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Health

Ultraprocessed foods linked to ovarian and other cancer deaths, study finds

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CNN
 — 

Eating more ultraprocessed foods raises the risk of developing and dying from cancer, especially ovarian cancer, according to a new study of over 197,000 people in the United Kingdom, over half of whom were women.

Overly processed foods include prepackaged soups, sauces, frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals, as well as hot dogs, sausages, french fries, sodas, store-bought cookies, cakes, candies, doughnuts, ice cream and many more.

“Ultra-processed foods are produced with industrially derived ingredients and often use food additives to adjust colour, flavour, consistency, texture, or extend shelf life,” said first author Dr. Kiara Chang, a National Institute for Health and Care Research fellow at Imperial College London’s School of Public Health, in a statement.

“Our bodies may not react the same way to these ultra-processed ingredients and additives as they do to fresh and nutritious minimally processed foods,” Chang said.

However, people who eat more ultra-processed foods also tend to “drink more fizzy drinks and less tea and coffee, as well as less vegetables and other foods associated with a healthy dietary pattern,” said Duane Mellor, a registered dietitian and senior teaching fellow at Aston Medical School in Birmingham, UK, in an email.

“This could mean that it may not be an effect specifically of the ultra-processed foods themselves, but instead reflect the impact of a lower intake of healthier food,” said Mellor, who was not involved in the study.

The study, published Tuesday in the journal eClinicalMedicine, looked at the association between eating ultraprocessed foods and 34 different types of cancer over a 10-year period.

Researchers examined information on the eating habits of 197,426 people who were part of the UK Biobank, a large biomedical database and research resource that followed residents from 2006 to 2010.

The amount of ultraprocessed foods consumed by people in the study ranged from a low of 9.1% to a high of 41.4% of their diet, the study found.

Eating patterns were then compared with medical records that listed both diagnoses and deaths from cancer.

Each 10% increase in ultraprocessed food consumption was associated with a 2% increase in developing any cancer, and a 19% increased risk for being diagnosed with ovarian cancer, according to a statement issued by Imperial College London.

Deaths from cancers also increased, the study found. For each additional 10% increase in ultraprocessed food consumption, the risk of dying from any cancer increased by 6%, while the risk of dying from ovarian cancer rose by 30%, according to the statement.

“These associations persisted after adjustment for a range of socio-demographic, smoking status, physical activity, and key dietary factors,” the authors wrote.

When it comes to death from cancer among women, ovarian cancer is ranked fifth, “accounting for more deaths than any other cancer of the female reproductive system,” noted the American Cancer Society.

“The findings add to previous studies showing an association between a greater proportion of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in the diet and a higher risk of obesity, heart attacks, stroke, and type 2 diabetes,” said Simon Steenson, a nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation, a charity partially supported by food producers and manufacturers. Steenson was not involved in the new study.

“However, an important limitation of these previous studies and the new analysis published today is that the findings are observational and so do not provide evidence of a clear causal link between UPFs and cancer, or the risk of other diseases,” Steenson said in an email.

People who ate the most ultraprocessed foods “were younger and less likely to have a family history of cancer,” Chang and her colleagues wrote.

High consumers of ultraprocessed foods were less likely to do physical activity and more likely to be classified as obese. These people were also likely to have lower household incomes and education and live in the most underprivileged communities, the study found.

“This study adds to the growing evidence that ultra-processed foods are likely to negatively impact our health including our risk for cancer,” said Dr. Eszter Vamos, the study’s lead author and a clinical senior lecturer at Imperial College London’s School of Public Health in a statement.

This latest research is not the first to show an association between a high intake of ultraprocessed foods and cancer.

A 2022 study examined the diets of over 200,000 men and women in the United States for up to 28 years and found a link between ultraprocessed foods and colorectal cancer — the third most diagnosed cancer in the United States — in men, but not women.

And there are “literally hundreds of studies (that) link ultraprocessed foods to obesity, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and overall mortality,” Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University told CNN previously.

While the new UK-based study cannot prove causation, only an association, “other available evidence shows that reducing ultra-processed foods in our diet could provide important health benefits,” Vamos said.

“Further research is needed to confirm these findings and understand the best public health strategies to reduce the widespread presence and harms of ultra-processed foods in our diet,” she added.

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World

Colombian navy rescues man who survived on ketchup for weeks lost at sea

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CNN
 — 

A man who spent 24 days adrift in the Caribbean Sea says he survived by eating little more than ketchup.

Elvis Francois, 47, was found 120 nautical miles northwest of Colombia’s Puerto Bolívar after a plane saw the word “help” engraved on the hull of his sailboat, the Colombian navy said in a statement Thursday.

“I had no food. It was just a bottle of ketchup that was on the boat, garlic powder and Maggi (stock cubes) so I mixed it up with some water,” Francois said in a video provided by the Colombian army.

Francois, from the island nation of Dominica, said he had been making repairs to his boat near the Dutch part of the island of Saint Martin in December when adverse weather conditions pulled his boat out to sea.

He said he lacked navigational knowledge and was unable to maneuver his boat back to shore – spending weeks lost at sea.

“Twenty four days – no land, nobody to talk to. Don’t know what to do, don’t know where you are. It was rough,” he said. “At a certain time, I lose hope. I think about my family.”

After being rescued, he was transferred to the port city of Cartagena where he received medical care and was later handed over to immigration authorities for his return home, Colombian officials said.

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World

Why people in China are panic buying canned yellow peaches as Covid surges

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Hong Kong
CNN
 — 

An unprecedented wave of Covid cases in China has sparked panic buying of fever medicines, pain killers, and even home remedies such as canned peaches, leading to shortages online and in stores.

