Cognitive Decline and Ultra-Processed Food- A Strong Association

Dec, 2022 - By WMR

Study suggests that people who consumed ultra-processed shows early symptoms of Cognitive Decline.

A study released on Monday suggests that people who derive their daily calorie from the consumption of ultra-processed foods suffers from cognitive decline. This research was carried out by a team of researchers of the Department of Pathology at the University of São Paulo Medical School in São Paulo. It was led by Natalia Gomes Gonçalves in the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Health among 10,775 participants.

Cognitive Decline can be explained as a state of self-analyzing the worsening effect of frequent memory loss. It is a type of cognitive impairment of early witnessing symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia type impairments. The study along with other related researches highlights the fact that people whose calorie intake for a day is 20% of the amount of ultra-processed food consumed, he/she faces 25% faster decline in the executive functions (mental skill used to perform daily tasks and day to day life) and the rate associated with cognitive impairment is 28%. Ultra-processed foods are sweets, confectionaries, ice-cream, snacks, and beverages of different types, processed meat, and frozen meals. While people who do not consumed such ultra-processed food were at low risk to get affected. Such food consumption has CVD risk diseases, obesity, and metabolic syndromes also.

The study was based on a span of 8years where the scientists compared the participants’ cognitive performance with the level of ultra-processed food consumed. Further on, the ultra-processed foods were categorically divided into three main groups – minimally processed food, processed foods, and ultra-processed foods. The participants recalling ability was checked which meant, whether they can recall immediately, or recalling late recognition word list tests from the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer Disease.

Also the researchers have also checked and verified the participants’ executive function by using tools like verbal fluency tests