Crisps and cookies linked to increased risk of dementia

A new study finds that people who eat the highest amount of ultra-processed foods may have a heightened risk of developing dementia.

The study, published in the online issue of Neurology, showed how soft drinks, crisps and cookies may have an impact on cognitive decline. 

Researchers also found that replacing ultra-processed foods with unprocessed or minimal processed foods was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia.

Ultra-processed food includes every product that went through multiple processes (extrusion, holding, milling, etc.) and that contains ingredients highly manipulated. Examples are soft drinks, chips, chocolate, candy, ice-cream, sweetened breakfast cereals, packaged soups, chicken nuggets, hotdogs, fries and many more.

The researchers highlighted that ultra-processed food have not been proved to cause dementia but only that there is a correlation between the two.

Huiping Li, author of the study, said: “Ultra-processed foods are meant to be convenient and tasty, but they diminish the quality of a person’s diet.

“These foods may also contain food additives or molecules from packaging or produced during heating, all of which have been shown in other studies to ave negative effects on thinking and memory skills.

“Our research not only found that ultra-processed foods are associated with an increased risk of dementia, it found replacing them with healthy options may decrease dementia risk.”

Studies have shown that when food has been processed, the nutrient availability in the small intestine is affected. This is because the plant properties and animal cells have been altered. 

Huiping Li said: “Our results also show increasing unprocessed or minimally processed foods by only 50 grams a day, which is equivalent to half an apple, a serving of corn, or a bowl of bran cereal, and simultaneously decreasing ultra-processed foods by 50 grams a day, equivalent to a chocolate bar or a serving of fish sticks, is associated with a three per cent decreased risk of dementia.

“It’s encouraging to know that small and manageable changes in diet may make a difference in a person’s risk of dementia.”