Authorities said Wednesday they had detected 2,249 symptomatic Covid-19 cases nationally through nucleic acid testing, 20% of which were detected in the capital Beijing. CNN reporting from the city indicates the case count in the Chinese capital could be much higher than recorded.

Demand for fever and cold medicines, such as Tylenol and Advil, is surging nationally as people rush to stockpile drugs amid fears they may contract the virus.

Canned yellow peaches, considered a particularly nutritious delicacy in many parts of China, have been snapped up by people looking for ways to fight Covid. The product is currently sold out on many online shops.

Its sudden surge in popularity prompted Dalian Leasun Food, one of the country’s largest canned food manufacturers, to clarify in a Weibo post that canned yellow peaches don’t have any medicinal effect.

“Canned yellow peaches ≠ medicines!” the company said in the post published Friday. “There is enough supply, so there is no need to panic. There is no rush to buy.”

The People’s Daily, the mouthpiece of the Communist Party, also tried to set the record straight. It published a long Weibo post on Sunday urging the public not to stockpile the peaches, calling them “useless in alleviating symptoms of illness.”

Authorities also pleaded with the public not to stockpile medical supplies. On Monday, the Beijing city government warned residents that it was facing “great pressure” to meet demand for drug and medical services because of panic buying and an influx of patients at clinics.

It urged the public not to hoard drugs or call emergency services if they have no symptoms.

The rising demand and shortage of supply of Covid remedies have fueled bets on drugmakers.

Shares of Hong Kong-listed Xinhua Pharmaceutical, China’s largest manufacturer of ibuprofen, have gained 60% in the past five days. The stock has so far jumped by 147% in the first two weeks of this month.

“Our company’s production lines are operating at full capacity, and we are working overtime to produce urgently needed medicines, such as ibuprofen tablets,” Xinhua Pharmaceutical said Monday.

Ibuprofen is an anti-inflammatory drug used to treat pain and fever. It is also known as Advil, Brufen, or Fenbid.

The drug shortage has spread from mainland China to Hong Kong, a special administrative region which has a separate system of local government. On Sunday, the city’s health chief urged the public to refrain from panic buying cold medicines they do not need and urged residents “not to overact.”

In some Hong Kong drugstores, fever drugs such as Panadol, the local brand name for Tylenol, have sold out. Most of the buyers were sending the medicines to their families and friends in the mainland, sales representatives told CNN.

Shares of Shenzhen-listed Guizhou Bailing Group Pharmaceuticals, known for making cough syrup, have gained 21% this week and risen 51% so far this month. Yiling Pharmaceutical, the sole producer of Lianhua Qingwen, a traditional Chinese medicine recommended by the government for treating Covid, has also jumped more than 30% in the past month.

Even providers of funeral services and burial plots have gotten a huge boost. Shares in Hong Kong-traded Fu Shou Yuan International, China’s largest burial service company, have soared more than 50% since last month.

There is “strong pent-up demand for burial plots” in 2023, analysts from Citi Group said in a recent research report, adding that they’ve noticed increasing investor interest in the sector.

They cited the existence of hundreds of thousands of cremated remains, which are being temporarily stored in government facilities awaiting burial. Lockdowns across much of the country have halted funeral services, they said.

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Business

In wake of baby formula crisis, critical report recommends major food safety changes at FDA

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CNN
 — 

To help prevent outbreaks of food-related illness and problems like the formula shortage that left many parents in the US without adequate access to food for their babies, the US Food and Drug Administration needs a clearer mission and a different kind of leadership, and it has to act with more urgency, according to a highly critical new report.

After the agency faced serious criticism for its handling of the formula shortage, FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf commissioned the review of the Human Foods Program in July from the Reagan-Udall Foundation, an independent group of experts.

The need for a review was considered so urgent that Califf asked the group to submit the report in 60 business days – lightning speed for government-focused reports. It was submitted to the FDA on Tuesday.

About 48 million Americans get some kind of foodborne illness every year, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Of those, 128,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die. Produce alone in 2019 was responsible for 46% of foodborne illness outbreaks, according to the US Department of Agriculture.

The FDA oversees the safety of 78% of the US human food supply.

It enforces food safety regulations, works with local governments on food safety information, promotes dietary guidelines, and develops food safety information and education, as well as overseeing nutrition labels on most food and being responsible for promoting good nutrition practices to the US public.

The US food supply is generally recognized as safe, the Reagan-Udall Foundation’s report said, but the FDA needs to be much more proactive in dealing with foodborne pathogens in order to protect Americans.

“An approach that is primarily focused on identifying and reacting to acute outbreaks of foodborne illness and death is unacceptable,” the report says.

Americans’ nutrition can also improve, the report says. Most people don’t follow the US dietary recommendations, and more than a million die of diseases that can be linked to diet such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and cancer each year, according to the FDA

“Relying solely on food labeling and consumer education to drive the needed changes in the food supply is also an unacceptable strategy for reducing diet-related chronic diseases,” the new report says.

The report suggests that the agency needs major reform in order to do a better job managing food in the US. Some of the proposed changes would require congressional approval.

The report has several suggestions for ways to reach these goals. One would create a separate Center for Nutrition within the US Department of Health and Human Services. Another would have the FDA develop a strategy to increase funding for the Human Foods Program, with help from Congress. The agency could also connect its technology systems so they better communicate with each other.

The FDA could seek to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to allow the disclosure of more information to local agencies. Or it could get regulatory authority to request records from food manufacturers in advance or in lieu of inspection.

The report recommends that the FDA explore applying its authority to require infant formula manufacturers, for instance, to keep microbiological testing records that are available on request so there is real-time disclosure of results.

