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“超加工食品”常被认为有害健康，此前也有研究把它与肠癌（结直肠癌）联系起来。10月15日发表在《PLOS Medicine》期刊上的一项美国研究，使用了美国国立卫生研究院与美国退休者协会（NIH-AARP）饮食与健康研究中461,682名成年人的数据：他们在1995–1996年加入研究时50至71岁，填写了一次饮食频率问卷，之后被追踪到2018年，期间有10,075人患上结直肠癌。结果显示，超加工食品总摄入量与结直肠癌发病率没有整体关联；但细分来看，来自超加工食品的全谷物、膳食纤维、乳制品和钙与较低的发病率相关，超加工肉类则与较高的发病率相关；按重量把10%的超加工食品换成轻度加工食品，与发病率降低2%相关。研究者也提醒：样本多为年长的美国白人，饮食只调查过一次，而且观察性研究只能显示关联、不能证明因果。文章按“常见看法—研究方法—细分结果—局限—启示”展开，阅读时可留意 However、In other words、Even so 如何引出转折与重新理解，以及 may、linked to 如何表达有限度的结论。

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Many people have heard that ultra-processed foods are bad for their health. These are foods made in factories with many added ingredients, such as store-bought biscuits, instant noodles, sugary drinks and hot dogs. Some earlier studies have linked them to bowel cancer, also called colorectal cancer. But a large new study from the United States suggests that the label alone may not tell us very much.

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很多人都听说过，超加工食品对健康有害。这类食品在工厂中生产，添加了许多配料，例如商店里买的饼干、方便面、含糖饮料和热狗。此前一些研究把它们与肠癌（也称结直肠癌）联系起来。但美国一项新的大型研究表明，仅凭这个标签可能说明不了太多问题。

The research was published in the journal PLOS Medicine. The team used data from 461,682 Americans who were between 50 and 71 years old when they joined a national diet and health study in 1995 and 1996. At the start, they filled in a questionnaire about how often they ate different foods. The researchers then followed them until 2018, for nearly 19 years. During that time, 10,075 people developed colorectal cancer.

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这项研究发表在《公共科学图书馆·医学》（PLOS Medicine）期刊上。研究团队使用了461,682名美国人的数据，他们在1995年和1996年加入一项全国性饮食与健康研究时年龄在50至71岁之间。研究开始时，他们填写了一份问卷，说明自己吃各类食物的频率。研究人员随后对他们进行追踪，直到2018年，时间将近19年。在此期间，有10,075人患上了结直肠癌。

The main result goes against a common belief. Overall, people who ate the most ultra-processed food were not more likely to develop the cancer than people who ate the least. However, when the team looked at different kinds of food, the picture became more complicated. Whole grains, fiber, dairy products and calcium from ultra-processed foods, such as some breads, breakfast cereals and fruit yogurts, were linked to lower cancer rates. Ultra-processed meat, such as hot dogs, was linked to higher rates.

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主要结果与一种普遍看法相反。总体而言，吃超加工食品最多的人，并不比吃得最少的人更容易患上这种癌症。然而，当研究团队分别查看不同种类的食物时，情况就变得更复杂了。来自超加工食品的全谷物、膳食纤维、乳制品和钙——例如某些面包、早餐麦片和水果酸奶——与较低的癌症发病率相关。而超加工肉类，例如热狗，则与较高的发病率相关。

In other words, healthier and less healthy foods in the same group may partly cancel each other out. “What’s in the food seems to matter,” the researchers wrote in an article for The Conversation. They also found that replacing 10% of ultra-processed food, by weight, with minimally processed food was linked to a 2% lower rate of the cancer. This fits current advice: eat more whole grains and fiber, and eat less processed meat.

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换句话说，同一类别中较健康和不太健康的食物，可能在一定程度上相互抵消。研究人员在为《对话》（The Conversation）撰写的文章中写道：“食物里有什么似乎才是关键。”他们还发现，按重量把10%的超加工食品换成轻度加工的食品，与这种癌症的发病率降低2%相关。这与目前的饮食建议一致：多吃全谷物和膳食纤维，少吃加工肉类。

The study has clear limits. Most participants were older white Americans, so the results may not apply to younger people or more mixed groups. People reported their diets only once, at the beginning, so any changes over the following years were missed. Ultra-processed foods also became more common during that time. Most importantly, the study can only show links. It cannot prove that any food causes or prevents cancer.

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这项研究有明显的局限。大多数参与者是年龄较大的美国白人，因此结果可能不适用于更年轻的人或构成更多元的群体。人们只在研究开始时报告过一次自己的饮食，因此之后多年里的任何变化都没有被记录下来。在此期间，超加工食品也变得更加普遍。最重要的是，这项研究只能显示关联，无法证明任何食物会导致或预防癌症。

Even so, the findings raise a useful question for shoppers and policymakers. Treating all ultra-processed foods as one group may hide real differences between them. A loaf of whole-grain bread and a pack of hot dogs may share a label, but they may not share the same risks.

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即便如此，这些发现仍为购物者和政策制定者提出了一个有用的问题：把所有超加工食品当作一个整体来看待，可能会掩盖它们之间的真实差异。一条全麦面包和一包热狗也许贴着同一个标签，但它们的风险未必相同。

新闻来源

• ScienceDaily (PLOS) · Massive study of 460,000 people challenges ultra-processed food cancer fears (21 Oct 2026)
• The Conversation · Replacing just 10% of ultra-processed foods with whole foods linked to drop in bowel cancer rate (15 Oct 2026)
• PLOS Medicine · Associations of food processing and dietary risk factors with colorectal cancer incidence in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study (15 Oct 2026)

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