As new research links ultra-processed food (UPF) with dementia, the leading cause of death in the UK, it’s as good a time as any to cook from scratch more often.
If you want to make changes to the way you eat and cook and discover new recipes, dinner is a great place to start compared with rushed breakfasts or lunches al desko. And they don’t have to be time-consuming.
Ultra-processed food (UPF) such as ready-meals, packaged foods, supermarket bread, processed meats, cereals and cakes makes up 53 per cent of the average adult diet in the UK, according to a 2025 study. While it’s still unclear whether it is the ultra-processed nature of these foods, or the fact they are often high in fat, salt and sugar, that leads to poor health, the British Medical Journal (BMJ) has linked over-consumption of UPF to a wide range of illnesses including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
Shorts
The new study linking dementia with a diet high in UPF, published in the American Journal of Public Health, investigated the diets of 5,400 Americans over 50 and found that those who ate the most UPF were 50 per cent more likely to develop dementia than those who ate the least UPF, over a period of nine years.