It also suggests that the FDA use its mandatory recall authority more often and that there should be a process by which accommodations are made for products that are considered life-sustaining, like formula. At the moment, food recalls are usually voluntarily initiated by a manufacturer or food distributor.

The report also notes that the food program is run under the leadership of several managers. This “lack of a single, clearly identified person” to lead the program has led to a culture of “constant turmoil” and “indecisiveness and inaction” that has created “disincentives for collaboration,” according to the report.

That turmoil was partly to blame for the agency’s problematic handling of the formula shortage, the report says.

Experts have said the agency failed to act quickly enough on sanitation complaints at an Abbott Nutrition formula manufacturing facility in Michigan, and because of a lack of communication across departments, it didn’t circumvent what became a massive shortage of formula after the plant shut down.

“A review of events indicates that lack of communication and engagement across the Agency accounted, in part, for missteps,” the new report says. “There was little motivation, and apparently no requirement, to share information and interact across the Agency to facilitate critical thinking and proactive decision-making.

“This is especially problematic in a crisis, where decisions should be made quickly and be vetted properly.”

The report suggests that the FDA create a new structure with clear roles and leaders. It also encourages development of a culture that is more transparent, that acts quickly and collaborates.

“The current culture of the FDA Human Foods Program is inhibiting its ability to effectively accomplish this goal” of protecting public health,” the report says.

Califf said Tuesday that the agency has not had the opportunity to review the report in depth but that the report provides “significant observations” and options to consider.

“The work of these independent evaluators will help to inform a new vision for the FDA Human Foods Program,” Califf said in a news release.

Some critics have suggested that food safety takes a back seat to the FDA’s regulations of drugs and medical devices. Califf acknowledged that food policy was important to the agency, citing the decline in life expectancy in the US largely due to chronic diseases that can be improved with good nutrition.

“The Human Foods Program is a top priority for the agency. America’s food supply is as safe as it’s ever been,” he said. “That said, over the past several years, the program has been stressed by the increasing diversity and complexity of the nation’s food systems and supply chain, the ongoing impacts associated with climate change and rapid advances in the science underlying many of the foods we eat today.”

The FDA will inform the public about how it is moving forward on the panel’s suggestions by the end of January and will provide additional updates at the end of February, including on any structural or procedural changes it will make, Califf said.

He said he’s putting together a group of leaders at the FDA that will advise him on how to “operationalize these findings,” and he expects these leaders to be “bold and focused on the transformative opportunities ahead for the FDA’s food program.”

In April, a coalition of 30 organizations that represent industry, local regulators and consumers sent a letter to the FDA asking for the creation of a deputy commissioner for foods with direct line authority over all the agency’s food components.

One of the organizations, Consumer Reports, has called for months for more accountability and focused leadership from the FDA.

“We need strengthened leadership and accountability at the FDA to implement a culture of prevention, respond more quickly to problems as they arise, and take timely action on proposed food safety rules and initiatives,” Brian Ronholm, Consumer Reports’ director of food policy, said Tuesday.

Ronholm called the new report a “very encouraging first step.”

“We cannot afford to tolerate the status quo and let this moment go by without adopting fundamental changes to improve the FDA’s ability to protect the public and ensure our food is safe,” he said in a statement.

The Consumer Brands Association, a trade association for food manufacturers that also signed the April letter, said Tuesday that the lack of a single leader on food policy leads to “a lot of inefficiencies.”

“A siloed approach across FDA makes it harder for industry to engage,” said Sarah Gallo, the organization’s vice president for product policy. “It is just really complicated when you don’t have somebody looking over the different parts of the agency that have some form of jurisdiction over all those things.

“We can’t ignore what happened with the formula crisis,” Gallo added, a tangible example of what can happen when the FDA is not functioning at its best.

Roberta Wagner, vice president of regulatory and technical affairs for the Consumer Brands Association, agreed that if there were one person in charge, they could make sure the inspection and policy parts of the FDA would work together.

Wagner added that the food industry has embraced a more prevention-oriented kind of philosophy when it comes to safety. “Quite frankly, the problem is, FDA’s inspection force has not modernized itself or its approaches to basically mirror that prevention-oriented system and philosophy,” Wagner said.

The FDA food division has its work cut out for it, though, added Wagner, who worked with the agency in several capacities before joining the association.

“Think about it: The FDA has to keep up with hundreds of thousands of farms and facilities,” she said. “If you have these siloed operations, you’re not having these really critical conversations about where we should be and what should we be doing out there.

“We all want an FDA with a strong foods program. We want consumers not to worry about what they’re eating or whether they’re going to be able to get that certain needed food product,” Wagner added.

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Health

Eating 400 calories a day from these foods could raise dementia risk by over 20%

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Talk about food for thought.

A growing body of research suggests that ultra-processed foods like frozen pizzas and breakfast cereals high in sugars, fats and empty calories are bad for your health. Now, a new large-scale study presented at the 2022 Alzheimer’s Association International Conference in San Diego this week offers more evidence that people who get a high percentage of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods are also at a higher risk of cognitive decline.

A team of researchers from the University of São Paulo Medical School in Brazil followed a diverse sample of more than 10,000 Brazilians for up to 10 years. The subjects filled out food frequency questionnaires to note how often they were eating foods including: unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients (aka whole foods like fresh, dry or frozen fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meat, fish and milk that underwent minimal processing, like pasteurization); processed foods (canned fruits, artisanal bread and cheese, and salted, smoked or cured meat or fish); and ultra-processed foods (industrial formulations of processed food substances like oils, fats, sugars, starch, artificial flavors and colorings, but containing little or no whole foods). 

