How Ultra-Processed Food Affects Your Mental Health

Key takeaways:

Ultra-processed foods include snack foods, fast foods, processed meats, sweeteners, and sodas.
Ultra-processed foods affect your mental health by raising your risk for dementia, depression, and anxiety.
Children who eat more ultra-processed foods are at risk for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and problems with learning.

Ultra-processed foods include packaged snack foods, many fast foods, sweeteners, and sodas. They’re manufactured foods that are far removed from their natural state. But they make up nearly 60% of the average adult’s diet in the United States. And nearly 70% of the food that the average child eats is ultra-processed.

Since most people consume so much of these foods, it’s important to understand how they affect the mind and body. These foods raise your risk for heart disease, obesity, diabetes, cancer, and other health issues. But they can also affect your mental health and well-being. In this article we’ll explore the link between ultra-processed foods and mental health.

What are ultra-processed foods?

Ultra-processed foods are packaged foods that are made in a factory or processing plant. They’re usually designed to taste good, have low-cost ingredients, and last a long time. They’re usually high in fat, salt, and sugar. But they also include so-called “food substances” that you won’t often find in a home kitchen.

Ultra-processed foods differ from processed foods. That’s because the simple act of cooking, freezing, or peeling a food means that it’s processed. So most foods that you buy in a supermarket are at least a little processed. By this definition, some processed foods. like frozen vegetables or canned fish, are good for you.

Ultra-processed means that a food has been taken several steps beyond its natural state. Ultra-processed foods are usually heavy on ingredients that sound like they come from a laboratory, including:

Hydrolyzed protein
Modified starches
Hydrogenated oils
Interesterified oils
Artificial colors
Artificial flavors
Nonsugar sweeteners
Emulsifiers
Humectants
Bulking agents
Anticaking agents
Preservatives

If any of the above ingredients are included, you’re dealing with an ultra-processed food. These ingredients are used to make things like:

Sodas and energy drinks
Snack foods
Fast food
Most commercial breads
Many infant formulas
Cereal
Processed meats like bacon, sausage, and lunch meats
Sauces and dressings
Candy
Many sweetened yogurt products

One rule of thumb is that if you see more than 10 ingredients listed on the label, there’s a good chance you’re dealing with an ultra-processed food. Another giveaway is when the food has a very long shelf life. And a third is when you can’t easily pronounce most of the words on the label.

How does ultra-processed food affect your brain health?

You probably know that ultra-processed food isn’t good for your body. But you might not be aware that the food you eat can affect your mental health.

Studies of people whose diets are high in ultra-processed foods have found harmful effects on the brain. For example, if you eat more ultra-processed foods, you may be more likely to develop

Depression
Anxiety
Dementia
Brain tumors

One reason is that ultra-processed foods can actually change the brain structure in those parts of the brain associated with mood. People with higher body fat may be especially at risk. Some scientists believe this is related to inflammation. Both body fat and ultra-processed foods can make inflammation worse.

Another possible explanation for the link between ultra-processed food and mental health is that ultra-processed foods can change the types of bacteria that normally live in your gut. These gut bacteria create byproducts that may affect your brain health, among other things.

Scientists are still sorting out how this works. But these bacteria are involved in producing chemical messengers that can affect your mood, sleep, and other aspects of your mental and physical health. For example, certain types of gut bacteria produce more of the chemicals that are linked to depression. And other gut bacteria are more likely to be present in people with anxiety.

Is ultra-processed food linked to depression?

There’s strong evidence that ultra-processed food is linked to depression. You might wonder if the story starts with depression, which can affect food choices. People who feel depressed might crave comfort foods and eat more ultra-processed foods.

But in a large study of more than 31,000 women, cutting back on ultra-processed foods seemed to lower their chances of getting depression. So it seems likely that a diet high in ultra-processed foods makes you more prone to depression. It’s also important to know that your risk for depression may be even worse if you eat ultra-processed foods and don’t exercise.

