Eating popular snacks drastically increases your risk of top killer
SNACKING on ultra-processed food can shorten your life by putting you at higher risk for top killer dementia, a new study has suggested.
The study, published in the American Academy of Neurology, found that in slightly increasing your daily intake of ultra-processed foods can significantly increase your risk of developing dementia.
Ultra-processed foods are high in added sugar, fat and salt, and low in protein and fibre. Some examples of ultra processed food includes biscuits, soft drinks and crisps.
As part of the study, researchers followed the dietary habits of 72,083 people from the UK over the age of 55 for 10 years.
At the start of the study none of the participants had dementia.
However, by the end of the 10 years 518 people had been diagnosed with the cognitive disease, which was named the UKs second biggest killer in 2021.
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Meanwhile, another study has found that physical and mental exercise as well as socialising can actually lower you risk of dementia.
Participants who had eaten more ultra-processed food per day over the 10 year period had a higher chance of developing dementia than those who had eaten less, the study revealed.
Researchers found that for every 10 per cent increase in someone's daily intake of ultra-processed foods, they had a 25 per cent higher risk of dementia.
Meanwhile, researchers estimated that by substituting 10 per cent of ultra-processed foods with unprocessed foods, like fresh fruit, vegetables, legumes and meat, people would reduce their dementia risk by 19 per cent.
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Lead author of the study, Huiping Li, PhD, of Tianjin Medical University in China said that “small and manageable changes” to a persons diet may make a difference to their risk of dementia.
She said that by switching half an apple with a chocolate bar people can decreased their risk of dementia by 3 per cent,
“Ultra-processed foods are meant to be convenient and tasty, but they diminish the quality of a person’s diet,” Huiping said.
“These foods may also contain food additives or molecules from packaging or produced during heating, all of which have been shown in other studies to have negative effects on thinking and memory skills.
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EXCERISING regularly and visiting friends and family may ward off dementia, according to a new study.
The research, published in the , tracked the social and physical activity levels of 501,376 people for 11 years.
Those who were highly engaged in activities such as exercises, household chores, and daily visits of family and friends had a 35%, 21%, and 15% lower risk of dementia, respectively, compared to people who were the least engaged in these activity patterns.
The study author Huan Song, MD, PhD, of Sichuan University in Chengdu, China, said: “Our study has found that by engaging more frequently in healthy physical and mental activities people may reduce their risk of dementia.
“More research is needed to confirm our findings. However, our results are encouraging that making these simple lifestyle changes may be beneficial.”
“Our research not only found that ultra-processed foods are associated with an increased risk of dementia, it found replacing them with healthy options may decrease dementia risk.”
Dr Rosa Sancho, Head of Research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, said:
“This study is the first to look at associations between dementia risk and consuming ultra-processed foods, such as pre-packed meals and snacks, breakfast cereals and soft drinks.
“We don’t know for sure why people who eat ultra-processed foods show an increased risk of dementia.
"The researchers suggest it could be because these diets involve lower levels of important nutrients like fibre, because they include too much sugar and sodium, or because they may lead to high blood pressure or inflammation, which can be bad for long-term brain health.
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“While the researchers have run a careful analysis, it’s impossible to be certain that this link is down to differences in diet rather than other lifestyle factors that may go along with eating more ultra-processed food", she explained.
This study is in line with previous which also suggested that an unhealthy diet can lead to cognitive decline.