READY meals are a mainstay of the British diet.
From the trusty chicken kieve to a microwave korma – we Brits love cheap and convenient meals.
But, as the adage goes, there’s no such thing as a free lunch.
In fact, even the odd ready meal can raise the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by up to a sixth, scientists warn.
The disease, caused by high blood sugar, is often known as a silent killer because it damages the nerve cells that control pain, leaving people unaware they have it.
However, the researchers have also found that the risk can be lowered by consuming different processed foods.
Scientists from London and Cambridge found that for every 10 per cent increase in the amount of ultra-processed foods (UPF) in a person’s diet the risk of type 2 diabetes increased by 17 per cent.
Many ready meals are classified as ultra-processed foods.
This is because they are packed with added sugar, salt, fat, and preservatives, and have been linked to 32 diseases including obesity, heart disease, bowel cancer and type 2 diabetes.
But the risk of developing diabetes appeared to be lowered by consuming ‘less-processed’ foods.
First author, Samuel Dicken, from University College London (UCL) said: “Every ten per cent increase in the diet from UPF increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes considerably.
“Most studies to date only consider UPF as a whole, but we also suspect that there may be different risks associated with different types of UPF, and the risks of other processing groups have not been well researched.”
The research, published in The Lancet Regional Health revealed that the highest-risk UPF groups were savoury snacks, ready meals, animal-based products such as processed meats, and sugar-sweetened and artificially-sweetened drinks.
Bread and cereals were deemed less of a danger.
The degree of processing in foods is most often assessed using the Nova classification, which divides foods into four groups.
These include unprocessed or minimally processed foods (MPF), such as eggs, milk and fruit and processed culinary ingredients, such as salt, butter and oil.
It also includes processed foods (PF) such as tinned fish, beer and cheese; and ultra-processed foods such as ready-to-eat/heat dishes, savoury snacks, sweets and desserts.
Mr Dicken said: “Our analysis goes a step further than previous studies, by looking at all four processing groups in the Nova classification to gauge the impact on type 2 diabetes risk when we substitute UPF with less-processed foods.”
He added: “The good news is that replacing UPF with less-processed foods was associated with a reduced type 2 diabetes risk.”
The study analysed 300,000 people in eight European countries over a decade.
During this time 14,236 people developed type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes causes high blood sugar levels that can lead to serious complications if left untreated.
It happens when your body doesn’t use insulin properly or doesn’t make enough.
It’s often linked to things like diet, weight, and lifestyle, and can sometimes be managed with healthy habits, medication, or insulin if needed.
The condition can go undetected for years because its symptoms are hard to spot or brushed off as something else.
In February, a major study by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed that more than one million Brits are likely living with type 2 diabetes – and have no idea.
Type 2 is different from type 1, which when your body doesn’t make insulin at all.
It usually starts when you’re young, and people with Type 1 need to take insulin for life.
An easy way to remember the difference is to think of type 1 as “no insulin” and type 2 as “insulin not working well.”
The findings suggested that swapping just 10 per cent of UPF in your diet for 10 per cent of MPFs could lower your risk of type 2 diabetes by 14 per cent.
Even better, replacing 10 per cent of UPFs with PFs like salted nuts, artisanal breads, and preserved fruits and veggies reduced the risk by 18 per cent, according to the study.
Interestingly, the researchers think this might be because 30-50 per cent of PF intake in the study came from beer and wine, which have previously been linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.
On the flip side, when they looked at ultra-processed foods like savoury snacks, animal-based products, ready meals, and sugar-sweetened or artificially sweetened drinks, these were all tied to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) were defined by Brazilian researchers who made the NOVA classification system. It breaks foods into groups depending on how processed they are.
The most natural foods are in group 1, while the most processed are in group 4.
The groups do not entirely indicate how healthy a food is. However, it does indicate how processed it is – and studies have linked UPFs to a number of diseases.
How does your kitchen compare to the following groups?
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods (group 1)
Processed culinary ingredients (group 2)
Processed foods (group 3)
Ultra-processed foods (group 4)
