Association of Ultraprocessed Food Consumption With Risk of Dementia

[David PS]

As a general rule, I avoid ultra-processed foods (UPF). I thought the main issue was the lack of micronutrients. How little did I know.

Association of Ultraprocessed Food Consumption With Risk of Dementia

Background and Objectives There has been a growing body of evidence associating consumption of ultraprocessed foods (UPF) with adverse health outcomes including depression, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. However, whether UPF are associated with dementia is unknown. The authors...

n.neurology.org

Abstract​

Background There has been a growing body of evidence associating consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) with adverse health outcomes including depression, cardiovascular disease, all-cause mortality. However, whether UPF are associated with dementia is unknown. The authors investigated the associations between UPF and dementia incidence in UK biobank.
Methods We included 72,083 participants (55 years or older) who were free from dementia at baseline and provided at least two times 24-h dietary assessments from the UK Biobank study. Follow-up occurred through March 2021. UPF were defined according to the NOVA classification. Incident all-cause dementia comprising Alzheimer's disease and vascular dementia was ascertained through electronic linkages to hospital and mortality records. Cox proportional hazards were used to estimate the association between the proportion (%) of UPF in the diet and the subsequent risk of dementia. In addition, substitution analysis was used to estimate the risk of dementia when substituting UPF with an equivalent proportion of unprocessed or minimally processed foods.
Results During a total of 717,333 person-years of follow-up (median 10.0 years), 518 participants developed dementia, of which 287 developed Alzheimer’s disease and 119 developed vascular dementia. In the fully adjusted model, consumption of UPF was associated with higher risk of dementia (hazard ratio (HR) for 10% increase in UPF: 1.25; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.14, 1.37), Alzheimer’s disease (HR: 1.14; 95% CI: 1.00, 1.30) and vascular dementia (HR: 1.28; 95% CI: 1.06, 1.55), respectively. In addition, replacing 10% of UPF weight in diet with an equivalent proportion of unprocessed or minimally processed foods was estimated to be associated with a 19% lower risk of dementia (HR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.74, 0.89).
Conclusions In this prospective cohort study, higher consumption of UPF was associated with higher risk of dementia, while substituting unprocessed or minimally processed foods for UPF was associated lower risk of dementia.

source

 

[animalcule]

Ice cream: despite being a favorite of peat-ers, I feel like this falls into the category of ultra processed, no? Pasteurized, homogenized milk/cream and processed sugar.

 

[Perry Staltic]

What defines ultraprocessed foods?

 

[Perry Staltic]

Ice cream: despite being a favorite of peat-ers, I feel like this falls into the category of ultra processed, no? Pasteurized, homogenized milk/cream and processed sugar.

Also, virtually all store-bought ice cream has propylene glycol added

 

[David PS]

What defines ultraprocessed foods?

I agree that the problem of ultraprocessed foods is that they do not have a good definition that is easy to grasp.

Ultra-processed food - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[David PS]

Also, virtually all store-bought ice cream has propylene glycol added

Manufactured convenience foods are some of the worst offenders. Take a look at Kraft mac and cheese.

Just Because This Kraft Food Is "EASY" Doesn't Mean You Should Eat It!

Just Because This Kraft Food Is "EASY" Doesn't Mean You Should Eat It! Let's start with the 22 ingredient cheese sauce! Say what?

foodbabe.com

 

[David PS]

Ice cream: despite being a favorite of peat-ers, I feel like this falls into the category of ultra processed, no? Pasteurized, homogenized milk/cream and processed sugar.

Yes but it all a matter of degree of processing. If you can make it (ice cream) at home it does not seem to be too unhealthy. Perhaps it is just as unhealthy/ultraprocessed as you wish to be.

I agree with you and I do not eat ice cream.

 

[PeskyPeater]

Ice cream: despite being a favorite of peat-ers, I feel like this falls into the category of ultra processed, no? Pasteurized, homogenized milk/cream and processed sugar.

no, it's fine.

homogenation of milk fats happen in the gut anyhow.

 

[David PS]

I have been thinking about ultraprocessed foods after seeing some of the images in the Observations from using a continuous glucose monitor thread. Dementia is an Umbrella term and it includes Alzheimers which is considered by some as being type III diabetes.

 

[Lollipop2]

Also, virtually all store-bought ice cream has propylene glycol added

Not true in health stores, maybe regular grocery stores. I can buy Jeni’s ice cream without any propylene glycol. In fact ice cream free of all additives has been discussed many times on the forum. Depending on where you live there are different brands: Three Twins, Strauss, Jeni’s, Moloka, etc.

