The Link Between Ultra-Processed Foods and Mental Health - Focal Point Friday

Is eating ultra-processed foods associated with depression, anxiety, memory problems, and trouble reasoning? An article I read in early May took me down a research rabbit hole and there are a lot of recent studies that say just that: 60% of the American diet is ultra-processed foods and they are causing mental health issues and cognitive decline. Today we're digging into the data and uncovering what defines ultra-processed foods, how much it affects our mental health, and to what extent. Resources and Citations: How Eating Ultraprocessed Foods Can Affect Your Mental Health - The New York Times (nytimes.com) Characterizing Ultra-Processed Foods by Energy Density, Nutrient Density, and Cost - PubMed (nih.gov) Nutrients | Free Full-Text | The Healthfulness of the US Packaged Food and Beverage Supply: A Cross-Sectional Study (mdpi.com) Current Intake of Ultra-Processed Foods in the U.S. Adult Population According to Education-Level and Income | Current Developments in Nutrition | Oxford Academic (oup.com) Cross-sectional examination of ultra-processed food consumption and adverse mental health symptoms - PubMed (nih.gov) Association Between Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods and Cognitive Decline | Dementia and Cognitive Impairment | JAMA Neurology | JAMA Network Diet and depression: exploring the biological mechanisms of action | Molecular Psychiatry (nature.com)