Ultra-processed foods linked to higher risk of developing dementia, study warns

People consuming the highest amounts of ultra-processed foods may have a higher risk of developing dementia than those who consume the least, according to a new study.

Ultra-processed food such as soft drinks, chips, ice cream, sausage, packaged bread, flavoured cereals, canned tomatoes and baked beans, ketchup and mayonnaise are low in protein and fibre and heavy in added sugar, fat and salt, pointed out scientists, including those from Lund University in Sweden.

Replacing such foods with unprocessed or minimally processed substitutes in a person’s diet has a decreased risk of dementia, said the study, published recently in the journal Neurology.

“Ultra-processed foods are meant to be convenient and tasty, but they diminish the quality of a person’s diet. These foods may also contain food additives or molecules from packaging or produced during heating, all of which have been shown in other studies to have negative effects on thinking and memory skills,” study author Huiping Li said in a statement.

“Our research not only found that ultra-processed foods are associated with an increased risk of dementia, but it also found replacing them with healthy options may decrease dementia risk,” Dr Li added.

In the study, scientists assessed the health of 72,083 individuals – 55 years of age or older – based on data from the UK Biobank, a vast database comprising health information on half a million people in the UK.

Participants were tracked for an average of 10 years and did not have dementia at the beginning, researchers said.

They responded to at least two questionnaires on what they ate and drank the day before with follow-ups occurring through March 2021.

Of the assessed individuals, scientists found 518 individuals had dementia diagnoses at the conclusion of the research.

Scientists then estimated how much ultra-processed food individuals ate and compared it to the grams per day of other foods to produce a proportion of their daily diet.

They also separated the subjects into four equal groups, ranging from the lowest to the greatest percentage intake of ultra-processed foods.

Researchers found ultra-processed foods accounted for about a tenth of the daily diet of people in the lowest group or about or 225 grams per day.

In comparison, 28 per cent of the daily diet of those in the highest category – or 814 grams per day – included ultra-processed food.

Beverages were the leading food category contributing to high ultra-processed food consumption, according to scientists, followed by sugary goods and dairy.

Just over 100 of the 18,021 people developed dementia in the lowest category while 150 of those in the highest category developed the neurological condition.

Adjusting for other factors, including age, gender, and family history, scientists said that for every 10 per cent increase in daily intake of ultra-processed foods, people had a 25 per cent higher risk of dementia.

While acknowledging the study does not prove such foods caused dementia, but serve only as a link, scientists said if a person substituted a tenth of the ultra-processed foods they consumed with unprocessed or minimally processed ones – like fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes, milk and meat – dementia risks may be lowered by a fifth.

“It’s encouraging to know that small and manageable changes in diet may make a difference in a person’s risk of dementia,” Dr Li said, adding further research is needed to confirm the findings.