ArticleNutrients2025
Associations of Ultra-Processed Food Intake and Its Circulating Metabolomic Signature with Mental Disorders in Middle-Aged and Older Adults.
Article in Nutrients, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Neurobiological insights into the effects of ultra-processed food on lipid metabolism and associated mental health conditions: a scoping review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Article
- Food ultra-processing, plant-origin foods, and risk of benign prostatic hyperplasia: evidence from the UK Biobank cohort.Nutrition journal · 2026Article
- Ultra-processed food consumption and atherosclerosis risk: a prospective cohort study of UK Biobank.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Nutritional interventions for late-life depression: evidence, mechanisms, and clinical assessment tools.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- The gut is guilty! Will legalomics transform forensic and legal psychology?Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- Data-driven dietary patterns in relation to psychological distress and psychological quality of life among community-dwelling older adults in Shanghai, China: a cross-sectional study.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Association between different dietary patterns and the risk of major brain disorders: a prospective multi-cohort study.EClinicalMedicine · 2025Article
- Metabolomic signature of ultraprocessed food consumption and microvascular complications among individuals with type 2 diabetes.NPJ science of food · 2025Article
- From Bacillus Criminalis to the Legalome: Will Neuromicrobiology Impact 21st Century Criminal Justice?Brain sciences · 2025Article
- Legalomics: why microbiology matters to the promotion of just societies.Sustainable microbiology · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe global rise in ultra-processed food (UPF) consumption and the persistent burden of mental disorders have raised growing public health concerns. Emerging evidence suggests that unfavorable dietary patterns, particularly with high UPF intake, contribute to the development of mental disorders.
objectiveTo assess the associations of UPF-related metabolic signatures and mental disorders.
methodsIn this population-based cohort study of 30,059 participants from the UK Biobank, we first identified a plasma metabolic signature associated with UPF intake leveraging nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics. We then applied Cox and logistic regression models to investigate the associations of both UPF consumption and its metabolic signature with incident mental disorders and specific psychological symptoms, respectively.
resultsHigher UPF intake was significantly associated with increased risks of overall mental disorder (hazard ratio per 10% increment [95% confidence interval]: 1.04 [1.02, 1.06]), depressive disorder (1.14 [1.08, 1.20]), anxiety disorder (1.12 [1.06, 1.18]), and substance use disorder (1.06 [1.01, 1.11]), as well as several psychological symptoms including suicidal ideation (odds ratios [95% confidence interval]: 1.12 [1.03, 1.16]) and anxiety feeling (1.05 [1.01, 1.09]). Similarly, the UPF-related metabolic signature was independently associated with elevated risks of these mental health outcomes and partially mediated the associations between UPF intake and mental disorders.
conclusionsThese findings highlighted the potential metabolic pathways underlying the neuropsychiatric risks of UPF consumption and underscored the importance of dietary quality in mental health.
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