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 adultsfoundthat 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 Findsreports, “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.”

One of the most effective dietary interventions to reduce levels of harmful chemicals in the body is to stop eating processed food. Just three days of eating fresh foods can reduce levels of BPA by 76% and levels of DEHP, a phthalate, by 96%.pic.twitter.com/BuSm4lRBYl

In Australia, UPFs now make up around 42% of calories consumed on average.

In the US and UK, the figure is around 50%.

An underappreciated aspect of the health risk associated with ultra-processed foods is their massive contamination with food-contact chemicals (FCCs). We hear a lot of talk about harmful additives like red dye 3 or emulsifiers or preservatives, but very little about industrial…pic.twitter.com/8zqxNk1rsH

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.

It seems like a simple point, and maybe it is, but it's of the greatest importance. How you eat matters. Processed foods are designed to be hyperpalatable, which means, among other things, they're designed to be eaten quickly. One study showed the typical processed food is…pic.twitter.com/WIVuQNXgwA

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