You know eating foods made with additives such as sugar, preservatives and artificial colors and flavors can take a toll on your health.超级加工食品have been linked to a range of issues from肥胖和代谢综合征tocardiovascular disease和提早死亡.
ULTRA-PROCESSED FOODS COULD HURT YOUR BRAIN AT ANY AGE
The latest research shows eating ultra-processed foods like cereal, deli meats, cookies and soda may also impact cognitive health.
A 2019studypublished in the journal Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology found unhealthy eating habits were associated with a decline in brain function,including an increased risk of dementia.
“This [change] starts in childhood,” explains Nicolas Cherbuin, PhD, head of the Centre for Research on Ageing, Health and Wellbeing at Australian National University. “[Eating a lot of ultra-processed foods] makes our bodies age faster inside and out and leads to … accelerated brain aging. Our thinking abilities decline faster and … it ‘eats’ into our cognitive and brain reserve so we are less able to cope with the brain changes that accumulate and lead to dementia.”
据某些人说data和studyBMJ发表在BMJ上研究了导致重大健康问题的超级加工食品的数量，包括大脑变化。
Researcher Bernard Srour, PhD, MPH, doctoral researcher in nutritional epidemiology at the University of Paris 13, found that with a 10% increase in the calories consumed from ultra-processed foods, the risk of cardiovascular, coronary and cerebrovascular diseases increased approximately 12%. He believes the additives found in ultra-processed foods could be to blame.
THE ROLE OF INFLAMMATION
“Emulsifiers, and particularly carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate-80, often found in ultra-processed foods, have shown potential roles in inducing low-grade inflammation,” he says.
Inflammation has been pinpointed as a “central mechanism” in cognitive decline. Researchers at Johns Hopkins Universityfoundthat increased inflammation in midlife was associated with greater abnormalities in white matter, the part of the brain that carries information between nerve cells, leading to cognitive deficits and potentially dementia.
Cherbuin认为，饮食中食物的质量以及数量都会影响大脑健康。吃太多的超处理食品会触发体重增加，从而增加炎症并损害细胞。
“The ‘rubbish’ throughout our bodies, including our brains, accumulates over time [and] the changes increase the risk … of cognitive decline and dementia,” he says.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Eating a healthy diet andminimizing the consumption of ultra-processed foodsis essential for brain health. Consuming nutrient-dense foods also offers a protective effect. The brains of those who ate 1.3 servings of leafy green vegetables such as kale, collard greens and spinach were an average of 11 years younger than the brains of their peers who ate .09 servings of leafy greens, according to 2017research.
Cherbuin认为，“改变我们的饮食能够解决已经造成的损害的能力有限，但它将确保造成更少的损害。”
Originally published October 2019, updated May 2022
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