Extremely processed foods such as sweets, sausages, carbonated drinks, instant noodles, and frozen foods are called ‘ultra-processed foods’. A study has found that eating just two cookies a day can adversely affect your health.
Everyone knows that ultra-processed foods are not good for health. It’s just delicious, addictive, easy to eat, and hard to quit. Even so, you will need to try to reduce your intake. Recent studies have shown that ultra-processed foods significantly reduce brain function.
According to the latest study presented at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in San Diego, USA, ultraprocessed foods rapidly reduce cognitive abilities. Professor Rafael Perez-Escamilla of Yale University’s School of Public Health said at the conference, “Even just 100 calories of processed food can have an impact on your health. That’s equivalent to regarding two cookies.”
Physical health, mental health, and cognitive function are closely linked. Frequent consumption of ultra-processed foods is not unrelated to health problems such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer, which also affect mental health and brain function. If the intake of ultra-processed foods increases inflammation in the body, it also adversely affects brain neurotransmitters, which can lead to brain damage.
Professor Raphael’s team conducted a study investigating the relationship between diet and cognitive function for 6 to 10 years in 10,000 middle-aged people. As a result, the group that ate more than 20% of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods had a much faster rate of cognitive decline compared to the group who ate almost no processed foods. For every 10% increase in ultraprocessed food intake, the risk of dementia increased by 25%.
The problem is that the accessibility of ultra-processed foods is too good. It is easy to purchase at a nearby convenience store or mart, and it is easy to eat right there without cooking. The economic aspect cannot be neglected either. Cheaper than fresh and healthy food. There are products that add plausible phrases to ultra-processed foods to make them perceive them as healthy foods, making it easier for consumers to be deceived. Unlike healthy foods that are rich in dietary fiber and protein, ultra-processed foods also have a problem in that they make people eat more calories than they need by making them feel less full.
The biggest problem pointed out by the research team is that ultra-processed foods can be accessed from infancy rather than later in life. This is because if ultra-processed foods affect children’s food tastes or preferences, they can affect their eating habits and health for the rest of their lives. The researchers explained that it is necessary to minimize exposure to ultra-processed foods, at least for young children whose taste buds have not yet been tamed.
By Moon Se-young, staff reporter [email protected]
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