The subjects also took cognitive tests up to three times a year, including memory tests and word recognition tests, to monitor their cognitive functioning; aka, mental abilities such as learning, thinking, reasoning, remembering, problem-solving, decision-making and attention. They also took regular verbal fluency tests to track their executive functioning; aka the mental skills that help an individual plan, monitor and successfully meet their goals. 

The findings? Those who ate 20% or more of their daily calories from ultra-processed foods had a 28% faster rate of cognitive decline, and a 25% faster rate of executive function decline, compared to the subjects in the study who ate the least amount of processed foods. In other words, someone following a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet who consumed 400 of their daily calories from ready-to-eat frozen meals, processed meats, breakfast cereals and sugar-sweetened beverages each day saw a faster rate of cognitive decline. 

Opinion: Your diet isn’t just making you obese, it could be speeding up cognitive decline

And many of us are fueling ourselves with these ultra-processed foods. The researchers noted that a whopping 58% of the calories consumed by U.S. citizens come from ultra-processed foods. We’re not alone; 56.8% of the calories consumed by British citizens, 48% of the calories consumed by Canadians, and up to 30% of the calories eaten by Brazilians also typically come from these ultra-processed foods, the researchers added. And despite the rise in plant-based alternatives (some of which are highly processed, themselves) and poultry consumption — and a dip in buying and eating unprocessed red meat — another recent report noted that Americans are still eating as much processed food as they did two decades ago, particularly deli meats, sausage, hot dogs, ham and bacon.

Related: Putting less sugar in packaged foods could prevent millions of Americans from getting sick — and save the U.S. over $160 billion

But there was an interesting catch in the cognitive decline study: If the overall quality of a subject’s diet was otherwise very high (meaning they ate a lot of unprocessed whole foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean proteins), then this association between ultra-processed foods and dementia disappeared. So the good news is, you can counter consuming these often cheap and easily-accessible ultra-processed foods by cooking more at home (which can also save you money) and preparing your food with whole foods like fresh or frozen produce, whole grains and lean meats and proteins. 

“Limiting ultra-processed food consumption, particularly in middle-aged adults, may be an efficient form to prevent cognitive decline,” the researchers wrote in their findings published in the journal JAMA Neurology this week. Indeed, this aligns with what health officials such as the American Heart Association have been saying: rather than calling out “good” or “bad” individual foods, folks should focus on eating an overall healthy diet that is high in fruits and vegetables, whole grains and lean/high-fiber proteins that are minimally processed. 

Read more: No more ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ foods: 10 healthy eating ‘patterns’ to prevent heart disease and death

But brain health isn’t the only concern when it comes to ultra-processed foods. Here are four other ways that these ready-made meals and snacks can hurt your health. 

Processed foods raise your risk of heart disease

An analysis of almost 30,000 people published in the JAMA Internal Medicine journal in 2020 suggested that eating two servings of red meat and processed meat each week – such as two hot dogs or four pieces of bacon – was “significantly associated” with heart disease.

“It’s worth trying to reduce [consumption of] red meat and processed meat like pepperoni, bologna and deli meats,” wrote senior study author Norrina Allen, associate professor of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

Researchers from the University of Paris collected data on the diets and health of more than 105,000 people aged 18 and up over the course of five years for a 2019 report. They found that those who ate the most “ultra-processed” foods had a greater risk of heart attack, stroke and other cardiovascular issues.

The American Heart Association also released a new scientific statement last year focusing on overall healthy eating habits to protect your ticker, which included choosing minimally-processed foods (such as a bag of salad or roasted, unsalted nuts) rather than ultra-processed foods (such as sugary cereal, potato chips or smoked sausage) as much as possible. The dietary guidelines also recommended limiting the consumption of food and beverages with added sugars. And it suggested choosing or preparing foods with little or no salt.

Processed foods increase cancer risk

People who had a 10% higher intake of ultra-processed foods saw more than a 10% increase in risk for cancers including breast cancer, according to a 2018 study published in the peer-reviewed British Medical Journal.

So when the American Cancer Society updated its diet recommendations to prevent cancer in 2020, cutting out processed foods was high on the list – along with curbing the consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks, red meat and alcoholic beverages. The American Cancer Society recommended piling your plate with a variety of whole, unprocessed foods and vegetables, instead; particularly dark green, red and orange veggies, as well as fiber-rich legumes like beans and peas. The guide also promoted whole grains, whole fruits in a variety of colors, and overall foods that are “high in nutrients in amounts that help achieve and maintain a healthy body weight.”

Processed foods lower life expectancy 

So considering the reports suggesting processed foods are associated with a host of chronic health conditions like cancer, heart disease and dementia – not to mention obesity, as those who follow an ultra-processed diet could consume up to 500 more calories per day compared with those who consume whole foods – it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise that research has also found a link between eating these foods and early death.

Researchers at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain documented the dietary habits of more than 20,000 Spanish college graduates between 1999 and 2014. They found that people who frequently consumed heavily processed foods (as in, more than four servings of each per day) had a 62% increased risk for early death compared to those who indulged in these foods less often.

And the 2020 study that noted eating two servings of red meat and processed meat each week was linked with heart disease also found that consuming these tasty but risky foods was also “significantly associated” with death. In fact, people who ate two servings of red meat or processed meat a week — but not poultry or fish — were linked with a 3% higher risk of all causes of death.

Processed foods hurt the planet – and come back around to bite you  

Favoring the growth and production of processed foods – which often rely on the same handful of staple ingredients such as sugar cane, corn, rice and wheat – has resulted in killing off more diverse plant offerings. This impacts agrobiodiversity—or the variety and variability of animals, plants and microorganisms used directly or indirectly for food and agriculture, which affects soil health and farming’s long-run profitable resilience, according to research published in BMJ Global Health earlier this year. What’s more, producing ultra-processed food uses large quantities of land, water, energy, herbicides and fertilizers, which hurts the environment by emitting greenhouse gas and creating tons of packaging waste.

