Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
cam.mbi.ufl.edu
Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
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Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#2[deleted]
Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#3It seems likely that the culprit is not dietary, but PFAS contamination from storage, processing and packaging.
Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#4That picture looks like hospital food
Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#5>Even packaged breads, including those high in nutritious whole grains, qualify as ultra-processed in many cases because of the additives and preservatives they contain.
However much I'd like to alter my diet to be more healthy, including flavored nuts or bread as ultraprocessed means I have nearly zero chance avoiding a sizable portion of what academic scientists label as ultraprocessed.
These studies and press releases seem counterproductive. If sliced bread or fancy nuts is in the same category as aerosol cheese or high calorie soda, a lot of people are going to struggle to understand what isn't ultraprocessed and give up trying to select better items at the grocery store.
Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#6It seems likely that the culprit is not dietary, but PFAS contamination from storage, processing and packaging.
There are many other factors that could be relevant here.
As the article says, ultra-processed food tends to be low in nutrients. Given the little we know, that seems as likely a cause as anything else here.
Also, these are not randomized studies, as they also mention. So it is possible that, say, frozen meals are used more by a higher-risk population for other reasons (like cost), and this is just a correlation.
Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#7Oof, what exactly is "ultra processed food", because as far as I can tell it's "whatever seems bad".
How much "processing" a potato chip gets (slice, fry, salt) is a whole lot different than one of the meat substitute burgers.
It seems like anything done on an industrial scale is evil and anything done in your kitchen is fine, despite the two being very similar in many cases.
Either there's a problem with specific ingredients or people are just getting very poor nutrition by eating diets very heavy in fortified grain based foods and the "daily value" suggestions for micronutrients aren't being appropriately satisfied by the vitamin powder they put in these foods or the list of requirements is missing many things.
Studies like this aren't so helpful because they don't actually point to anything specific. We need to find actual mechanisms not vague hints at what might be wrong.
Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#8I like the whole food based diet; essentially buying fresh items simple ingredients. Stick to the meat and produce isles, maybe go to the butchers or bakery for local meat and bread, and a greengrocers for local veg. Make things like sauces from scratch. I enjoy cooking which helps. I believe that no matter what Scientists decide are good/bad for that particular year I'm going to be okay because it's simple, fresh, and rarely processed.
Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#9Oof, what exactly is "ultra processed food", because as far as I can tell it's "whatever seems bad". How much "processing" a potato chip gets (slice, fry, salt) is a whole lot different than one of the meat substitute burgers. It seems like anything done on an industrial scale is evil and anything done in your kitchen is fine, despite the two being very similar in many cases. Either there's a problem with specific in…
The article says that more research is needed in that regard:
> For example, you could eat a burger and fries from a fast food chain, which would be high in fat, sugar and salt as well as being ultra-processed. You could make that same meal at home, which could also be high in fat, sugar and salt but would not be ultra-processed. More research is needed to determine whether one is worse than the other.
Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline
#10Oof, what exactly is "ultra processed food", because as far as I can tell it's "whatever seems bad". How much "processing" a potato chip gets (slice, fry, salt) is a whole lot different than one of the meat substitute burgers. It seems like anything done on an industrial scale is evil and anything done in your kitchen is fine, despite the two being very similar in many cases. Either there's a problem with specific in…
The article says that more research is needed in that regard: > For example, you could eat a burger and fries from a fast food chain, which would be high in fat, sugar and salt as well as being ultra-processed. You could make that same meal at home, which could also be high in fat, sugar and salt but would not be ultra-processed. More research is needed to determine whether one is worse than the other.
"there is little consistency either in the definition of ultra-processed foods or in examples of foods within this category"
source: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S247529912...