New Research Junk Food, Packaging Chemicals, and Kids’ Brain Health [Podcast Episode #233]
Researchers from Virginia Tech have discovered that ultra-processed meats and beverages are the worst for brain health. Individuals who consumed one or more extra servings of either of these foods showed a significantly increased risk of developing cognitive impairments, including those associated with forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s Disease.
A recent article from Children’s Health Defense shared new research ranking which junk foods are most harmful to the brain — and it’s not just about kids’ waistlines or sugar highs. It’s about how what we eat can shape how we think, learn, and even feel.
Let’s dig into what this new research is saying, and more importantly, what it means for our families.
How Junk Food Impacts the Brain
These studies found that foods loaded with refined sugar, unhealthy fats, and artificial ingredients don’t just harm the body — they change how the brain functions.
Think of it like this: the brain runs on clear signals, kind of like a radio station. When it’s getting clean fuel — whole foods, real nutrients — that signal is clear. But when it’s constantly fed ultra-processed foods, it’s like turning up the static. The brain starts to lose focus, memory gets fuzzy, and mood and motivation can shift.
Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) are now known to include obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, anxiety, depression, and an increase in all-cause mortality. In fact, according to a study published in Diabetes Care, a journal of the American Diabetes Association, up to 220,000 young Americans under age 20 are likely to have Type 2 diabetes by 2060 — a 673% increase from 2017 levels.
One of the studies found that people who ate a lot of processed meats, fried snacks, and sugary drinks had measurable changes in the areas of the brain that control memory and emotion. Another study showed that even short-term diets high in sugar and fat can rewire how the brain’s “reward center” works — making people crave those same foods even more.
A study of nearly 124,000 people found that drinking just one daily serving of artificially sweetened drinks increased the risk of a liver disease known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease or metabolic dysfunction.
That means the more we eat these foods, the more our brains want them, creating a loop that’s hard to break.
Why Kids Are Especially Affected
Recent research has shed light on a startling concern—more than 300 chemicals have been detected in babies’ cord blood and placenta at birth. This discovery highlights the fact that exposure to harmful chemicals begins much earlier than we previously thought.
From conception through pregnancy, toxins can pass from the mother to the fetus, raising concerns about their potential long-term effects on child development and health.
Children’s brains are still developing, which makes them much more sensitive to these kinds of foods. When a growing brain is constantly exposed to sugary, processed foods, it can interfere with how nerve connections form.
Some of the research cited by Children’s Health Defense found that kids and teens who eat a lot of junk food have more trouble with memory and learning, and can experience more mood swings or attention issues.
Part of that is because junk foods crowd out the nutrients that developing brains need — like omega-3s, zinc, and iron. And part of it is chemical: those processed ingredients can actually change the way the brain’s reward systems respond, which makes healthy foods less appealing over time...
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