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February 7, 2023

Ultra-processed foods may increase ovarian and brain cancer risk

Boxes of cake mix, which are considered ultra processed foods, on a packing line in a factory. — Consuming ultra processed foods has been linked to many negative health consequences. Andy Sacks/Getty Images

For many years, scientists have linked a healthy diet to a lowered risk for certain diseases.
Researchers from Imperial College London found that eating ultra-processed foods increases a person’s risk for developing cancer overall, specifically ovarian and brain cancers.
Scientists also found eating those foods heightens a person’s risk of dying from all cancers, especially ovarian and breast cancers.

Doctors have known for some time now that what we eat has a direct effect on our overall health.

The body requires specific nutrients to perform its routine tasks. And a healthy diet is linked to lowering a person’s risk for certain diseases, including cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cancer, as well as promoting better mental health.

Now, researchers from Imperial College London say eating ultra-processed foods increases a person’s risk for developing all cancers, specifically ovarian and brain cancers. And these foods also heighten a person’s risk of dying from cancers, especially ovarian and breast cancers.

The study was recently published in the journal eClinical Medicine.

Ultra-processed foods make up the fourth category of the NOVA food classification system.

According to this classification system, a food is considered ultra-processed if it is:

an industrial-made food with five or more ingredients
made entirely or mostly from substances extracted from foods, such as oils, fats, sugars, and starches
includes food substances not normally found in culinary preparations, like hydrogenated oils and modified starches
features additives whose main purpose is to imitate aspects of natural foods such as flavors, colors, and emulsifiers

Examples of ultra-processed foods include:

sodas and “energy” or sports drinks
packaged cookies
candies
pre-prepared pizza and packaged meats
sweetened and flavored yogurts
“instant” soups and other mixes
sweetened juices
baked goods made with hydrogenated vegetable fat, emulsifiers, and other additives

Previous research shows eating ultra-processed foods increases a person’s obesity risk and can accelerate a person’s biological aging.

Additionally, consuming ultra-processed foods has been linked to a higher risk of heart disease, colorectal cancer, dementia, and all-cause mortality.

For this study, researchers used U.K. Biobank records to analyze the diets of 200,000 middle-aged adults. Scientists reviewed participants’ health over a 10-year time span, looking to see if they specifically developed 34 different types of cancer.

Upon review, the research team found people with higher consumption of ultra-processed foods had a greater risk of developing cancer overall.

For every 10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} increase in ultra-processed food in a person’s diet, that person had a 2{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} increased risk of developing cancer overall.

Additionally, researchers found for every 10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} increase in ultra-processed food consumption, a person increased their overall cancer death risk by 6{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

“The findings of this study on overall cancer risk are in line with what we know about the importance of a healthy diet in reducing our cancer risk,” Dr. Eszter Vamos, a clinical senior lecturer in the School of Public Health at Imperial College London and lead/senior author of this study told Medical News Today.

“There are many potential ways ultra-processed foods may increase cancer risk, and we need further research to better understand these,” she continued.

“UPFs have poor nutritional quality, are often high in salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats and low in fiber, and promote obesity — which is in itself a risk factor for many types of cancers. Ultra-processed foods may also contain potentially cancer-causing agents such as some controversial food additives, chemicals generated during food processing, and chemicals from packaging.”
— Dr. Eszter Vamos

In addition to overall cancer risk, Dr. Vamos and her team also found for every additional 10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of ultra-processed foods in the diet, a person increased their risk of developing ovarian cancer by 19{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} and dying from it by 30{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

“This is the first study to assess associations of ultra-processed food consumption with many different types of cancers, including ovarian cancer,” Dr. Vamos explained, adding: “We need further studies from other populations to confirm these findings.”

“However, previous studies suggest that diets high in unhealthy fats and low in vegetables may increase the risk of ovarian cancer,” she said.

“Ultra-processed foods may also promote inflammation that could contribute to cancer risk. Furthermore, some potentially cancer-causing agents such as acrylamide, which may be generated during processing, have been implicated.”
— Dr. Eszter Vamos

Researchers also found for every 10{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} increase in ultra-processed foods in a person’s diet, they raised their breast cancer mortality rate by 16{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809}.

