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).”
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.”
Hello everyone: Yes, you read it correctly…another epidemic. I would argue that it has become a pandemic due to these facts: “The study revealed significant regional disparities in the prevalence of overweight and obesity. The most dramatic increases have occurred in Oceania, North Africa, and the Middle East, where more than 60% of men and over 70% of women are obese. In the United States, the leader among industrialized nations, the obesity rate stands at 42% for men and 46% for women. If current trends persist, global adult obesity rates will rise from 43.4% in 2021 to 57.4% for men and from 46.7% to 60.3% for women by 2050.” Obesity Surpassing Overweight : The study predicts that by 2050, the number of overweight children and adolescents will stabilize, primarily because many will transition to obesity. Among boys aged 5-14 years, obesity is expected to surpass the overweight status. The authors highlighted that younger generations are gaining weight more rapidly and developing obesity earlier than previous generations. This trend raises concerns regarding early onset complications, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and various cancers. The author of the paper described this obesity epidemic as “a profound tragedy and a monumental societal failure.” It seems that we cannot wait for our government or public health authorities to fix this…we need to take this on. https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/global-obesity-crisis-worsening-experts-warn-urgency-2025a10006gx?ecd=WNL_trdalrt_pos1_250323_etid7314080&uac=428598BV&impID=7314080 Bottom Line: This is an epidemic that can be fought in the kitchen and the playground. This is what would help anyone: avoid ultra-processed foods, avoid drive-thru, avoid sugar, avoid processed grains and processed anything, and instead consume a plant-based, largely unprocessed (stick with home cooking at least 90% of the time), high quality food plan. Try making a rule: every hour of screen time means an hour of physical play and optimally outdoors. Avoid frying foods and avoid plastics as they contain endocrine disrupting chemicals associated with obesity and hormonal changes. Embrace and support your circadian rhythms and get into early time restricted feeding (eTRF) which just means having some type of breakfast within 2 hours of waking, and then a great lunch so that you consume 80% of your total daily caloric intake before 2 pm. and make dinner the lightest meal of the day and early so that you consume all of your daily calories within10 hours. For example: breakfast at 8 and dinner at 6. The eTRF eating pattern has shown the best results in clinical trials for health promotion as it aligns with our natural circadian rhythms, is immune balancing and very anti-inflammatory.
Hello everyone: More good news about going plant-based. In case you did not know this, being overweight or obese is the second leading risk factor / cause of cancer behind smoking and alcohol is the third leading risk factor / cause. This paper shows how consuming a predominantly plant-based food plan can lower your risk. “Key Takeaways: · Higher adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a 6% lower risk of obesity-related cancer over 15 years. · Risks for colorectal, liver, and kidney cancers were significantly reduced in people with medium or high adherence to the top-ranked diet. · Obesity-related cancer risk reduction was even greater among current and former smokers. But as detailed in JAMA Network Open , high adherence was linked with up to a 48% lower risk of site-specific obesity-related cancers: Colorectal cancer: HR 0.92 (95% CI 0.85-0.99) Hepatocellular carcinoma: HR 0.52 (95% CI 0.33-0.83) Kidney cancer: HR 0.67 (95% CI 0.55-0.82) Medium adherence to the diet was also associated with significantly lower risks for colorectal, kidney, and liver cancers, along with a lower risk of esophageal cancer (HR 0.66, 95% CI 0.48-0.93). "According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, excess body weight is convincingly linked to a heightened cancer risk at 13 anatomic sites, including cancers of the endometrium, esophagus, kidney, pancreas, liver, and breast, among others," Aguilera-Buenosvinos' group noted. Currently, about 43% of the global adult population and over 70% of U.S. adults have overweight or obesity.” https://www.medpagetoday.com/hematologyoncology/othercancers/114365?xid=nl_mpt_DHE_2025-03-01&mh=6a74d5b5ed34b39a279370a1493d7925&zdee=gAAAAABm4udUZqN7RIPDWm3Rn17NV0aBHPlDB41BQTxrbhxtpFjG928oea9qJCAo2vxCSF00cYGzXMisepMHOWdJvNbUg2KWP0qx6X-QthJmkzOrOAEPKCg%3D&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Weekly%20Review%202025-03-01&utm_term=NL_DHE_Weekly_Active Bottom Line: For many reasons, including if there is a history of cancer in your family, adopting a plant-based whole food unprocessed approach to nutrition continues to lead the way towards health promotion and prevention. Not only does it lower inflammation and promote optimal and healthy aging, but you will also look and feel better. As you make the move into plants, your taste buds will slowly go back to being delighted with the tastes and textures of a more natural diet and you will wonder how you ever ate any other way. If you want to optimize your health, this is where you should start. PS: Research shows that most of us eat the same 12 to 15 foods day in and day out. Diversity of food choices is essential to get all of the nutrients we need, so change it up at least every week…add a new vegetable, fruit, nut, seed, mushroom or bean!
