessing and affording healthier food options. Addressing these challenges will require efforts that extend beyond individual choices to support greater access to nutritious, minimally processed foods.”
Prostate cancer remains a major burden
Prostate cancer continues to affect large numbers of men in the United States and worldwide. The American Cancer Society estimates that more than 333,000 U.S. men will receive a prostate cancer diagnosis in 2026 and that more than 36,000 will die from the disease. Globally, the International Agency for Research on Cancer estimates that nearly 1.5 million men were diagnosed in 2022 and nearly 400,000 died.
“All healthcare professionals should encourage patients to adopt healthy lifestyle practices and evidence-based therapies, while also helping them reduce their consumption of ultra-processed foods,” Hennekens said. “Patients and their healthcare providers should consider this finding as part of broader efforts to promote healthier dietary choices.”
Reference: “Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods and Increased Risks of Prostate Cancer in a Random Sample of United States Adults” by Hunter Scott, Yanna Willett, John Dunn, Timothy D. Dye and Charles H. Hennekens, 7 August 2026, The American Journal of Medicine.
DOI: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2026.07.043
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