Read more: Processed foods like ramen packets and frozen pizza can hurt your heart — and the globe, study says

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Health

Ultraprocessed food may contribute to dementia, study says

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CNN
 — 

We all eat them — ultraprocessed foods such as frozen pizza and ready-to-eat meals make our busy lives much easier. Besides, they are just darn tasty — who isn’t susceptible to hot dogs, sausages, burgers, french fries, sodas, cookies, cakes, candy, doughnuts and ice cream, to name just a few?

If more than 20% of your daily calorie intake is ultraprocessed foods, however, you may be raising your risk for cognitive decline, a new study found.

That amount would equal about 400 calories a day in a 2,000-calories-a-day diet. For comparison, a small order of fries and regular cheeseburger from McDonald’s contains a total of 530 calories.

The part of the brain involved in executive functioning — the ability to process information and make decisions — is especially hard hit, according to the study published Monday in JAMA Neurology.

Men and women in the study who ate the most ultraprocessed foods had a 25% faster rate of executive function decline and a 28% faster rate of overall cognitive impairment compared with those who ate the least amount of overly processed food.

“While this is a study of association, not designed to prove cause and effect, there are a number or elements to fortify the proposition that some acceleration in cognitive decay may be attributed to ultraprocessed foods,” said Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine and nutrition, who was not involved in the study.

“The sample size is substantial, and the follow-up extensive. While short of proof, this is robust enough that we should conclude ultraprocessed foods are probably bad for our brains.”

There was an interesting twist, however. If the quality of the overall diet was high — meaning the person also ate a lot of unprocessed, whole fruits and veggies, whole grains and healthy sources of protein — the association between ultraprocessed foods and cognitive decline disappeared, Katz said.

“Ultraprocessed foods drag diet quality down, and thus their concentration in the diet is an indicator of poor diet quality in most cases,” Katz said. “Atypical as it seems, apparently some of the participants managed it. And when diet quality was high, the observed association between ultraprocessed foods and brain function abated.”

The study followed over 10,000 Brazilians for up to 10 years. Just over half of the study participants were women, White or college educated, while the average age was 51.

Cognitive testing, which included immediate and delayed word recall, word recognition and verbal fluency, was performed at the beginning and end of the study, and participants were asked about their diet.

“In Brazil, ultraprocessed foods make up 25% to 30% of total calorie intake. We have McDonald’s, Burger King, and we eat a lot of chocolate and white bread. It’s not very different, unfortunately, from many other Western countries,” coauthor Dr. Claudia Suemoto, an assistant professor in the division of geriatrics at the University of São Paulo Medical School, told CNN when the study abstract was released in August.

“Fifty-eight percent of the calories consumed by United States citizens, 56.8% of the calories consumed by British citizens, and 48% of the calories consumed by Canadians come from ultraprocessed foods,” Suemoto said.

Ultraprocessed foods are defined as “industrial formulations of food substances (oils, fats, sugars, starch, and protein isolates) that contain little or no whole foods and typically include flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers, and other cosmetic additives,” according to the study.

Those in the study who ate the most ultraprocessed foods were “more likely to be younger, women, White, had higher education and income, and were more likely to have never smoked, and less likely to be current alcohol consumers,” the study found.

In addition to the impact on cognition, ultraprocessed foods are already known to raise the risk of obesity, heart and circulation problems, diabetes, cancer and a shorter life span.

“Ultraprocessed foods in general are bad for every part of us,” said Katz, president and founder of the nonprofit True Health Initiative, a global coalition of experts dedicated to evidence-based lifestyle medicine.

Ultaprocessed foods are usually high in sugar, salt and fat, all of which promote inflammation throughout the body, which is “perhaps the most major threat to healthy aging in the body and brain,” said Dr. Rudy Tanzi, professor of neurology at Harvard Medical School and director of the genetics and aging research unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He was not involved in the study.

“Meanwhile, since they are convenient as a quick meal, they also replace eating food that is high in plant fiber that is important for maintaining the health and balance of the trillions of bacteria in your gut microbiome,” Tanzi added, “which is particularly important for brain health and reducing risk of age-related brain diseases like Alzheimer’s disease.”

How can you keep this from happening to you? If you include ultraprocessed foods in your diet, try to counter these by also eating high-quality, whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

“The conclusion suggested here is that ultraprocessed foods are, indeed, an important ‘ingredient,’ but the exposure that should be the focus of public health efforts is overall diet quality,” Katz said.

One easy way to ensure diet quality is to cook and prepare your food from scratch, Suemoto said.

“We say we don’t have time, but it really doesn’t take that much time,” Suemoto said.

“And it’s worth it because you’re going to protect your heart and guard your brain from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. That’s the take-home message: Stop buying things that are superprocessed.”

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Health

Improve memory as you age by eating more flavonols, study says

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CNN
 — 

Eating more flavonols, antioxidants found in many vegetables, fruits, tea and wine, may slow your rate of memory loss, a new study finds.

The cognitive score of people in the study who ate the most flavonols declined 0.4 units per decade more slowly than those who ate the fewest flavonols. The results held even after adjusting for other factors that can affect memory, such as age, sex and smoking, according to the study recently published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

“It’s exciting that our study shows making specific diet choices may lead to a slower rate of cognitive decline,” said study author Dr. Thomas Holland, an instructor in the department of internal medicine at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, in a statement.