Dr. Parvin Peddi, a medical oncologist and director of Breast Medical Oncology for the Margie Petersen Breast Center at Providence Saint John’s Health Center, California, who was not involved in the study, reiterated that breast cancer has a known correlation with people who are overweight as they can have higher levels of estrogen, which promotes risk breast cancer.

“We do know that people who have ‘unhealthy habits’ like dietary habits, meaning they eat more fatty or they are overweight, and perhaps now ultra-processed foods, have an increased risk of breast cancer.”
— Dr. Parvin Peddi

Medical News Today also spoke with Dr. Steve Vasilev, a board certified integrative gynecologic oncologist and medical director of Integrative Gynecologic Oncology at Providence Saint John’s Health Center and Professor at Saint John’s Cancer Institute in Santa Monica, California, about this study and how ultra-processed foods may cause increased cancer risk. Dr. Vasilev was not involved in the study.

He said the “old school thought” was that various toxins from food processing, as well as added preservatives, lead to genetic mutations that cause cancer.

“That’s probably true to some extent. However, we now know since the Human Genome Project that there’s something called epigenetics, which basically is a study that looks at how genes are turned on and off. For example, if tumor suppressor genes are turned off, it will lead to diseases like cancer,” Dr. Vasilev explained.

However, he said that even if a person is born with the BRCA1 gene that increases their risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer, that does not necessarily mean that person will get one of those diseases. The epigenetics, he explained, leads to that gene being switched on or off in the body.

“So you do have a proactive ability to modulate which genes are turned on and off in your body. And what influences those, some of it is literally the toxins that accumulate from the preservatives and things like that in ultra-processed foods,” Dr. Vasilev added.

So how can people improve their diet to help decrease their cancer risk?

Kate Cohen, a registered dietitian at the Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Medical News Today that while correlation is not causation, medical experts know that around 50{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of cancers can be prevented through diet and lifestyle changes.

“Hence diet is a controllable risk factor that every single one of us can and should take ownership of. You can’t control the physiology of how your body responds to food, but you can control what food you put into your body.”

Cohen, who was not involved in the study, also said this study gives doctors more ammunition to explain, encourage, instruct, and direct patients that a healthy diet has a direct effect on so many different health conditions.

“And now we see that breast, ovarian and other cancers may be on that list. If patients are at higher risk of developing any cancer — man or woman — doctors should be jumping up and down about this, as well as familiarizing patients with the other modifiable risk factors for cancer. We haven’t cured cancer, but we can cure bad diets.”
— Kate Cohen, dietitian

November 26, 2022

High amounts of salty foods could double stress levels, study finds

A photo collage of salt and a young male eating a hotdog and fries — A the latest European review showed that excess salt consumption doubled the peak tension reaction in mice. Structure by MNT: Pictures by Benjamin Torode/Getty Photos & Milko/Getty Photographs

Though the actual physical results of extra salt intake are well documented, researchers have yet to comprehend how high salt use impacts psychological very well-becoming.
A recent European examine showed that a salt-rich diet can double the peak pressure response in mice.
Scientists are also on the lookout into how high salt intake may well induce nervousness and aggression.
They hope to see governments and meals makers collaborate to reduce salt in processed foodstuff.

Salt is recognized to make improvements to the style of lots of meals, which may well tempt consumers to get additional processed, salt-laden products. Common processed food items include things like commercially packaged bread, cereals, deli meats, soups, cheese, and prompt noodles.

Expanding proof demonstrates that far too substantially salt in the diet plan can wreak havoc on the body’s cardiovascular and renal methods.

Just lately, experts at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland theorized that large salt use could also impose worry on the brain. The final results from the experiment showed that large salt consumption could elevate tension hormone production.

The review connected the use of huge quantities of salt-wealthy foods to the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the body’s anxiety response system. The scientists also found a significant-salt eating plan led to will increase in glucocorticoids, in a natural way happening hormones that aid control worry response and cardiovascular, cognitive, immune, and metabolic features.

Matthew Bailey, Ph.D., guide author of the review and professor of renal physiology at the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Cardiovascular Science, told Clinical Information Nowadays:

“We are what we consume, and comprehending how superior-salt food changes our psychological wellbeing is an vital phase to strengthening nicely-becoming. We know that having much too a lot salt damages our coronary heart, blood vessels, and kidneys. This research now tells us that significant salt in our foodstuff also adjustments the way our mind handles pressure.”

