Highly Processed Foods Increase Dementia Risk

[saibot]

So "highly processed" means "contains ingredients you don't recognize or have in your house"?

That doesn't seem like a very sophisticated definition.

[HodgePodge]

The thing about dementia is that part of it can be hereditary (predisposition), but I suspect most of it is the bombardment of pollution, chemicals into us all our lives.

It's not just what we eat (though that makes a huge difference), but what we breath, touch, etc for decades. All that smog, chemicals off gassing from carpets, paint, etc.

I'm willing to bet that our bodies are constantly battling our ultra processed lifestyle... after 50 yrs or more it just gets tired and worn out. Cancers, 100s of different diseases and ailments and yes our brains suffer. All that plaque forms and we become zombies.

I do think that food matters. The quality, quantity and types matter. This study emphasizes ULTRA or highly processed foods, not just something as simple as freezing some berries.

[Arya Stark]

I think dementia has so many possible causes that no one can really find one cause.

But it is my guess that a massive issue is eating sugar and any food that kicks us out of ketosis. Which is probably our natural state. Ketosis itself provides excess energy to the brain from the ketones (your fat) and energy in your brain tends to start fading from glucose has you age. Ketones pick up the slack.

If you live your life getting ketones while you sleep you are going to be better of than people stop the process by eating carbs and sugar every 4 hours.

[Ghaati]

Ketosis is not our natural state. And forcing an unnatural diet, including a keto diet, can actually contribute to brain disfunction including dementia.

https://www.beingpatient.com/an-expe...rs-prevention/

[Williepaws]

Originally Posted by OutdoorLover

This shouldn't come as a complete surprise - all these foods are already on the naughty list due to e.g. high carbohydrates but low fiber content, or bad fats - saturated/trans fats, or high salt, but it doesn't hurt to have a reminder that there are consequences of heavy consumption...

"If more than 20% of your daily calorie intake is ultraprocessed foods, however, you may be raising your risk for cognitive decline, a new study found... The part of the brain involved in executive functioning — the ability to process information and make decisions — is especially hard hit, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Neurology... Men and women in the study who ate the most ultraprocessed foods had a 25% faster rate of executive function decline and a 28% faster rate of overall cognitive impairment compared with those who ate the least amount of overly processed food."

CNN Article:
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/05/healt...ess/index.html

Source JAMA Article:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...stract/2799140

and how many of these patients are men and how many of these patients take statins? they wont tell you that. easier to blame the food industry than the drug industry.

[KaraG]

This is from the CNN article:
Ultraprocessed foods are defined as “industrial formulations of food substances (oils, fats, sugars, starch, and protein isolates) that contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, and other cosmetic additives,” according to the study.

I'm still not sure in real life what they are talking about.

[matisse12]

It is not difficult to know and reason what is junk food and what is ultra-processed food.

Look at the ingredients - if the ingredients contain all kinds of additives, chemicals, colorings, etc....

It is not difficult to eat healthy, and trying to unnecessarily complicate this is buffoonery and foolery.

Especially in an attempt to disprove what can be done to improve one's health.

[PhinneyWalker]

Originally Posted by mila123

My mom has dementia/alzheimers and her dad died from it. Complete opposite eating habits but neither really ate much processed foods. One drank and smoked while the other didn't. One exercised and the other didn't. It didn't matter. It's partially hereditary and genetic. Just live your life the best way you can and enjoy it, and hope the big pharma doesn't focus solely on COVID and erections and spends some of that time and money on things that are more likely to destroy lives.

I could not agree more. Something is going to get all of us eventually, and whilst it makes good sense to try to eat healthy, balanced meals, get some exercise each day, and stay away from tobacco and booze, none of that is going to guarantee anything. I have seen people who smoked liked chimneys, did not exercise, and had terrible diets, but they still lived into their 90s. I have also seen health nuts who closely watched everything they ate and drank, jogged miles each day, and did "all the right things" and still died young. I recall a young lawyer who did all of that and dropped dead at age 30 from a heart attack.

Personally, I do not pay much attention to these studies anymore. For decades we were warned about fat, for instance, and now new studies appear to show that fat, and more of it, is actually good for us. At times I have to wonder if these studies are little more than researchers trying to publish and make a name for themselves in their fields.