Food for Thought: Highly Processed Foods May Be Harming Your Body and Mind
By Gina Wynn
As we struggle to keep up with busy work and school schedules, some of us turn to highly processed foods (HPF) when we need a tasty, reliable meal hack. When we’re short on time and low on energy, it’s easy to heat up a frozen pizza or a hot dog and fries for dinner, grab a cookie, doughnut, or ice cream for a snack, or pick up an exotically flavored soda as a thirst quencher.
Although these quick food fixes are delicious and satisfying, they could be affecting our health. Several recent studies show that HPF have been linked to dementia, diabetes, obesity, and other health conditions.
Moderation Is Key
Health problems are more likely to occur if you overindulge in HPF or eat them consistently without incorporating fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, and other nourishing foods into your diet. It can be difficult to consume HPF in moderation, however. Findings from the study “Highly processed foods can be considered addictive substances based on established scientific criteria,” published in the journal Addiction, determined that they are addictive.
Using the four criteria set by the Surgeon General in 1988 to identify tobacco products as addictive, researchers Ashley N. Gearhardt and Alexandra G. DeFeliceantonio evaluated the addictive potential of HPF like potato chips, candy, and store-bought cookies. They concluded that they can meet the criteria to be labeled as addictive substances.
Comfort Food
The carbohydrate and fat combinations in HPF—that don’t occur naturally in unprocessed foods—make it easy to form habits of overconsumption. They cause you to continue to crave them, even if you’re not hungry.
Our bodies have evolved to find comfort in the tastes of carbohydrates and fats. Earlier humans depended on them to avoid famine and improve their chances of survival, according to Gearhardt, as reported in the Science News Explores article “Ingredients in popular snack foods can make them addictive.” When we ingest these substances, our bodies send a rush of the feel-good chemical dopamine to the reward center of our brains. Alcohol and drug use can also prompt such a dopamine release.
It’s easy to get addicted to the sensation you experience when biting into your favorite treat. However, repeatedly overeating because it feels good can lead to obesity, which can cause health conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and many types of cancer.
Empty Calories
Another problem with HPF is that they lack the vital nutrients that our bodies and minds need to thrive. When more than 20 percent of our daily calories are from HPF, it can affect the way our brain processes information and makes decisions, according to the report “Association Between Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods and Cognitive Decline,” published in JAMA Neurology.
Researchers followed over 10,000 Brazilians with an average age of 51 for up to 10 years. They asked participants about their diets and tested them for immediate and delayed word recall, word recognition, and verbal fluency.
“People who consumed more than 20 percent of daily calories from processed foods had a 28 percent faster decline in global cognition and a 25 percent faster decline in executive functioning compared to people who ate less than 20 percent,” study coauthor Natalia Gonçalves told CNN Health for the article “Dementia risk may increase if you’re eating these foods, study says.”
Conversely, the team found that in participants who otherwise ate a high-quality diet that included unprocessed foods, the cognitive decline linked to HPF disappeared. Another study published in Science Direct, “Multivitamin Supplementation Improves Memory in Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial,” showed that older people who took multivitamins for three years were able to slow typical age-related memory decline. This supports growing evidence that nutrition is important for maximizing brain health.
Long-Term Implications
Good nutritional practices also have long-term benefits. In a study of the typical poor eating habits of college students, researchers found that the eating patterns they establish as students can affect their overall wellness throughout life. Maintaining diets of high-sugar, high-calorie foods indefinitely can contribute to future health issues, including obesity, respiratory illnesses, and depression. The findings were published in the Science Direct report “Does obesity related eating behaviors only affect chronic diseases? A nationwide study of university students in China.”
Nutrition Matters
The results of all these studies reinforce the same message. To take proper care of our bodies and minds, we must pay attention to what we eat. Consuming too many HPF can limit our abilities to live up to our full potential, both physically and mentally.
Instead, choose nutrient-dense foods and beverages, including fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products, and protein foods such as lean meats, eggs, and nuts. Follow a healthy dietary pattern and stay within calorie limits appropriate for your stage of life as recommended by the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020–2025. Learn more about the eating pattern and physical activity program that’s right for you by consulting with your healthcare provider.