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Eating ultraprocessed foods can restructure the brain, driving overeating and obesity, according to new large-scale research.
A study of brain scans from 30,000 middle-aged people showed that a diet of ultraprocessed food causes changes to regions of the brain associated with hunger and cravings.
“We present evidence that eating UPFs increases several nutrient and metabolic markers of disease and is associated with structural brain changes in areas that regulate eating behavior,” the study authors wrote.
The research shows that people who eat more ultraprocessed foods have increased thickness in a region of the brain called the bilateral lateral occipital cortex. This region is associated with visual recognition of objects and shape-processing. The clear implication is that ultraprocessed foods make us respond differently to visual food cues.
The researchers believe these changes may be caused higher levels of inflammation and increased biomarkers associated with negative health, including levels of C-reactive protein, triglycerides and glycated hemoglobin.
Additives in processed foods, like emulsifiers, may also disrupt neurotransmitters and the body’s microbiome, the community of microorganisms that is crucial for good mental and physical health.
“Our findings indicate that a high consumption of ultra-processed foods is associated with structural changes in brain regions regulating eating behaviour, such as the hypothalamus, amygdala and right nucleus accumbens. This may lead to a cycle of overeating,” Arsène Kanyamibwa, the study’s first author, said in a press statement.
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made ultraprocessed foods one of the main targets of his Make America Healthy Again agenda.
Children and adults now consume record amounts of ultraprocessed foods, which research has linked to every one of the prevailing chronic diseases of modern life, from obesity to Alzheimer’s.
If you want to know more about ultraprocessed foods, why they’re bad and how you can improve your health and the health of your loved ones by ditching ultraprocessed for minimally processed foods, read our detailed primer here.
