ArticleThe American journal of clinical nutrition2025
Differential association of ultraprocessed food categories with risk of developing cognitive impairment in middle-aged and older adults in a longitudinal panel study.
Article in The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Association of combined ultra-processed food intake (ultra-processed dietary pattern) with cognitive function impairment: a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies.Journal of neurology · 2026Pooled it
- Ultraprocessed Food Intake, Cognition, and Executive Function in Adults: A Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- The Nutrition Facts of Comfort Foods in the United States: Results from the Census-Matched Eating in America Study.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Ultraprocessed Foods and the Risk of Cognitive Impairment and Dementia in Older US Adults: 2013-2020 Health and Retirement Study.American journal of public health · 2026Article
- Ultra-Processed Foods, MASLD, and Cognitive Aging: A Processing-Centered Gut-Liver-Brain Axis Perspective.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Ultra-processed food intake and cognitive decline in older adults.European journal of nutrition · 2026Article
- Ultra-processed food intake and impairment across multiple cognitive domains in nationally representative older U.S. adults.Frontiers in public health · 2025Article
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4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe majority (∼65%) of food products purchased by United States households are considered ultraprocessed foods (UPFs). Consumption of UPF is associated with a variety of adverse health outcomes including dementia. Most research on UPF consumption and cognition measure UPF as a single entity despite extensive variability in the types of foods that are considered UPF.
objectivesThe objective of this study was to investigate the extent to which consumption of individual categories of UPF are related to risk of developing cognitive impairment over 7 y.
methodsData from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a panel study, were used to examine UPF consumption and risk of developing cognitive impairment in 4750 middle-aged and older United States adults. Diet was assessed using the Harvard Food Frequency Questionnaire at baseline and cognitive status was assessed biennially from 2014 to 2020 using measures of recall and executive function. Foods were categorized using the NOVA system. The UPF foods were divided into categories based on previously reported criteria. The relationship between total UPF consumption and 9 UPF categories and cognitive status were assessed using adjusted Cox proportional hazard analyses.
resultsIn total, 1363 participants developed cognitive impairment. Consumption of an additional average daily serving of ultraprocessed animal products and beverages were associated with 17% (95% Confidence interval [CI]: 1.032, 1.326) and 6.3% (95% CI: 1.010, 1.118) heightened risk of developing cognitive impairment throughout the study period, respectively. Total UPF consumption and consumption of other UPF categories (other, sweets, spreads, savory snacks, ready-to-eat meals, grains, and dairy-based) were not associated with risk of developing cognitive impairment.
conclusionsThese results reinforce the value of separating UPF into categories. The link between UPF animal products and beverages with cognitive functions may be, in part, explained by their ingredients, such as additives, or by the poor nutritional composition of products rich in simple sugars and low in dietary fibers.
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