Researchers claim that people who eat too much processed food could end up with a higher risk of developing dementia.
A new study published in JAMA Neurology is shedding new light on the connection between diet and brain cognition. Researchers found that individuals could be at higher risk of dementia if they obtain more than 20% of their daily caloric intake from ultra-processed foods.
The study suggested that the region of the brain responsible for information processing, decision-making, and executive function was negatively affected by higher amounts of highly-processed calories.
Researchers studied 10,000 Brazilians over a period of up to a decade. The average age of participants in the study was 51.
Delayed word recall, verbal fluency, and word recognition were used to assess the patient’s cognitive function. Assessments were conducted at the start and end of the study. Participants were also asked to provide feedback on their diet.
Out of all test subjects, those who had the greatest proportion of their diet sourced from highly-processed foods experienced a 28% faster rate of global cognitive decline compared to those with the smallest. The researchers also noted a 25% faster decline in executive function among the group consuming the most processed food.
While the term is often thrown around loosely, the definition of ultra-processed foods employed by this study was “industrial formulations of food substances (oils, fats, sugars, starch, and protein isolates) that contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, and other cosmetic additives.”
Common ultra-processed foods include packaged goods, like cookies and chips, or proteins, like hot dogs and bologna.
The study’s co-author, Dr. Claudia Suemoto of the University of São Paulo Medical School, said that nearly 58% of the standard American diet is comprised of ultra-processed foods. For comparison, this is nearly the same as that seen in the United Kingdom, which is just under 57%, and more than the 48% reported in Canada.
Dementia is not the only potential outcome of eating too much highly processed food. Overconsumption is also correlated with an increased risk of obesity, heart problems, cancer, diabetes, and premature death.
Obesity, in particular, is believed to exacerbate many of these conditions, including dementia, as previously reported in The Dallas Express.
Americans have been putting on the pounds unabated for some years now, leading to a skyrocketing increase in obesity, even in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, which dietician Isabella Ferrari described to The Dallas Express as “not very walkable.”
Overall, experts recommend lowering the risks of adverse health problems by including vegetables, fruits, and whole grains in one’s diet. An effective way to reduce processed food consumption is to prepare meals from scratch, said Suemoto, rather than relying on often overly processed packaged items.
While cooking meals can take longer than relying on fast food, Suemoto insisted that it is worth the effort.
“It’s worth it because you’re going to protect your heart and guard your brain from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease,” she said. “That’s the take-home message: Stop buying things that are super-processed.”