The study staff hopes that their operate will really encourage a lot more community health and fitness guidelines that boost the reduction of salt in processed foodstuff.

The conclusions look in Cardiovascular Investigate.

Sodium is an essential component that aids control the movement of vitamins in and out of cells. The human overall body necessitates only a smaller volume of sodium, which combines with chloride to make up widespread table salt.

In accordance to the 2020–2025 Nutritional Recommendations, Us residents ought to take in much less than 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium everyday. But the Facilities for Disorder Manage and Prevention (CDC) estimates People eat more than 3,400 mg each individual working day.

Evangeline Mantzioris, a dietitian and system director of nutrition and meals sciences at the University of South Australia, mentioned the epidemic of large salt in an April 2022 podcast. She was not associated in the current analyze.

When we try to eat too much salt, Mantzioris stated: “It gets absorbed into our intestine and our blood […] It draws fluid into the blood vessels [and] boosts the blood force towards the blood vessel wall — and this is what we connect with substantial blood force.”

She extra that growing older and specified wellness disorders, like preeclampsia, very low delivery fat, and continual kidney illness, can maximize salt sensitivity. In convert, “our physique is a lot less ready to offer with all the processes that it wants to continue to keep healthy,” she mentioned.

Dr. Bailey and his colleagues examined their speculation on commercially sourced male mice. They fed the mice with possibly a command, lower sodium diet regime or a substantial-salt diet.

The researchers measured strain hormone degrees in the early morning and night for up to 8 weeks. They took blood samples to assess the HPA axis response to stress.

Further more, the researchers gathered and analyzed tissue samples for genetic details about the hypothalamus, liver, kidney, and coronary heart.

The study’s authors concluded that their investigate showed “functional evidence of a novel, direct connection concerning dietary salt ingestion and HPA axis activation.”

Superior salt consumption led to large salt degrees in the blood, a problem named hypernatremia, as perfectly as fluid imbalance. Though the rodents had totally free accessibility to drinking water, they experienced an “activation of a h2o conservation response.”

The scientists proposed that a “high-salt diet is emerging as an critical behavioral modifier, at minimum in rodents.”

This analyze focused on male mice, which may restrict extending some of the results to individuals.

The COVID-19 pandemic restricted research capabilities, so the authors could not examine salt intake and HPA action in female mice.

“In humans, the volume of the hormone that appears in the urine is better in persons that try to eat extra salt, and this is genuine in women and guys,” Dr. Bailey claimed.

“There is also proof that this stress system (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) reveals sex-diverse response[s] to strain. In females, the immediate reaction is often bigger, and above time, women have a greater danger of building some styles of pressure-linked psychiatric conditions. My speculation is that the outcome of salt would be bigger in women.”

The researchers believe that their function “warrants systematic investigation simply because detrimental improvements in mind wellbeing in response to superior nutritional salt ingestion could have critical serious-environment outcomes.”

Dr. Bailey shared his options for long run trials:

“We are arranging a study in nutritious volunteers where by we supply meals to management the amount of salt and request people today to undertake jobs this kind of as issue-resolving towards the clock. We know that these duties activate the worry program: we can evaluate the hormone in saliva and coronary heart price.”

Considering that excess salt provides an urgent wellness problem, Dr. Bailey hopes that governments will winner the result in of decreasing salt in processed foodstuff.

“For most governments, this needs to be functioning with food items makers to minimize sodium information in staple meals merchandise […] The techniques that have worked most effective have been collaborative partnerships to build agreed time-dependent targets for reduction, independently monitored.”

– Matthew Bailey, Ph.D., lead creator of the research

Dr. Bailey also advised changing table salt with minimal-salt solutions these kinds of as sodium chloride or potassium chloride. He cited modern research attesting to their usefulness.

Nevertheless, not all salt may possibly be undesirable for you, according to Mantzioris. The dietitian maintained that the amount of money of desk salt we sprinkle on our meals is commonly wonderful. But she warned that the salt danger lies hidden in ultra-processed foods.

“Rather than being worried about what you might incorporate in the cooking or at the desk, have a closer glimpse at the amount of money of salt that is in the processed foods you acquire,” Mantzioris reported.

