Regularly eating ultraprocessed food as a fifth or more of your daily calorie intake could increase your risk of contracting dementia, a new study has warned.
Preserving congitive function may mean doing away with hot dogs, burgers and frozen pizzas, say scientists, who warn the part of your brain that processes information and makes decisions is most acutely impacted by regular consumption of such foods.
According to the study published in JAMA Neurology on Monday, people who eat the most ultraprocessed foods have a 28 per cent faster rate of global cognitive decline and a 25 per cent faster rate of executive function decline compared those who eat very little over-processed food.
Dr David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine and nutrition, was not involved in the study but told CNN the research was “robust enough that we should conclude ultraprocessed foods are probably bad for our brains.”
He noted, however, that in instances where the overall quality of a participant’s diet was high – rich in unprocessed wholefoods, fruit, vegetables, grains and healthy protein – the link between ultraprocessed foods and brain function dissipated.