Hello again: Because there is such good information on this topic, I felt it urgent enough to share once again with new data for you to consider: “Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death globally and here in the United States. Diet has a major impact on the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis and subsequent cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. An unhealthy diet is the most significant potential behavioral and modifiable risk factor for ischemic heart disease. Despite these established facts, dietary interventions are far less frequent than pharmaceutical and procedural interventions in the management of cardiovascular disease. The beneficial effects of a plant-based diet on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality have been demonstrated in a number of recent clinical studies. Plant-based diets can lower all-cause mortality and lower the risk of ischemic heart disease with reduced IHD-related mortality. It can also optimize blood pressure, glycemic and lipid control, and thus reduce the need for mediations.” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9963093/ Bottom Line:
Are Plant-Based Diets Adequate?
Hello everyone: Have you wondered if there is any benefit from going plant-based? Yes, there is and here is some information to assist your choices: “Vegetarian, including vegan, dietary patterns were associated with reduced risk for CVD (cardiovascular disease) incidence and CVD mortality (death) compared to non-vegetarian diets. (Consider the sobering fact that CVD is the number one cause of death worldwide.) Vegan dietary patterns were associated with reductions in CVD risk factors including blood pressure low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (the ‘bad’ cholesterol) and body mass index compared to non-vegetarian dietary patterns, as well as c-reactive protein concentrations (a measure of inflammation!!) in a novel meta-analysis.” Conclusion: Practitioners can consider recommending vegetarian dietary patterns to reduce cardiometabolic risk factors and risk of CVD incidence and mortality. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39430429/ Bottom Line: Here is another good reason to upgrade your food plan. It is certainly worth your while to move towards a Flexitarian type of food plan to protect your health, your future, and help you overcome any current health issues. Flexitarian is what the Mediterranean diet looks like, which I covered in a previous blog. Overall, the data is shifting so strongly to this model that even our USDA has commented that their recommendations are going plant-based due to the overwhelming science supporting its benefits. This approach significantly benefits the environment as well as our health is not separate at all from our planetary health…there is a good reason that our planet is called “Mother Earth” and we should take good care to respect and nourish our planet so that we can be good stewards and healthy as well. One strong step in that direction is to lower our animal-based foods by at least 50% as the research reveals that it will help both human and planetary health significantly. Do some research and see what you find. My bet is that you find this type of food plan is the optimal one, which means lower inflammation and feeling better with a safer future for one and all. The Traditional Mediterranean Diet has been characterized by: 1. Plentiful fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains. 2. Olive oil as the principal fat. 3. Lean red meat consumed only a few times per month or in very small portions. 4. Low to moderate daily consumption of dairy products. 5. Poultry, fish and eggs consumed a couple of times per week; and 6. Moderate consumption of wine. (Low or none is actually best)
