Consumption of ultra-processed foods linked to cognitive decline

Consuming more than 20% of total daily calories from ultra-processed foods was associated with faster decline in cognition and executive function, researchers reported in JAMA Neurology.

“Consumption of [ultra-processed foods (UPFs)] has been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and obesity,” Natalia Gomes Gonçalves, PhD, of the department of pathology at the University of São Paulo Medical School in Brazil, and colleagues wrote. “However, few studies have investigated the association between UPFs and cognitive decline in samples from high-income countries.”

Gomes Gonçalves and colleagues sought to investigate this link by conducting the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health, a multicenter, prospective cohort study with data collected in three waves, 4 years apart, from 2008 to 2017.

Researchers measured daily UPFs as a percentage of total energy and evaluated changes in cognitive performance through assessments such as word recall, word recognition, and phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tests.

According to results, 10,775 participants (mean age at baseline, 51.6 years; 54.6% women) were included, all of whom were active or retired public servants recruited from six Brazilian cities. At baseline, the mean BMI was 26.9 kg/m² and the mean caloric intake was 2,856 kcal, 27% of which came from ultra-processed foods.

During a median follow-up period of 8 years, participants who reported more than 19.9% of daily calories from ultra-processed foods demonstrated a 28% faster rate of global cognitive decline (change in standardized cognitive score, –0.004; 95% CI, –0.006 to –0.001) and a 25% faster rate of executive function decline (change, –0.003; 95% CI, –0.005 to 0.000) compared with those who reported no more than 19.9% of daily calories from ultra-processed foods.

“These findings support current public health recommendations on limiting ultra-processed food consumption because of their potential harm to cognitive function,” the authors wrote.