Health News Update: Ultra-processed Foods and Brain Health

Mark Smith • June 17, 2024

Hello friends:

 

Just as you might imagine, not only does ultra-processed foods contribute to chronic illness and poor health, it also is definitely not a great idea to consume if you are concerned about your brain health. Whether you are concerned about anxiety, depression, brain fog, forgetfulness, attention and focus, dementia, and even sleep…the inflammation generated from consuming ultra-processed foods is a major contributor to poor health and even an early death.


“UPFs are highly manipulated, low in protein and fiber, and packed with added ingredients, including sugar, fat, and salt. Examples of UPFs are soft drinks, chips, chocolate, candy, ice cream, sweetened breakfast cereals, packaged soups, chicken nuggets, hotdogs, and fries. Research has shown associations between high UPF consumption and increased risk for metabolic and neurologic disorders.


As reported previously by Medscape Medical News, in the ELSA-Brasil, higher intake of UPFs was significantly associated with a faster rate of decline in executive and global cognitive function.


In multivariable Cox proportional hazards models adjusting for age, sex, high blood pressure, and other factors, a 10% increase in relative intake of UPFs was associated with a 16% higher risk for cognitive impairment (hazard ratio [HR], 1.16). Conversely, a higher intake of unprocessed or minimally processed foods correlated with a 12% lower risk for cognitive impairment (HR, 0.88).”


https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/ultra-processed-foods-independent-risk-factor-poor-brain-2024a10009sj?ecd=WNL_trdalrt_pos1_240523_etid6541381&uac=428598BV&impID=6541381

 

Bottom Line:

 

Save yourself a lot of grief and do not eat that stuff.


"The first key takeaway is that the type of food that we eat matters for brain health, but it's equally important to think about how it's made and handled when thinking about brain health," study investigator W. Taylor Kimberly, MD, PhD, with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, told Medscape Medical News.

"The second is that it's not just all a bad news story because while increased consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with a higher risk of cognitive impairment and stroke, unprocessed foods appear to be protective," Kimberly added.”

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Health News Update: How To Fight Inflammation and Chronic Disease 3.23.26 Hello again everyone: You might wonder why I keep focusing on food…so here are some of the reasons: food choices are the leading cause of death in the U.S. and spreading around the world. Poor food choices lead to inflammation which slowly destroy health. It is that simple, plain, and clear and backed by research. The next question: how do we fight back? Introduction The positive impact of food on health was postulated by the ancient Hippocrates, father of modern medicine with his famous quote: “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food” [1]. In the 21st century, scientists have focused on the effect of nutritional habits in diseases. Nowadays, it is well documented that food plays a noteworthy role in the pathogenesis of chronic diseases namely cardiovascular diseases (CVD), metabolic syndrome, diabetes mellitus type II, and cancer [2–5], as it correlates with others with the lipid pattern, the blood pressure, and the endothelial function. The scientists examine the effect of nutritional habits on disease emergence and progression in both individual nutrient intake and dietary patterns models. Worldwide, two dietary patterns are usually compared—the Mediterranean diet (MD) and the Western diet (WD) [3,6]. The Mediterranean diet reflects the food culture of most Mediterranean countries based on olive oil consumption, seasonal fresh vegetables, cereals, and plants in balance with low consumption of meat [7]. The Western diet, on the contrary, is dominated by high-fat dairy products processed and red meat [8]. However, discordance in the different MD patterns and consumed food doses had been recognized. Without any doubt, those discrepancies could confine and restrict our knowledge on the health benefit mechanisms of the MD [9]. Due to the above, the medical community along with nutritionists and dieticians take a keen interest in MD and its traits [7]. https://www.academia.edu/45378994/biomedicines_Mediterranean_Diet_as_a_Tool_to_Combat_Inflammation_and_Chronic_Diseases_An_Overview?email_work_card=view-paper food choices can fight inflammation and chronic disease Bottom Line: This is a 2020 paper and since then literally hundreds of papers on the MD have emerged showing how the food plan lowers inflammation and the risk for developing multiple chronic illnesses. Even still, lots of research needs to be done to elucidate the many mechanisms of how food impacts our system and how to optimally individualize dietary recommendations. At this point, our best strategy to prevent and/or recover from any chronic condition is to eat as clean and natural as possible. It has become rather obvious that the further away from a natural diet we get, the sicker we become. On top of that, I have yet to see a full recovery from any health issue without the foundation of a predominantly plant-based, unprocessed, whole foods approach…which is why I keep posting about this subject. All the best to you and yours!
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