 

[David PS]

Here is another study published in 2022 based on US research.

Association between ultra-processed food consumption and cognitive performance in US older adults: a cross-sectional analysis of the NHANES 2011–2014 - European Journal of Nutrition

Purpose This study evaluated the association between ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and cognitive performance among older US adults. Methods This cross-sectional study assessed 3632 participants aged 60+ years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–14...

link.springer.com

Methods​

This cross-sectional study assessed 3632 participants aged 60+ years from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2011–14. Cognitive performance was assessed using the Consortium to Establish a Registry for Alzheimer’s Disease (CERAD), Word Learning test, Animal Fluency test, and the Digit Symbol Substitution test (DSST). Dietary intake was assessed using two 24-h diet recalls. Food items were classified according to the NOVA system, a classification based on the nature, extent, and purpose of industrial food processing. Linear regression models were used to evaluate the association of dietary share of UPF (% of daily energy intake) (categorized as tertiles) and cognitive test scores, adjusting for socio-demographic variables, physical activity, smoking status, and chronic diseases (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and depression). Models excluding participants with pre-existing diseases were carried out to address potential reverse causality.

Results​

On average, UPF accounted for 53% of total energy intake, ranging from 33 to 70% across extreme tertiles. Inverted U-shape association between UPF consumption and Animal fluency and DSST was observed. No significant associations were observed between the UPF intake tertiles and the cognitive test results. Nonetheless, UPF consumption was significantly associated with worse performance in Animal Fluency in older adults without pre-existing diseases (P < 0.05).

Conclusion​

UPF consumption was associated with worse performance in Animal Fluency among older people without pre-existing diseases. Decreasing UPF consumption may be a way to improve impaired cognition among older adults.

 

[Perry Staltic]

Not true in health stores, maybe regular grocery stores. I can buy Jeni’s ice cream without any propylene glycol. In fact ice cream free of all additives has been discussed many times on the forum. Depending on where you live there are different brands: Three Twins, Strauss, Jeni’s, Moloka, etc.

Oh OK. I figured if Ben & Jerry's had it (which it does), most would.

 

[Lollipop2]

Oh OK. I figured if Ben & Jerry's had it (which it does), most would.

Actually Ben & Jerry’s is like the WORST ice cream - ingredients are over the top horrible.

 

[Perry Staltic]

Actually Ben & Jerry’s is like the WORST ice cream - ingredients are over the top horrible.

Didn't know. I figured they were like Tom's toothpaste. Maybe they're bad too

 

[Lollipop2]

Didn't know. I figured they were like Tom's toothpaste. Maybe they're bad too

I am not sure about Tom’s anymore. I think these companies start out okay, then they are bought out by pharmaceutical companies trying to get into the natural supplement/food market and then cheapen them. This happened to the Organic milk company Horizon Organics. Now they are a horrible product. So sad really.

 

[David PS]

I am thinking that the linked thread is related to this one.

Death Rate From Alzheimer Disease (AD) Has Risen By 55% In Just 5 Years

I am surprised this dire statistic even made it to front page news, but hopefully it would give the public some food for thought. The even scarier news buried inside this tragic article is that most of the deaths are due to the so-called "early onset" AD, which strikes people in their 50s, 60s...

raypeatforum.com

 

[David PS]

Impact of ultra-processed food intake on the risk of COVID-19: a prospective cohort study - European Journal of Nutrition

Purpose Nutrition plays a key role in supporting the human immune system and reducing the risk of infections. However, there is limited evidence exploring the relationship between diet and the risk of COVID-19. This study aimed to assess the associations between consumption of ultra-processed...

link.springer.com

 

[David PS]

Thinking about Alzheimer disease through the lenses of cancer metabolism.

Warburg-like metabolic transformation underlies neuronal degeneration in sporadic Alzheimer’s disease

Traxler et al. discover that the metabolic and epigenetic regulator PKM2 is expressed in the brain tissues from patients with Alzheimer’s disease and in patient-derived induced neurons. Neuronal PKM2 causes a metabolic shift, fate loss, and apoptotic competency, which could be partially...

www.cell.com

 

[joaquin]

no, it's fine.

homogenation of milk fats happen in the gut anyhow.

Homogenation in the gut? Does it also displace the artery damaging enzyme xanthanase the way that commercial homogenizing does?

 

[David PS]

Poor heart health predicts premature brain ageing

By estimating people’s brain age from MRI scans using machine learning, a team led by UCL researchers has identified multiple risk factors for a prematurely ageing brain.

www.eurekalert.org