So-called ‘healthy’ foods threaten a tidal wave of killer heart disease, scientists warn

BROWN bread and other so-called healthy foods are a heart risk, a study found.

Researchers singled out mass-produced sliced loaves, protein bars and low-fat yoghurt.

Despite being marketed as good for you, the grub is full of salt and sugar that increase the risk of high blood pressure and can cause heart attacks or a stroke.

Australian scientists found women who ate more ultra-processed foods, including “healthy” choices, were 39 per cent more at risk.

They tracked the diets of 10,006 women aged 46 to 55 for 15 years.

Anushriya Pant, from the University of Sydney, told the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Amsterdam: “Ultra-processed foods tend to be lower in fibre, high in salt and sugars and all these factors are known to be anti-cardioprotective.

“A lot of foods that are advertised as ‘healthy’ because they are low in calories, when we look at the salt content, it’s too high. We know that high salt equals hypertension.”

Ms Pant warned that the risk for British women could be significantly higher as their diet typically contains 57 per cent ultra-processed foods — a third more than the highest intake in the Aussie study.

Previous research has linked ultra-processed foods with obesity, Type 2 diabetes and cancer.

Katharine Jenner, director of the Obesity Health Alliance, said: “It should not be possible for companies to claim these are ‘healthy’.”

In separate research presented at the conference, Chinese scientists found a clear link between ultra-processed foods and heart disease.