Ultra processed food closely associated with dementia risk: Study

Written By : Jacinthlyn Sylvia |Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli Published On 2022-10-08T11:00:54+05:30 | Updated On 8 Oct 2022 2:48 PM IST

Increased intake of ultra processed foods (UPF) was linked to a higher risk of dementia, says an article published in Neurology Journal. Huiping Li and colleagues also found out that replacing UPF with unprocessed or minimally processed foods decreased the risk of dementia.

Evidence linking intake of ultra processed foods to harmful health effects, such as depression, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality, is accumulating. Therefore the researchers looked into the UK Biobank's data on dementia incidence and UPF to demonstrate the effect on our health.

The UK Biobank study's 72,083 individuals (55 years of age or older) who were dementia-free at baseline and supplied at least two 24-hour dietary evaluations were analyzed. Monitoring continued until March 2021. According to the NOVA classification, UPF were defined. Through computerized connections to hospital and death data, the incidence of dementia from all causes, including Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia, was determined. The relationship between the percentage (%) of UPF in the diet and the eventual risk of dementia was estimated using Cox proportional hazards. Additionally, the risk of dementia was calculated using substitution analysis when UPF was replaced with an equivalent amount of unprocessed or less processed meals.

The key findings of this study were:

1. 518 individuals experienced dementia throughout a total of 717,333 person-years of follow-up (median 10.0 years), of whom 287 experienced AD and 119 experienced vascular dementia. Consuming UPF was linked to an increased risk of dementia, AD, and vascular dementia in the fully adjusted model, respectively.

2. Additionally, a 10% reduction in dementia risk was predicted to be related with substituting 10% of UPF weight in diet with an equivalent amount of unprocessed or less processed foods.

In conclusion, this study identifies a major potentially modifiable risk factor (Ultra processed food) by highlighting the increased risk of dementia associated with the intake.

Reference:

Li, H., Li, S., Yang, H., Zhang, Y., Zhang, S., Ma, Y., Hou, Y., Zhang, X., Niu, K., Borné, Y., & Wang, Y. (2022). Association of Ultraprocessed Food Consumption With Risk of Dementia. In Neurology (Vol. 99, Issue 10, pp. e1056–e1066). Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health). https://doi.org/10.1212/wnl.0000000000200871

Journal Neurologyultra processed foodsdementia

Source : Neurology

Jacinthlyn Sylvia

Neuroscience Masters graduate

Jacinthlyn Sylvia, a Neuroscience Master's graduate from Chennai has worked extensively in deciphering the neurobiology of cognition and motor control in aging. She also has spread-out exposure to Neurosurgery from her Bachelor’s. She is currently involved in active Neuro-Oncology research. She is an upcoming neuroscientist with a fiery passion for writing. Her news cover at Medical Dialogues feature recent discoveries and updates from the healthcare and biomedical research fields. She can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in

Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli

Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751