Artificial sweeteners, including diet sodas, seem to be especially harmful. No one knows exactly why that is. But it may have something to do with the way these substances can change your brain chemistry in ways that can affect your mood. Your brain knows it’s not getting sugar, despite the sweet taste. So it reacts differently to artificial sweeteners than it does to sugar. That includes the release of stress hormones. And when your body breaks down artificial sweeteners like aspartame, the byproducts may also impact brain chemicals that affect your mood.

Can ultra-processed food contribute to dementia?

If your diet regularly includes ultra-processed foods, you’re at greater risk for several types of memory loss. This includes dementia, as well as memory loss that can happen with aging.

There are several kinds of dementia. The most common types are vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s dementia. Alzheimer’s is caused by the buildup of harmful plaques in the brain, and may start as early as your 30s. Vascular dementia is caused by poor blood flow to parts of your brain. This can happen slowly over time due to untreated high blood pressure or high cholesterol. But it can also be caused by a stroke.

Cognitive decline is the slower memory loss that’s common in aging. It’s often considered normal. But sometimes it’s the early stage of vascular dementia or Alzheimer’s.

Experts don’t know for sure if dementia can be reversed once the problem starts. There’s research in progress to see if changing your diet might help. But it’s clear that a healthy diet like the Mediterranean diet can help prevent dementia.

How do ultra-processed foods affect brain health in children?

Given that ultra-processed foods can be harmful for the brain and mental health of adults, it’s not surprising that these foods can also affect children. Research studies have found that when children eat more ultra-processed foods, they may have more trouble learning. And they’re more likely to have attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), depression, and behavior disorders.

Foods that can be especially hard on a child’s brain development include:

Sweets
Snack foods
Processed meats like bacon and hot dogs
Soda
Fast food

That doesn’t mean that treats and fast food dinners have to be completely off limits. But it’s best not to make them part of an everyday meal plan.

If you’re pregnant, it’s important to know that ultra-processed foods can also affect a developing baby. Exposure to more ultra-processed foods, including sodas, during pregnancy can make it harder for the child to learn as they get older.

How to eat foods that are better for your mental health

Ultra-processed foods have become such a large part of many people’s daily routines. So it can be hard to imagine giving them up, or even cutting back. But taking care of your mental health is as important as caring for your physical well-being. So it’s worth making a few changes that can help keep your brain healthy and your mind clear. These can include:

Eating fresh fruit instead of packaged snacks
Replacing sodas with water
Choosing nuts over chips
Opting for whole-grain bread instead of white bread
Planning simple suppers at home instead of eating out on weeknights
Trying whole grain pasta in place of white spaghetti
Picking up plain yogurt and stirring in fruit preserves and nuts
Replacing breakfast meats with whole-grain toast topped with avocado or nut butter

Another helpful tip is to try to shop on the outer edges of the grocery store. You’re more likely to find produce and other fresh foods in those areas than you are in the middle aisles or near the checkout lanes.

These simple steps can have a big impact on your well-being.

The bottom line

Ultra-processed foods are everywhere. Most people’s diets include more ultra-processed foods than natural foods. But these foods can affect your physical and mental well-being. Although they’re often marketed to kids, they can be especially hard on a young brain. And ultra-processed foods will raise your risk of dementia as you get older.

Making simple changes can have a big effect on your health. Of course, if you have a mental health concern, diet may be only one piece of the puzzle. It’s always a good idea to see your healthcare professional to get the help that you need.

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Written by:

Sarah A. Samaan, MD

Sarah Samaan, MD, FACC, FACP, FASE is a board-certified cardiologist who practiced clinical cardiology for nearly 30 years. She is a member of the American College of Cardiology and the American College of Physicians, among others.

Edited by:

Katie E. Golden, MD

Katie E. Golden, MD, is a board-certified emergency medicine physician and a medical editor at GoodRx.

Reviewed by:

Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP

Karen Hovav, MD, FAAP, has more than 15 years of experience as an attending pediatrician. She has worked in a large academic center in an urban city, a small community hospital, a private practice, and an urgent care clinic.

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