“Something as simple as eating more fruits and vegetables and drinking more tea is an easy way for people to take an active role in maintaining their brain health.”

Flavonols are cytoprotective, meaning they protect cells, including neurons, so it’s plausible there could be a direct impact on cognition, said Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine and nutrition who was not involved in the study.

“But they are also a marker of higher intake of fruits and vegetables — which is good for the brain because it is good for every vital organ, and the organism as a whole,” Katz said in an email.

“They may also be a marker of better overall diet quality, or even greater health consciousness. People who are more health conscious may do things to preserve their cognition, or maybe being more health conscious is a by-product of better cognition.”

Plants contain over 5,000 flavonoid compounds, which play roles in producing cell growth, fighting environmental stress and attracting insects for pollination.

Flavonols, a type of flavonoid, have been shown in animal and some human studies to reduce inflammation, a major trigger for chronic disease, and are rich sources of antioxidants. Antioxidants combat free radicals, “highly unstable molecules that are naturally formed when you exercise and when your body converts food into energy,” according to the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, part of the National Institutes of Health.

One of the most common flavonols, quercetin, has shown promise in reducing the onset of colorectal cancer and other cancers, according to studies. Onions contain the highest levels — lower levels can be found in broccoli, blueberries, cauliflower, curly kale, leeks, spinach and strawberries.

Another common flavonol, kaempferol, appears to inhibit the growth of cancer cells while preserving and protecting normal cells. Good sources of kaempferol are onions, asparagus and berries, but the richest plant sources are spinach, kale and other green leafy vegetables, as well as herbs such as chives, dill and tarragon.

A third major player is myricetin, which has been studied in rodents for blood sugar control and the reduction of tau, a protein that causes the hallmark tangles of Alzheimer’s and other dementia. Spinach and strawberries contain high levels of myricetin, but honey, black currants, grapes and other fruits, berries, vegetables, nuts and tea are also good sources.

The last group of flavonols, isorhamnetin, may protect against cardiovascular and neurovascular disease in addition to anti-tumor and anti-inflammatory benefits. Good sources of isorhamnetin are pears, olive oil, wine and tomato sauce.

You can find a full list of the flavonoid content of various fruits and vegetables here.

The new study asked 961 people with an average age of 81 and no signs of dementia to fill out a food questionnaire each year for seven years. In addition, the participants underwent annual cognitive and memory tests and were quizzed on their time spent being physically and mentally active.

People were divided into groups based on their daily intake of flavonols. The lowest intake was about 5 milligrams a day; the highest 15 milligrams a day — equal to about a cup of dark leafy greens, the study noted. (For comparison, the average flavonol intake in US adults is about 16 to 20 milligrams per day, according to the study.)

The study looked at the impact of the four major flavonols — kaempferol, quercetin, myricetin and isorhamnetin — on the rate of cognitive decline over the seven years.

The greatest impact was found with kaempferol: People who ate the highest amounts of foods with kaempferol showed a 0.4 units per decade slower rate of cognitive decline compared with those who ate the fewest, according to the study.

Myricetin was next: People who ate the most foods with myricetin had a 0.3 units per decade slower rate of cognitive decline compared with the lowest consuming group. People who ate the most foods with quercetin showed a 0.2 units per decade slower rate of cognitive decline.

Dietary isorhamnetin had no impact, the study found.

Despite the apparent positives, studies on the impact of flavonols on human health have been inconclusive -— mainly because many are observational and cannot show a direct cause and effect. That applies to the Neurology study as well, according to its authors.

A few randomized controlled trials — the scientific gold standard — have shown benefits associated with flavonols for controlling blood sugar in type 2 diabetes and improving cardiovascular health, according to the Linus Pauling Institute, home to the Micronutrient Information Center, an online database for nutrition information.

It’s not known whether these benefits are long term, the institute said, and no clear impact has been shown for cancer prevention or cognitive protection.

“There are other bioactives that may contribute to the observed outcomes,” Katz said. “Supplemental studies are required to isolate flavonoid effects fully.”

There’s also a downside to assuming a health impact without the necessary studies to back it up, said Dr. Christopher Gardner, a research professor of medicine and director of the Nutrition Studies Research Group at Stanford University.

“You can count on Americans wanting the benefits of plants but not wanting to eat them,” he said in an email.

“(What) if people read the headline and rush out and buy bottled (extracted) flavonols instead of eating whole plant foods, and it turns out it wasn’t just the flavonols, but the package deal of everything in those plants (instead).”

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Science

SpaceX launches tomato seeds, other supplies to space station

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CNN
 — 

SpaceX is carrying a fresh haul of supplies to the International Space Station this weekend after bad weather at the launch site forced the company to wave off its first attempt.

The mission took off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida around 2:20 p.m. ET Saturday. The original liftoff date had been Tuesday.

The bounty of supplies on board includes a pair of new solar arrays for the space station, dwarf tomato seeds and a range of science experiments. There will also be treats for the astronauts on the space station, like ice cream and Thanksgiving fare like spicy green beans, cranberry apple desserts, pumpkin pie and candy corn.

The solar arrays will be installed outside the floating laboratory during spacewalks scheduled for November 29 and December 3. They will give the space station a power boost.

SpaceX has launched more than two dozen resupply missions to the space station over the past decade as part of a multibillion-dollar deal with NASA. This launch comes amid SpaceX’s busiest year to date, with more than 50 operations so far, including two astronaut missions.

The cargo on board includes a number of health-related items, such as the Moon Microscope kit. The portable handheld microscope will allow astronauts to collect and send images of blood samples to flight surgeons on the ground for diagnostics and treatment.

