Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline • Hacker News Board

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#31

Post by DeWilde » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:02 PM UTC

strict9 wrote: post #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 rel…

Making your own bread will have it qualify as non-ultra-processed. Now that might seem extreme for most folks or too cumbersome but today to avoid ultra-processed food or generally unhealthy food is pretty hard. And most people won't put in the effort no matter how well labeled it is.

To me it is more counterproductive not to label it as such, regardless that it may be highly nutritional, due to the fact that people like me who are not able to eat processed food and information like this is a literal life saver.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#32

Post by 7speter » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:03 PM UTC

beambot wrote: post #22

strict9 wrote: post #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 rel…

Just an aside: countertop bread machines are amazing these days. You can control the ingredients (i.e. eliminate preservatives) and have wildly inexpensive, fresh bread since you can buy breadflour in bulk (e.g. 50-lb bags).

The researchers would probably say breadflour is ultraprocessed as well.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#33

Post by thrwaway98423 » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:03 PM UTC

ac130kz wrote: post #20

thrwaway98423 wrote: post #13

Even though this is a review, it still suffers from the fact that diet studies are not controlled, randomized, or blind. My mother has early onset dementia. Her habits were very healthy for 30+ years (quit drinking, quit smoking, daily exercise, lifetime healthy BMI, moderate diet) and otherwise physically she is in extremely good shape for her age. But one of the early, subtle signs of her cognitive decline was a re…

Higher chance of dementia might be caused by the genome or the lack of mental exercise, so it's not just food or unhealthy habits, rather an amalgamation of various factors.

Dementia is still not yet understood well enough to identify a single causal factor, even with correlated variables. Personally my money is on HSV (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8234998/). We don't have a genetic predisposition / family history of early onset dementia.

In her case, retirement and being unmarried/socially isolated during COVID lockdowns obviously contributed to a more rapid progression in decline. But you would never say that social isolation causes Alzheimer's. There are many other people with active social lives and happy marriages who get early dementia. The same is almost certainly true with diet.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#34

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:03 PM UTC

forgetfulness wrote: post #14

strict9 wrote: post #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 rel…

I'm not sure what the situation in many parts of the US is, but is not freshly baked bread, the kind with unsurprising ingredients and that goes stale when you'd expect it, not an option? The stuff made to sit on the supermarket's shelf for long times has such an odd consistency and flavor, very spongy and very tangy and sweet, you can't spread anything on it without toasting it first. I wouldn't take it as the stand…

[deleted]

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#35

Post by maxerickson » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:05 PM UTC

forgetfulness wrote: post #14

strict9 wrote: post #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 rel…

I'm not sure what the situation in many parts of the US is, but is not freshly baked bread, the kind with unsurprising ingredients and that goes stale when you'd expect it, not an option? The stuff made to sit on the supermarket's shelf for long times has such an odd consistency and flavor, very spongy and very tangy and sweet, you can't spread anything on it without toasting it first. I wouldn't take it as the stand…

There's a national brand that makes fresh artisan style bread and then most even slightly upscale grocers will have a couple types in their inside bakery.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#36

Post by grecy » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:06 PM UTC

colechristensen wrote: post #7

Oof, 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…

"Eat food, mostly greens, not too much" -Michael Pollan

Go to the supermarket and only buy things with one ingredient, cook and eat those things.

What qualifies? Vegetables, fruit, rice, beans, meat, etc.

ONE ingredient only.

(Technically raw sugar or lard qualify to be on my list, but I think most people who passed high school know those aren't food)

EDIT: well, yes raw sugar and lard are food, what I meant was you shouldn't be eating either in large quantities.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#37

Post by myshpa » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:07 PM UTC

IncRnd wrote: post #29

IncRnd wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> How much "processing" a potato chip gets (slice, fry, salt)... There may be additional steps when a factory makes potato chips. [1] 1 When the potatoes arrive at the plant, they are examined and tasted for quality. A half dozen or so buckets are randomly filled. Some are punched with holes in their cores so that they can be tracked through the cooking process. The potatoes are examined for green edges and blemishes…

However, a factory made Veggie Burger seems to have fewer processing steps than that potato chip. [1] 1 Grains and vegetables are loaded into separate machines for thorough cleansing to remove dirt, bacteria created by spoilage, chemical residue, and any other foreign materials that may exist. Some factories have conveyer belts that move the food products under high-pressure sprayers. Others use hollow drums that tum…

Home preparation has even less steps.

Seitan for example, is just plant based protein (flour), veggie stock and soya sauce, maybe baking powder and nutritional yeast for extra flavour & structure. 3-5 ingredients, mix & cook for a while, then use in any recipe instead of meat.

Deli meat? Just tofu and plant based protein, spices, cook & let cool down in the fridge.

Cheese? Plant based milk, starch/agar, spices, cook & fridge.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#38

Post by dmoy » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:07 PM UTC

forgetfulness wrote: post #14

strict9 wrote: post #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 rel…

I'm not sure what the situation in many parts of the US is, but is not freshly baked bread, the kind with unsurprising ingredients and that goes stale when you'd expect it, not an option? The stuff made to sit on the supermarket's shelf for long times has such an odd consistency and flavor, very spongy and very tangy and sweet, you can't spread anything on it without toasting it first. I wouldn't take it as the stand…

Freshly baked bread can be hard to obtain in many parts of the US. For me if I wanted fresh baked bread every day and not make it myself, I'd be looking at like 40-60 minutes of extra time per day if I drive there every day. The closest grocery store to me is 1.5 miles away up an extremely steep hill.

Shit, fresh vegetables can be hard to obtain in many parts of the US.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert

We've got ~20 million people who don't live near a grocery store with fresh food at all.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#39

Post by Finnucane » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:08 PM UTC

giraffe_lady wrote: post #21

kens wrote: post #15

This article is somewhat pointless. It cites two studies, one which found correlations between ultra-processed food and cognitive decline, and one which found that it does not. It concludes that more research is needed.

"People are studying a thing, though nothing conclusive yet" is still a point, and a moderately useful one even.

Not especially newsworthy, though.

Re: Ultra-processed foods may contribute to cognitive decline

#40

Post by GloriousKoji » Mon, Mar 06, 2023, 6:08 PM UTC

vlod wrote: post #27

forgetfulness wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure what the situation in many parts of the US is, but is not freshly baked bread, the kind with unsurprising ingredients and that goes stale when you'd expect it, not an option? The stuff made to sit on the supermarket's shelf for long times has such an odd consistency and flavor, very spongy and very tangy and sweet, you can't spread anything on it without toasting it first. I wouldn't take it as the stand…

Agreed. I just can't eat the bread in stores (for me to too sweet) and I'm a big bread person. It's remarkable easy to bake your own bread (as many tried in during the pandemic). Yeah, it takes time, but it's a good way to reduce your carbs intake. i.e. if you don't bake it, you can't eat it.

Counterpoint to the carb reduction is fresh baked bread is so delicious and scaling bread recipes is easy so you end up eating twice as much bread compared to store bought.