Association Between Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods and Cognitive Decline

Abstract

ImportanceAlthough consumption of ultraprocessed food has been linked to higher risk of cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, and obesity, little is known about the association of consumption of ultraprocessed foods with cognitive decline.ObjectiveTo investigate the association between ultraprocessed food consumption and cognitive decline in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Adult Health.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsThis was a multicenter, prospective cohort study with 3 waves, approximately 4 years apart, from 2008 to 2017. Data were analyzed from December 2021 to May 2022. Participants were public servants aged 35 to 74 years old recruited in 6 Brazilian cities. Participants who, at baseline, had incomplete food frequency questionnaire, cognitive, or covariate data were excluded. Participants who reported extreme calorie intake (<600 kcal/day or >6000 kcal/day) and those taking medication that could negatively interfere with cognitive performance were also excluded.ExposuresDaily ultraprocessed food consumption as a percentage of total energy divided into quartiles.Main Outcomes and MeasuresChanges in cognitive performance over time evaluated by the immediate and delayed word recall, word recognition, phonemic and semantic verbal fluency tests, and Trail-Making Test B version.ResultsA total of 15 105 individuals were recruited and 4330 were excluded, leaving 10 775 participants whose data were analyzed. The mean (SD) age at the baseline was 51.6 (8.9) years, 5880 participants (54.6%) were women, 5723 (53.1%) were White, and 6106 (56.6%) had at least a college degree. During a median (range) follow-up of 8 (6-10) years, individuals with ultraprocessed food consumption above the first quartile showed a 28% faster rate of global cognitive decline (β = −0.004; 95% CI, −0.006 to −0.001; P = .003) and a 25% faster rate of executive function decline (β = −0.003, 95% CI, −0.005 to 0.000; P = .01) compared with those in the first quartile.Conclusions and RelevanceA higher percentage of daily energy consumption of ultraprocessed foods was associated with cognitive decline among adults from an ethnically diverse sample. These findings support current public health recommendations on limiting ultraprocessed food consumption because of their potential harm to cognitive function.

Short-term consumption of ultra-processed semi-synthetic diets impairs the sense of smell and brain metabolism in mice

“…Long-term unhealthy dietary interventions can lead to impairments in memory, and emotional or cognitive behaviors (such as reward-, social-and stress-related behaviors), even independently of obesity [9,21,24,[34][35][36][37]. The long-term consumption of high-fat, highfructose, or Western diets can also lead to defects in specific olfactory-related behaviors, such as odor discrimination, odor-related learning, and memory [21,22,25,37,38].…”

“…Presently, most humans in Western societies live sedentary lives in a fast-paced world and are constantly bombarded with myriad sensory stimuli, which encourage overconsumption of a wide variety of energy-dense and ultra-processed unhealthy foods [3][4][5]. This overconsumption, when sustained for long periods, leads to the dysregulation of the appetite system, weight gain, and the development of a wide range of noncommunicable diseases -ranging from metabolic disorders to cancer, autoimmune diseases, mental and brain health problems [2,[6][7][8][9].…”

JAMA Neurology—The Year in Review, 2022

“…More than 6.2 million article views and downloads and nearly 13 000 news media mentions highlighted the articles published this past year to a broad audience, leading many articles to receive high Altmetric scores (measures of news and social media attention). 3,7,8 More than 110 000 people receive our weekly electronic Table of Contents free of charge, and many of these highlights are also disseminated to more than 113 000 social media followers, including on our website, jamaneurology.com.…”

“…Authors choose to publish in JAMA Neurology for a variety of reasons, but many have shared that the tremendous dissemination and visibility of articles published in the journal are what drive their decision to submit their manuscripts to us. More than 6.2 million article views and downloads and nearly 13 000 news media mentions highlighted the articles published this past year to a broad audience, leading many articles to receive high Altmetric scores (measures of news and social media attention) . More than 110 000 people receive our weekly electronic Table of Contents free of charge, and many of these highlights are also disseminated to more than 113 000 social media followers, including on our website, jamaneurology.com.…”

“…More than 6.2 million article views and downloads and nearly 13 000 news media mentions highlighted the articles published this past year to a broad audience, leading many articles to receive high Altmetric scores (measures of news and social media attention). 3,7,8 More than 110 000 people receive our weekly electronic Table of Contents free of charge, and many of these highlights are also disseminated to more than 113 000 social media followers, including on our website, jamaneurology.com.A number of important changes have taken place during the last year. The addition of our new Associate Editor for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, Ashley Rawls, MD, MS, has facilitated an improved focus and increased rigor in these important areas.…”