Posted on November 8, 2022
Ultra-processed foods linked to premature, preventable death

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A new review adds to a expanding physique of exploration displaying that extremely-processed foodstuff can guide to untimely, preventable loss of life. Monty Rakusen/Getty Photos

Dietary styles can have an huge affect on health and fitness outcomes.

Extremely-processed foodstuff that go via huge amounts of processing can eliminate nutritional benefit and consist of unhealthy aspects.

A new examine adds to a increasing physique of research showing that extremely-processed food items consumption may perhaps bring about premature, preventable loss of life.

People today have to have vitamins and minerals to survive, but not all food items are the very same or supply the similar dietary price.

Remarkably processed meals are a more prevalent part of diet plans in latest many years, and researchers are nonetheless operating to have an understanding of the complete effects of these nutritional shifts.

A current review printed in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine studied how the intake of extremely-processed foodstuff was involved with untimely, preventable dying.

Scientists identified that extremely-processed food items usage may be the attributable bring about of death in a major percentage of fatalities in the Brazillian population.

The conclusions reveal the relevance of reducing the ingestion of ultra-processed meals to reduce health challenges.

Quite a few meals go via a sure quantity of processing so that they do not spoil.

Kimberly Gomer, MS, LDN, a registered dietitian and nourishment specialist, not associated in the review, explained a handful of of the fundamentals of processed food items to Medical Information Nowadays:

“Processing requires a foodstuff in its normal (dwelling-developed) point out and modifications it by introducing salt, sugar, oil, and additives like chemical substances, shades, flavorings, stabilizers, and preservatives. That is why they have an extremely extended shelf everyday living which is beautiful to both equally people and sector.

Extremely-processed foodstuff, nevertheless, go by means of vigorous processing. A number of illustrations of ultra-processed foodstuff include:

sodas

sweet or savory packaged treats like chips or cookies

electricity bars and power drinks

prompt soups and other prepared-to-warmth items like pizza or hen nuggets

“Most of these meals have a lengthy record of components located on the ingredient listing of the foodstuff label,” Gomer claimed. “These food items contain — but are not limited to — frozen meals, cakes, cookies, rapid meals, packaged meals, and treats.”

The comprehensive health and fitness implications of ultra-processed food stuff ingestion are however remaining analyzed.

Some research indicates that taking in processed foods decreases diet program quality and boosts the threat for health challenges like significant blood pressure (hypertension), being overweight, and coronary heart sickness.

The new research looked at the variety of deaths in the Brazillian inhabitants and their romantic relationship to the consumption of extremely-processed foods.

Initial, scientists looked at countrywide meals use in Brazil from 2017 to 2018. They then appeared at this data in light of facts on demographics and mortality from 2019.

Depending on age demographics, Brazilians were being obtaining among 13 and 21{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of their overall electricity intake from ultra-processed foods. Researchers seemed at the 541,160 men and women among the ages of 30 and 69 that died in 2019.

Their analysis exhibits that consuming extremely-processed foods was responsible for 10.5{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of all premature deaths in this age demographic.

Scientists further more famous that ultra-processed meals intake was dependable for 21.8{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of all preventable fatalities from non-communicable health conditions.

Examine writer Eduardo A.F. Nilson, ScD, a researcher at the Heart for Epidemiological Investigation in Nourishment and Overall health, University of São Paulo, and Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil, famous the adhering to highlights of the analysis to MNT:

“It is the initial research that has in fact modeled the overall impression of UPF [ultra-processed food] consumption on fatalities that we are knowledgeable of. The outcomes are substantial firstly simply because the attributable fatalities symbolize a enormous load in conditions of premature deaths from all triggers (57 thousand fatalities depict 21.8{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the untimely fatalities from preventable non-communicable disorders in Brazil). Additionally, if UPF consumption was kept at the ranges we had a ten years in the past, 21{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of the attributable fatalities could be prevented.”

Based on this details, researchers approximated that reducing down strength consumption from ultra-processed foodstuff by 10-50{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} of latest amounts could enormously assist decrease these mortality fees.

“Clinically, the benefits ensure a alter in the paradigm of dietary suggestions toward stopping and managing non-communicable illnesses and to advertising and marketing healthier meal plans in standard,” Dr. Nilson stated.

