Associations Between Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Adverse Brain Health Outcomes
Bhave VM, Oladele CR, Ament Z, Kijpaisalratana N, Jones AC, Couch CA, Patki A, Garcia Guarniz AL, Bennett A, Crowe M, Irvin MR, Kimberly WT
Neurology · 30 citations
Review labels
Neutral facts our review recorded about how this study was done. They describe method, never whether we like the result.
How it was studied
- Design
- Cohort study (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Clinical events such as disease or death
- Intake measured by
- Food frequency questionnaire
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Government
- National Institutes of Health
- Government
- National Institute on Aging
- Government
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
- Government
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
- Government
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Government
- NCATS NIH HHS
- Grants
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR001863Ð); National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NS099209); National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (R01 NS099209); National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (K01HL145347); National Institutes of Health (R01 NS099209)
Based on 6 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2024-05-22 · Neurology · vol. 102 · issue 11 · p. e209432
- Publisher
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
- Cited
- 44 citations · more than 100% of similar papers · 16.7× the field average
- Impact
- Top 10% most cited in its field
- References
- 46 works
- Access
- Open access (repository copy)
- Research areas
- Consumer Attitudes and Food Labeling · Nutritional Studies and Diet · Nutrition, Genetics, and Disease
- Keywords
- Consumption (sociology), Environmental health, Food consumption, Medicine, Adverse effect, Internal medicine, Economics, Agricultural economics
- MeSH
- humans, incidence, risk factors, cohort studies, prospective studies, diet, mediterranean, food handling, adult, aged, middle aged, united states, female, male, stroke, fast foods, cognitive dysfunction, dietary approaches to stop hypertension, white people, black or african american, food, processed
12 authors
- Varun M. Bhave
- Carol Oladele
- Zsuzsanna Ament
- Naruchorn Kijpaisalratana
- Alana C Jones
- Catharine A. Couch
Abstract
Background and objectives
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are linked to cardiometabolic diseases and neurologic outcomes, such as cognitive decline and stroke. However, it is unclear whether food processing confers neurologic risk independent of dietary pattern information. We aimed to (1) investigate associations between UPFs and incident cognitive impairment and stroke and (2) compare these associations with other commonly recommended dietary patterns in the REasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke study. This prospective, observational cohort study enrolled Black and White adults in the United States from 2003 to 2007.
Methods
The NOVA system was used to categorize items from a baseline food frequency questionnaire according to the level of processing. Participants with incomplete or implausible self-reported dietary data were excluded. Consumption for each category (grams) was normalized to total grams consumed. Scores quantifying adherence to a Mediterranean, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), and Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet were also calculated. Incident cognitive impairment was defined using performance relative to a normative sample on memory and fluency assessments. Incident stroke was identified through adjudicated review of medical records.
Results
The cognitive impairment cohort (n = 14,175) included participants without evidence of impairment at baseline who underwent follow-up testing. The stroke cohort (n = 20,243) included participants without a history of stroke. In multivariable Cox proportional hazards models, a 10% increase in relative intake of UPFs was associated with higher risk of cognitive impairment (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.16, 95% CI 1.09-1.24, p = 1.01 × 10-5) and intake of unprocessed or minimally processed foods with lower risk of cognitive impairment (HR = 0.88, 95% CI 0.83-0.94, p = 1.83 × 10-4). Greater intake of UPFs (HR = 1.08, 95% CI 1.02-1.14, p = 1.12 × 10-2) and unprocessed or minimally processed foods (HR = 0.91, 95% CI 0.86-0.95, p = 2.13 × 10-4) were also associated with risk of stroke in multivariable Cox models. The effect of UPFs on stroke risk was greater among Black than White participants (UPF-by-race interaction HR = 1.15, 95% CI 1.03-1.29, p = 1.50 × 10-2). Associations between UPFs and both cognitive impairment and stroke were independent of adherence to the Mediterranean, DASH, and MIND diets.
Discussion
Food processing may be important to brain health in older adults independent of known risk factors and adherence to recommended dietary patterns.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
Community trust
Loading…
How much do you trust this study's findings?
Comments
Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign inSomething wrong here?
Flag this study if its information, labels or funding look wrong. An editor reviews every flag.
Sign in to rate, comment on or flag this study.Sign inEducational information about published research. Not medical advice, and not a recommendation to start or stop anything.