Eating more ultraprocessed foods is linked to a higher risk of cognitive decline and stroke, even if a person is trying to adhere to a Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet or the MIND diet, a new study published in the journal Neurology has reported. All three diets are plant-based, focused on consuming more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, beans and seeds while limiting sugar, red meat and ultraprocessed foods. On the flip side, eating more unprocessed or minimally processed foods was linked with a 12% lower risk of cognitive impairment, according to the new study published in the journal Neurology (LaMotte, 2024; Bhave et al., 2024).
Associations Between Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Adverse Brain Health Outcomes (June 11, 2024 issue of Neurology)
https://www.neurology.org/doi/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209432
Ultraprocessed foods include prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza, ready-to-eat meals and pleasure foods such as hot dogs, sausages, French fries, sodas, store-bought cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts, ice cream and many more.
Such foods are typically high in calories, added sugar and salt and low in fiber, all of which can contribute to cardiometabolic health problems, weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, experts say. (LaMotte, 2024)
An increased risk of stroke
“The study analyzed data on 30,000 people participating in the REGARD, or REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study, made up of 50% Whites and 50% Blacks in a nationally diverse group of people who have been followed for up to 20 years.
The risk of stroke was 8% higher for people who added the most ultraprocessed foods to their diet as compared with those who ate minimally processed foods, said study author and neurologist Dr. W. Taylor Kimberly, chief of the division of neurocritical care at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.
That risk rose to 15% for Black participants, likely due to the impact of ultraprocessed foods on high blood pressure in that population, Kimberly said. However, if a person ate more unprocessed or minimally processed foods, the risk of stroke dropped by 9%, the study found.” (LatMotte, 2024; Bhave et al., 2024)
Do Ultraprocessed Foods Sabotage Efforts to Follow a Healthy Diet?
“What is it about ultraprocessed foods that may allow them to sabotage efforts to follow a healthy diet? It could be their poor nutrient composition and tendency to spike blood sugars, which can lead to type 2 diabetes, obesity, elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol, said Peipei Gao and Zhendong Mei in an editorial published with the study (Gao and Mei, 2024).
Mei is a research fellow in medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, while Gao is a graduate student in nutrition visiting Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, also in Boston. Neither was involved in the study. Type 2 diabetes, obesity, elevated blood pressure and high cholesterol are all key risk factors for vascular disease in the heart and brain, they wrote. (LaMotte, 2024)
The impact on blood vessels that leads to stroke and cognitive decline may also be due “to the presence of additives including emulsifiers, colorants, sweeteners, and nitrates/nitrites, which have been associated with disruptions in the gut microbial ecosystem and inflammation,” they added. (LaMotte, 2024)
Growing dangers of ultraprocessed foods
Studies on the dangers of eating ultraprocessed foods are piling up. According to a February review of 45 meta-analyses on almost 10 million people, eating 10% more ultraprocessed foods raised the risk of developing or dying from dozens of adverse health conditions.
That 10% increase was considered “baseline,” and adding even more ultraprocessed foods might increase the risk, experts say.
There was strong evidence that a higher intake of ultraprocessed foods was associated with about a 50% higher risk of cardiovascular disease-related death and common mental disorders, according to the review. (LaMotte, 2024)
References
LaMotte, S. Adding just a few ultraprocessed foods to a healthy diet raised risk of cognitive decline and stroke, study says. CNN. May 22, 2024. Available at: https://edition.cnn.com/2024/05/22/health/ultraprocessed-food-stroke-cognitive-decline-wellness/index.html
Bhave VM, Oladele CR, Ament Z et al. Associations between ultra-processed food consumption and adverse brain health outcomes. Neurology. 2024;102(11):e209432. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000209432.
Gao P, Mei Z. Editorial: Food in brain health. Does processing level matter? Neurology. 2024;102(11): https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.0000000000209511
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