Nutrients are a key component of maintaining good health in space. But fresh produce is in short supply on the space station compared with the prepackaged meals astronauts eat during their six-month stays in low-Earth orbit.

“It is fairly important to our exploration goals at NASA to be able to sustain the crew with not only nutrition but also to look at various types of plants as sources for nutrients that we would be hard-pressed to sustain on the long trips between distant destinations like Mars and so forth,” said Kirt Costello, chief scientist at NASA’s International Space Station Program and a deputy manager of the ISS Research Integration Office.

Astronauts have grown and tasted different types of lettuce, radishes and chiles on the International Space Station. Now, the crew members can add some dwarf tomatoes — specifically, Red Robin tomatoes — to their list of space-grown salad ingredients.

The experiment is part of an effort to provide continuous fresh food production in space.

The dwarf tomato seeds will be grown under two different light treatments to measure the impact on the number of tomatoes that can be harvested as well as the plants’ nutritional value and taste. Red Robin tomatoes will also be grown on Earth as a control experiment. The two crops will be compared to measure the effects of a zero-gravity environment on tomato growth.

The space tomatoes will be grown inside small bags called plant pillows installed in the Vegetable Production System, known as the Veggie growth chamber, on the space station. The astronauts will frequently water and nurture the plants.

“Tomatoes will be a new adventure for us on the veggie team, trying to figure out how to keep these thirsty plants well watered without overwatering,” said Gioia Massa, NASA’s space crop production scientist and principal investigator for the tomato study.

The tomatoes will be ready for their first taste test in the spring.

The crew is expecting tomato harvests 90, 97 and 104 days after the plants begin to grow. During taste tests, the crew will rate the flavor, aroma, juiciness and texture of the tomatoes grown using the different light treatments. Half of each tomato harvest will be frozen and returned to Earth for analysis.

Growing plants on the space station not only provides the opportunity for fresh food and creative taco nights, it can also boost the mood of the crew during their long spaceflight.

Surveys will track astronauts’ moods as they care for and interact with the plants to see how nurturing the seedlings enhances the crew’s experience amid the isolation of the space station.

The hardware is still in development for larger crop production on the space station and eventually other planets, but scientists are already planning what plants might grow best on the moon and Mars. Earlier this year, a team successfully grew plants in lunar soil that included samples collected during the Apollo missions.

“Tomatoes are going to be a great crop for the moon,” Massa said. “They’re very nutritious, very delicious, and we think the astronauts will be really excited to grow them there.”

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Science

Dwarf tomato seeds will launch to ISS aboard SpaceX’s next resupply flight

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CNN
 — 

When SpaceX’s 26th commercial resupply mission launches Tuesday, it will carry a bounty of supplies, a pair of new solar arrays, dwarf tomato seeds and a range of science experiments to the International Space Station.

The mission will also deliver ice cream and Thanksgiving-style treats, including spicy green beans, cran-apple desserts, pumpkin pie and candy corn, to the space station crew.

The Dragon spacecraft is expected to lift off with its 7,700 pounds (3,493 kilograms) of cargo from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center at 3:54 p.m. ET, with live coverage available on NASA’s website beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.

The International Space Station Roll Out Solar Arrays, or iROSAs, will be installed outside the floating laboratory during spacewalks scheduled for November 29 and December 3. The solar arrays will give the space station a power boost.

The cargo includes a number of health-related items, such as the Moon Microscope kit. The portable handheld microscope will allow astronauts to collect and send images of blood samples to flight surgeons on the ground for diagnostics and treatment.

Nutrients are a key component of maintaining good health in space. But fresh produce is in short supply on the space station compared with the prepackaged meals astronauts eat during their six-month stays in low-Earth orbit.

“It is fairly important to our exploration goals at NASA to be able to sustain the crew with not only nutrition but also to look at various types of plants as sources for nutrients that we would be hard pressed to sustain on the long trips between distant destinations like Mars and so forth,” said Kirt Costello, chief scientist at NASA’s International Space Station Program and a deputy manager of the ISS Research Integration Office.

Astronauts have grown and tasted different types of lettuce, radishes and chiles on the International Space Station. Now, the crew members can add some dwarf tomatoes — specifically, Red Robin tomatoes — to their list of space-grown salad ingredients.

The experiment, known as the Pick-and-Eat Salad-Crop Productivity, Nutritional Value, and Acceptability to Supplement the ISS Food System, is part of an effort to provide continuous fresh food production in space.

The dwarf tomato seeds will be grown under two different light treatments to measure their impact on how many tomatoes can be harvested, as well as the plants’ nutritional value and taste. Red Robin tomatoes will also be grown on Earth as a control experiment. The two crops will be compared to measure the effects of the zero gravity environment on tomato growth.

The space tomatoes will be grown inside small bags called plant pillows installed in the Vegetable Production System, known as the Veggie growth chamber, on the space station. The astronauts will frequently water and nurture the plants as they grow, as well as pollinate the flowers.

“Tomatoes will be a new adventure for us on the Veggie team, trying to figure out how to keep these thirsty plants well watered without over watering,” said Gioia Massa, NASA’s space crop production scientist and principal investigator for the tomato study.

The tomatoes will be ready for their first taste test in the spring.

The crew is expecting three tomato harvests 90, 97 and 104 days after the plants begin to grow. During taste tests, the crew will rate the flavor, aroma, juiciness and texture of the tomatoes grown using the two different light treatments. Half of each tomato harvest will be frozen and returned to Earth for analysis.

Growing plants on the space station not only provides the opportunity for fresh food and creative taco nights, it can also boost the mood of the crew during their long spaceflight.

The astronauts will also take surveys to track their moods as they care for and interact with the plants to see how nurturing the seedlings enhances their experience amid the isolation and confinement of the space station.

