A new study suggests that eating more ultra-processed foods could make it harder to stay focused and may contribute to factors linked to dementia, even among people who otherwise follow healthy diets.
Researchers from Monash University, the University of São Paulo, and Deakin University analyzed dietary and cognitive data from more than 2,100 middle-aged and older Australian adults who did not have dementia. Their findings were published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring, a journal of the Alzheimer's Association.
Ultra-Processed Foods and Attention Span
The study found that even modest increases in ultra-processed food consumption were associated with measurable declines in attention and mental processing speed.
Lead author Dr. Barbara Cardoso, from Monash University's Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food and the Victorian Heart Institute, said the results add to growing evidence linking highly processed foods to poorer brain health.