The analyze provides to a growing body of evidence about the hazards of ultra-processed foods — but it does have some limits that also need to have to be dealt with.

Initial, gurus can’t flawlessly identify the number of fatalities brought on by extremely-processed foodstuff.

The model and examination experienced selected restrictions, such as the danger of confounding and the incapability to account for each and every variable.

Researchers also admit that there is a threat for reverse causation. This was also knowledge collected from just one place, this means that the results may be slightly different in other nations around the world, for greater or even worse.

Eduardo Nilson pointed out that they could operate to apply the facts they collected in other places and other nations around the world:

“We appear ahead to estimating the effect of UPF in other countries, modeling the impacts of different insurance policies and interventions (dietary counseling, UPF taxation, entrance-of-deal labeling, regulation of foods publicity, and many others.), producing designs for particular wellness outcomes (such as cardiovascular illnesses, diabetes, being overweight), incorporating health and fitness financial analyses to the versions and improving upon the models to forecast the impacts of policy interventions.”

It’s unidentified how specifically changes to meals guidelines and tips at nationwide and international degrees could influence the wellbeing of overall populations.

In the meantime, persons can perform with their health professionals and nutrition professionals to reduce down on particular consumption of ultra-processed foods as proper.

“Start by minimizing (inevitably removing) sodas, chips, cookies, fried foods, and junk,” Gomer claimed.

“Replacing junk foodstuff with full food items is important. [Sit] down to foods as an alternative of feeding on on the operate and make the time and energy to get ready healthful foods at household. Problem your self to modest variations. Switch a handful of harmful meals with healthier types.”

Posted on October 24, 2021
Can omega-3 help undo memory damage from processed foods?

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A recent animal study looks at the effect of processed foods on memory and asks whether omega-3 might reverse the deficit. Elena Popova/Getty Images

Researchers investigated the effects of a diet high in processed foods on rats’ memory and whether omega-3 supplementation could stave off negative effects.

They found that omega-3 supplementation reduced some, but not all, neuroinflammatory markers.

The researchers note that their results do not mean that omega-3 supplements offset the negative health effects of processed foods and that people should ensure they consume adequate amounts of complex carbohydrates to improve their health.

Carbohydrates are an essential source of energy for the body. There are two groups of carbohydrates: simple and complex.

Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and have many nutritional benefits that help regulate blood sugar levels.

By contrast, refined carbohydrates take less time to digest, have fewer nutritional benefits, and can increase blood sugar levels and increase the risk of health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Health experts also link diets containing high levels of refined carbohydrates to learning and memory difficulties, as well as weight gain in rodents, primates, and humans.

Previous research has shown that aged, but not young, rats eating a short-term high fat diet had impaired memory and increased levels of inflammation in various parts of the brain. The researchers found, however, that a dietary intervention can reduce this.

Other research has observed that an omega-3 called docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) can reduce inflammation in the brain relating to traumatic brain injury, stroke, and age-related cognitive decline.

Scientists do not know whether DHA protects against carbohydrate-related effects on cognition and neuroinflammation.

Little is also known on how a diet high in processed foods with high levels of refined carbohydrates and saturated fats and a lack of fiber affects the aging brain.

Recently, researchers from Ohio State University (OSU) and Inotiv Inc. conducted a study to understand the mechanisms behind the neurologic effects of processed diets and whether omega-3 supplementation could improve these effects.

They found that processed food diets impaired memory function among aged, but not young, rats and that this occurred alongside increased signs of inflammation. Omega-3 supplementation, however, improved these effects.

When asked whether these results were surprising, Dr. Ruth Barrientos, Ph.D., lead author of this research and associate professor at OSU, told Medical News Today:

“Yes, many studies, including our own, have focused on high fat and high sugar diets being detrimental to memory function, but few have examined the short-term effects of a highly processed diet. Given that many processed diets are low in fat, we had our doubts that we’d see any significant results. Not only did we observe very significant memory impairments, [but] we also saw significant weight gain with this diet.”

MNT also spoke with Dr. Andile Khathi, academic leader of Human Body and Function at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, who was not involved in the present study. He said,

“I think we’ve known for a while that prolonged consumption of highly processed foods can be detrimental to the body, but this study shows just how bad this can be for the brains of [older adults].”

