Brain Changes Linked to Ultraprocessed Foods, Even in Otherwise Healthy Diets

A 10% increase in ultraprocessed food intake was tied to lower attention scores and greater dementia risk in a cross-sectional study.The relationships persisted even in people who followed a Mediterranean diet.No relationship emerged between ultraprocessed food intake and memory scores. People who included more ultraprocessed foods -- chips, candy bars, frozen meals, sugary cereals, or soda, for example -- in an otherwise healthy diet had worse attention scores and a higher risk of dementia, an analysis of cross-sectional data in Australia suggested. Each 10% increase in ultraprocessed food intake was associated with a 0.05-point decrease (95% CI -0.09 to -0.01, P=0.012) in composite attention scores among adults 40 and older, reported Barbara Cardoso, PhD, of Monash University in Notting Hill, Australia, and co-authors. For each 10% rise in ultraprocessed food consumption, the risk of dementia rose by 0.24 points (95% CI 0.16-0.32, P<0.001) on the modified CAIDE (Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Aging, and Incidence of Dementia) scale, a tool designed to estimate a middle-age person's long-term risk of developing dementia, Cardoso and colleagues said. The relationships persisted even in people who followed a Mediterranean diet, the researchers wrote in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. A 10% increase in