Hello again everyone: As you know, I keep promoting a healthy unprocessed whole food plant-based dietary pattern to reduce inflammation and optimize health and longevity. I did not know that beans were so essential till I read this paper! Conclusions : The FHILL (Food Habits In Later Life) longitudinal study shows that a higher legume intake is the most protective dietary predictor of survival amongst the elderly, regardless of their ethnicity. The significance of legumes persisted even after controlling for age at enrolment (in 5-year intervals), gender, and smoking. Legumes have been associated with long-lived food cultures such as the Japanese (soy, tofu, natto, miso), the Swedes (brown beans, peas), and the Mediterranean people (lentils, chickpeas, white beans). https://apjcn.nhri.org.tw/server/APJCN/13/2/217.pdf Bottom Line : For a little more information, consider consuming legumes daily, and it does not take that much to make a difference. Even as little as several tablespoons per day is enough to make a difference. Perhaps it is the vegetable protein, or the resistant starch, or the fiber and gut microbiome effects that cause such a boost in health, but whatever it is, just eat some beans every day. There a quite a few to choose from: Mung beans, chickpeas, lentils, black beans, adzuki beans, red beans, white beans, butter beans, Lupini beans and more…lots of different tastes and textures to add to your plate! One reason that people do not eat beans is due to fear of flatulence! Studies show that this does not affect most of us, and for those that it does the effect will diminish and go away after several weeks of consistently consuming them. So, eat your beans within the context of a great Mediterranean plan! The Traditional Mediterranean Diet has been characterized by: 1. Plentiful fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains. 2. Olive oil as the principal fat. 3. Lean red meat consumed only a few times per month or in very small portions. 4. Low to moderate daily consumption of dairy products. 5. Poultry, fish and eggs consumed a couple of times per week; and 6. Moderate consumption of wine. (Low or none is actually best) PS: As more modern data becomes available, you might see # 3,4, & 5 get smaller as the advantages of vegetarian protein sources are proving superior for longevity and chronic illness and inflammation benefits.
Hello again everyone: As you know, inflammation causes, aggravates, and/or perpetuates all chronic conditions. Another way to say this is that inflammation is the final common pathway of environmental stress…what we eat, what we are exposed to, what we think, and what we do (exercise etc.) can either create health or a lack of health (inflammation). There is a lot of good research that reveals vegetables can reduce inflammation, therefore, going into a whole foods plant-based food plan has many advantages: Conclusions: This study suggests that the previously observed health benefits of cruciferous vegetable consumption may be partly associated with the anti-inflammatory effects of these vegetables. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24630682/ Conclusion : Study results show that the beneficial effects of fruit and vegetable intake on markers of inflammation and oxidative stress are already present by early adolescence and provide support for the Dietary Guidelines for Americans "to consume five or more servings per day" of fruits and vegetables to promote beneficial cardiovascular health. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19248856/ Conclusions: This study suggests that soy food consumption is related to lower circulating levels of IL-6, TNFα, and soluble TNF receptors 1 and 2 (markers of inflammation) in Chinese women. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22889631/ “Epidemiology studies indicate that diet or specific dietary components can reduce the risk for cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. An underlying cause of these diseases is chronic inflammation. Dietary components that are beneficial against disease seem to have multiple mechanisms of action and many also have a common mechanism of reducing inflammation, often via the NFkB pathway. Thus, a plant-based diet can contain many components that reduce inflammation and can reduce the risk for developing all three of these chronic diseases.” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24944766/ Bottom Line: Go whole food plant based. Ditch the sugar, bad fats, additives, preservatives, processing, fried, nutrient deprived food like objects and opt for real food that your biology craves and protect your health. To eat any other way is way too risky.