The hardware is still in development for larger crop production on the space station and eventually other planets, but scientists are already planning what plants might grow best on the moon and Mars. Earlier this year, a team successfully grew plants in lunar soil that included samples collected during the Apollo missions.

“Tomatoes are going to be a great crop for the moon,” Massa said. “They’re very nutritious, very delicious and we think the astronauts will be really excited to grow them there.”

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Health

These simple food choices could reduce your risk of dementia

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A study published in July 2022 in Neurology, a journal from the American Academy of Neurology, suggests that eating whole foods might decrease dementia risk. The research was done on 72,083 adults over age 55 with no dementia at baseline in the UK Biobank. 

The authors investigated the association between ultra-processed foods (UPF) and dementia, where participants’ diets were evaluated based on how much UPF was consumed. The highest group had a diet of 28% UPF compared to the group with the lowest consumption of UPF at 9%.

The results implied that for every increase of 10% in the daily dietary intake of UPF, the risk of dementia increased by 25%. Conversely, replacing 10% of UPF foods with whole (unprocessed or minimally processed) foods was associated with a 19% lower risk of dementia.

“Ultra-processed foods are meant to be convenient and tasty, but they diminish the quality of a person’s diet,” said study author Huiping Li, Ph.D. of Tianjin Medical University in China. 

“These foods may also contain food additives or molecules from packaging or produced during heating, all of which have been shown in other studies to affect thinking and memory skills negatively.”

“Our research not only found that ultra-processed foods are associated with an increased risk of dementia, but it also found replacing them with healthy options may decrease dementia risk.”

More: 4 things you can do to fight dementia and improve your memory

UPF vs. whole foods

UPF is made for convenience. Think ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat. These foods are high in sugar, fat, and salt and low in protein and fiber. A few examples of UPF include fatty, sweet, savory, or salty packaged snacks. 

Also, baked products made with ingredients such as hydrogenated vegetable fat, sugar, yeast, whey, emulsifiers, and other additives, ice creams and frozen desserts, chocolates, candies, pre-prepared meals like pizza and pasta dishes, and distilled alcoholic beverages such as whisky, gin, rum and vodka. 

On the other hand, whole foods are unprocessed or minimally processed, such as fresh fruit, vegetables, fish, seafood, legumes, milk, eggs, grains, spices, meat, and fermented alcoholic beverages (think alcoholic cider and wine). 

Minimally processed foods leave the nutrients intact. This contains methods like canning, vacuum packing, and refrigeration – which extend the food item’s life, including adding vitamins and pasteurization (as in milk).

How to tell the difference?

Lena Beal, media spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, says that labeling is the answer.

“Ultra-processed foods involve baked goods, snack cakes, chips, and candy at the grocery store’s check-out counter. They also include soft drinks, sweet breakfast cereals, ice cream, mass-produced bread, and flavored yogurts.”

Beal advises, “Look at two labels: Cheetos and tortilla chips. Then, look at the long list of ingredients on the Cheetos bag compared to tortilla chips. Tortilla chips have corn, salt, and some plant seed oil, right? So, it could be safflower, sunflower, or canola. Three ingredients.” 

Related: Want to slow, delay or reverse dementia? Try this classic game.

Why are UPFs so popular in the U.S.?

“Two words: convenience and cost,” says Beal. In the U.S., UPF consumption increased from 53.5% of calories (2001-2002) to 57% (2017-2018). During the same period, whole food consumption decreased from 32.7% to 27.4% of calories.

According to Beal, “Americans eat 31% more packaged food than fresh foods than nearly any other country. Ultra-processed food comes from substances extracted from food through processes like milling or extrusion with added ingredients. They are highly manipulated and take on more of a chemical presence than food.”

The perceived convenience and the cost of UPF play a factor in their popularity. Not to mention advertising. Marketing UPF makes them seem delicious and harmless, but learning to read nutritional labels is essential.

In addition, choosing to eat healthier might entail prepping your meals at home. Why? Because it can be a special time shared with family or a partner as well as a nutritious path to adding more fruits and vegetables (fresh, pre-cut, or flash-frozen) to one’s diet. 

When it comes to wholesome go-to’s, “use nuts (full of Omega-3s for heart and brain health), raisins, and dark chocolate to make a trail mix,” suggests Beal. “Seeds, nuts, cut-up fruits, and vegetables are nature’s fast food. Make a smoothie out of fresh fruit and dairy. Use peanut butter on celery sticks.”

Traveling and eating out

Beal suggests asking for condiments and dressings on the side when dining out. For instance, choose a sauce you can see through instead of cream sauce. Also, order baked meat or fish instead of fried, skip the pre-meal bread or eat less of it (whole wheat is also a better alternative to white bread).

Lastly, when traveling, locating a grocery store near where you are staying will make finding whole foods easier than getting all your food from restaurants.

Related: This is now the No. 1 preventable cause of Alzheimer’s in America

The bottom line

Good news! You are in charge of your diet. So each time you choose what to eat or drink, ask yourself: what is the best, minimally processed, healthy choice for nutrition?

Learning to evaluate food labels and ingredients is critical. Begin to prepare food at home and opt for small healthy lifestyle changes to improve how you age and feel your best.

Rebecca Myers, MSN, RN is a freelance health journalist with over 15 years of nursing experience (including critical care, vascular access, and education). Through her writing, Rebecca has a passion for uplifting others and helping them live their healthiest lives. She lives with her husband outside Houston, and they enjoy spending time at the beach together.

This article is reprinted by permission from NextAvenue.org, © 2022 Twin Cities Public Television, Inc. All rights reserved.

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