The shocking damage ultra-processed foods cause to your brain

31 snips

Sep 14, 2023

In this engaging discussion, Felice Jacka, an expert in nutritional psychiatry and director of the Food & Mood Centre, sheds light on the alarming effects of ultra-processed foods on brain health. She delves into how these foods impact memory and learning, particularly through the hippocampus. The conversation also covers the vital link between gut health and cognitive function, emphasizing how dietary choices influence neurotransmitters. Jacka provides practical tips to reduce ultra-processed food consumption for better mental and physical well-being.

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INSIGHT

Hippocampus and Diet

The hippocampus, crucial for learning and memory, can grow and shrink throughout life.
Its size correlates with diet quality, impacting cognitive function and mental health.

INSIGHT

Diet's Rapid Impact on the Brain

Studies show that unhealthy diets negatively affect hippocampal function, particularly learning and memory, within days.
These negative effects seem reversible upon reverting to a healthy diet.

ANECDOTE

Fast Food and IQ

A Norwegian study showed a correlation between the introduction of fast-food restaurants and decreased IQ in children.
This highlights how environmental factors like food availability can impact cognitive development.

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There’s been a surge in our consumption of ultra-processed foods, especially in the United Kingdom and the United States, where these foods contribute about two-thirds of people’s caloric intake.

Also a cause for concern is emerging evidence of ultra-processed foods’ detrimental effect on our brain health and overall well-being.

When most of our calories come from ultra-processed foods, the risk of chronic physical and mental health conditions escalates. Scientists are now uncovering the intricate mechanisms behind this relationship, particularly concerning the effects of these foods on our brains.

In today’s episode, we welcome back Prof. Felice Jacka, OAM. Felice is an Alfred Deakin professor of nutritional psychiatry and the director of the Food & Mood Centre at Deakin University, in Australia. She’s also the founder of the International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research and the world’s leading researcher on food’s impact on our brain and mental health.

Now, she’s back on the show to delve deeper into the effects of ultra-processed foods on mental health and the brain, specifically the hippocampus, an area responsible for learning and memory.

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Timecodes:

00:00 Intro

01:19 Quick fire questions

04:17 What is ultra processed food?

05:37 What is the NOVA classification?

08:18 How does food impact the brain?

10:33 What does the hippocampus do to influence our brain function?

12:58 Is there a link between the size of the hippocampus and quality of diet?

13:45 Is there a link between the quality of diet and depression?

20:37 What are the effects of long term dietary habits?

21:33 Is there a link between poor diet and dementia

23:18 Is there a link between autism and diet?

24:00 How real is the link between diet and dementia?

24:57 What is the oral microbiome?

28:16 New trial between whole foods and vitamin enriched nutritional foods

29:28 How does processing foods impact the makeup of foods on a molecular level?

32:10 How does the biodiversity around us affect our body?

33:08 How does the industrialized food environment impact us?

35:50 How strong is the evidence for this? is it comparable to smoking?

39:12 Practical tips to help with our diet

40:07 How does reducing consumption of UPF affect us?

41:25 How to cut down on UPF

44:04 Is it too late to change your diet?

45:39 Does exercise impact our brain?

47:41 Summary

52:57 Goodbyes/Outro

Mentioned in today’s episode:

The SMILES trial published in BMC Medicine
Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Mental Health published in Nutrients
Western diet is associated with a smaller hippocampus also in BMC Medicine

Learn more about Felice on the Food & Mood Centre’s website.

Follow Felice on Instagram.

Episode transcripts are available here.

Is there a nutrition topic you’d like us to explore? Email us at podcast@joinzoe.com, and we’ll do our best to cover it.