Hey there everyone: This article helps to clarify the science as it unfolds about lowering your cancer risk with your lifestyle. It now appears that there is enough evidence supporting plant-based food plans for cancer prevention. And although there are multiple mechanisms involved as to how plants reduce cancer risks. ” ...as the evidence accumulates, it increasingly points to one over-arching theme: More plants, less cancer. When it comes to naming the dietary patterns offering the most protection against cancer, plant-based diets emerge as the winner for reducing the risk for several cancers sensitive to lifestyle factors.” https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/growing-evidence-suggests-plant-based-diets-reduce-cancer-2025a100011d?ecd=mkm_ret_250131_mscpmrk_onc_top-content_etid7196490&uac=428598BV&impID=7196490 Bottom Line: It is important to note the following: “Food Quality Matters : Of course, not all plant-based diets are created equally. It would be easy to fill a diet with French fries, potato chips, and doughnuts and call it plant-based, but no one would mistake that diet for helping to prevent cancer. “It’s important to distinguish between an overall plant-based diet and a healthy plant-based diet,” Giovannucci said. A healthy plant-based diet, for example, positively weights whole grains, fruits, vegetables, vegetable oils, nuts, and legumes, and it negatively weights refined grains, fruit juices, potatoes, sugar-sweetened beverages, and sweets, he explained.” In other words, a diverse Whole Foods Plant Based food plan that avoids ultra-processed foods is crucial to your long-term overall health as well as avoiding cancer. To find out more detailed information about cancer risk and foods, weight, lifestyle activities and more, check out this super informative and easy to use link where you can see the effect size of each item and get details to help your decisions. I spent a good 45 minutes on this link and found out how much science there is about health and plants that I was not aware of: https://www.wcrf.org/research-policy/interactive-cancer-risk-matrix/
Hello again: This article is very important and straightforward, plus it is a really great summary of what low-grade chronic inflammation is all about and how harmful it is…and considering that in the U.S., more than 60% of daily calories by all ages and genders are from UPFs, it is an important and timely topic…so let’s get right into it. “Low-grade inflammation alters the homeostasis of the organism and favors the onset of many chronic diseases. The global growth in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases in recent years has been accompanied by an increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF). Known to be hyperpalatable, economic and ready-to-eat, increased consumption of UPF has already been recognized as a risk factor for several chronic diseases. Current evidence highlights the adverse health effects of UPF characteristics, not only due to the nutrients provided by a diet rich in UPF, but also due to the non-nutritive components present in UPF and the effect they may have on gut health. This review aims to summarize the available evidence on the possible relationship between excessive UPF consumption and modulation of low-grade inflammation, as potential promoters of chronic disease. Inflammation is an immunosurveillance response essential for host defense, which serves to repair damaged tissues and eliminate toxic agents [ 1 ]. However, when this response becomes chronic, it results in the presence of immune system cells for an increasing period of time. This state of low-grade inflammation can lead to dysmetabolic conditions that disrupt homeostasis, favoring the development of a wide range of noncommunicable diseases such as cancer, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases [ 2 ]. Among the environmental and lifestyle factors that can promote or intensify inflammation, increasing scientific evidence supports the role of diet. Potential nutritional compounds influencing inflammation processes include macro- and micronutrients, bioactive molecules such as polyphenols and specific food components [ 19 ]. Overall, plant-based dietary patterns with a high consumption of vegetables, fruits and whole grains, a moderate consumption of legumes and fish and a low consumption of red meat have been associated with a greater anti-inflammatory potential ( Figure 1 ). These include several traditional healthy diets, such as the Mediterranean or the Nordic diet, which are usually based on minimally processed or unprocessed foods [ 20 , 21 ]. A meta-analysis that evaluated a total of 2300 subjects from 17 clinical trials showed that greater adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers, particularly CRP and interleukin-6 (IL-6) [ 22 ]. These findings were confirmed in a recent meta-analysis assessing the effect of multiple dietary patterns on inflammatory biomarkers [ 23 ].” https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10058108/ Bottom Line: Now it becomes more obvious why I am always saying inflammation will cause, perpetuate, and/or aggravate chronic illness of ALL types, and please note that this includes aging. It also becomes apparent as to why a plant-based, whole-food, minimally processed food plan is the best way to go. I urge you to read or review this paper and it will hopefully raise your motivation to fully dedicate yourself, and those you care about, to consume an optimal dietary lifestyle. What you eat will determine to a large extent on how long you live a healthy life (healthspan) as well as how long you live. In the article, there are several good charts (Figure 1 & 2) and information on what UPFs are and the chemicals and toxins in them, so check Section 3 & 4 when you get a chance. It is this kind of information that helps us make informed decisions that can dramatically improve our health and lower our risk for diseases (prevention) as well as promote recovery and resilience if we do become ill. Please, avoid UPFs for your health’s sake and eat foods that love you back!
