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Eating ultra-processed foods (UPFs) can wreak havoc on your attention span, according to a new Australian study.
A survey of over 2,000 Australian adults found that eating more UPFs was linked to worse attention scores, regardless of the overall quality of the individual’s diet—suggesting the UPFs are the cause.
Study Finds reports, “For every 10% increase in the share of calories coming from ultra-processed sources, attention scores dropped by a small but measurable amount (about 0.05 points on the study’s scale), and a score used to estimate future dementia risk ticked upward. Both associations held up even after accounting for how closely participants followed a Mediterranean-style diet, widely considered the gold standard for brain-healthy eating. That detail matters because it suggests something about the processing itself may be driving the effect, not simply the absence of better food choices.”
In Australia, UPFs now make up around 42% of calories consumed on average.
In the US and UK, the figure is around 50%.
The researchers suggest a number of explanations for their observations. These include the absence of vital nutrients, vitamins and minerals, harmful substances created by industrial production processes, toxic additives like emulsifiers and preservatives, and disruption to beneficial microbes in the gut that communicate with the brain.
UPF consumption is also linked to a wide variety of harmful chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity, which are known to affect brain function and health negatively.
If you’re interested in learning more about UPFs—which have been made one of the principal targets for Robert F. Kennedy Jr’s “Make America Healthy Again” crusade—read our detailed primer on the topic here.