“Other studies have shown how beneficial omega-3 can be, but this study has gone a step further to show how its consumption can be good for mental health,” he added.

The research appears in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity.

The researchers obtained 3- and 24-month old rats for the research. As female rats were not available in the older age category at the time of the study, the researchers exclusively used male rats.

At the beginning of the research, the younger rats weighed around 300 grams (g) on average, whereas the older rats weighed around 550 g.

The rats were housed two to a cage and randomly assigned to continue eating either a regular diet including 54{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} complex carbohydrates, a processed food diet including 63.3{cfdf3f5372635aeb15fd3e2aecc7cb5d7150695e02bd72e0a44f1581164ad809} refined carbohydrates, or a processed food diet and DHA supplements for 28 days.

After this period, the scientists placed the rats separately in a conditioning chamber, where the rats heard a tone for 15 seconds and then received a 2-second footshock. Four days later, the scientists reintroduced the rats to the cage and the sound to assess their fear response.

While there were no differences in freezing behavior between the different groups of rats during the conditioning phase, the researchers observed that older rats exclusively fed a processed diet froze significantly less in both fear experiments than older animals on other diet plans.

The researchers also found that both groups of rats that ate a processed food diet experienced weight gain similar to that of the rats on the alternative diet. Moreover, older animals were more affected than younger ones.

After these experiments, the researchers isolated different areas of the rats’ brains to analyze their RNA.

These analyses revealed that the rats that ate a processed food diet alone had significantly higher inflammatory gene expression than those that consumed the alternative diet, or a processed food diet with DHA supplementation.

The authors found, however, that DHA supplementation did not impact all genes that the study investigated.

According to the researchers, this means that DHA supplements do not necessarily offset the negative effects of highly refined foods and that people should focus on overall diet improvement by increasing complex carbohydrate and fiber intake.

“Processed and refined foods are unfamiliar to our gut microbiome, which has evolved over thousands of years, so these foods can provoke an inflammatory immune response, almost as if the processed food was a pathogen,” Dr. Barrientos explained.

“This peripheral immune response can easily trigger inflammation in the brain, and due to some brain immune cells in the aging brain being sensitized, this neuroinflammation can become exaggerated. Exaggerated neuroinflammation in turn is known to impair various memory-forming and maintenance mechanisms,” she added.

“The omega-3 fatty acid DHA and its metabolites are known to resolve inflammation, and we believe that explains the protective effects.”

– Dr. Ruth Barrientos

“Many studies have shown how the chronic consumption of refined carbohydrates and saturated fats can lead to various metabolic aberrations underpinned by inflammation,” Dr. Khathi explained. “The hippocampus, which is responsible for memory, is quite sensitive to metabolic changes, especially in [older adults].”

“This could explain why the consumption of these highly processed foods has such negative effects on memory. The consumption of unsaturated/polyunsaturated fats has been found to be good for various parts of the body, so it stands to reason that it could be good for the protection of brain structures such as the hippocampus,” he added.

The researchers conclude that a processed food diet with refined carbohydrates impairs cognitive function, increases neuroinflammatory gene expression, and increases weight gain in aged rats. They also found that DHA supplementation can reduce this effect.

One limitation of the study is that the researchers do not know exactly how much food each rat ate, as the rats were housed two to a cage.

“While intriguing, this research needs to be replicated in humans to determine if the same effect is seen,” Dr. Claire Sexton, D.Phil., director of Scientific Programs and Outreach at the Alzheimer’s Association, who was not involved in the study, told MNT. She continued,

“To date, there isn’t a single food, ingredient, or supplement that — through rigorous scientific research — has been shown to prevent, treat, or cure Alzheimer’s or other dementia in humans.”

Dr. Sara Imarisio, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, who was not involved in the study, also spoke with MNT. She said, “What is not clear from the study is whether DHA could have similar effects in people or whether it acts against biological mechanisms that cause dementia.”

“A small number of studies have specifically linked omega-3 to better heart health and circulation, but research has so far not conclusively shown that taking omega-3 can reduce memory and thinking problems.”

Dr. Imarisio continued, “This early stage study can’t tell us whether DHA may have an impact on diseases like Alzheimer’s, and further work is needed to explore any possible link.”

In future studies, the researchers aim to examine and define the effects of processed food diets on the gut and to include female rats in their research.