Ultraprocessed Foods Linked to Measurable Drops in Human Attention Span
Researchers found that every 10% increase in ultraprocessed food intake linked to measurable declines in attention performance, even in adults without dementia
Attention problems such as brain fog, distractibility, slower thinking, and mental fatigue often appear long before obvious memory loss and may reflect early metabolic stress in the brain
The study found that ultraprocessed foods harmed attention independently of overall diet quality, suggesting that industrial food processing itself creates biological stress beyond poor nutrition alone
Researchers identified inflammation, unstable blood sugar, impaired cellular energy production, and cardiometabolic dysfunction as major pathways linking ultraprocessed foods to higher dementia risk
Removing seed oils [ soybean, corn, canola, sunflower, and safflower] and packaged ultraprocessed foods while rebuilding your diet around whole foods, healthy carbohydrates, movement, and sunlight helps restore steadier energy, sharper focus, and better long-term brain resilience
I always wonder about this. There are three ultra processed foods that I eat frequently: smoked tofu, oat milk, and gummy bears (specifically Katjes Tropenfrüchte, which don’t even have the protein that gelatin based gummies have). Obviously nonsmoked tofu would be better, but could the first two really be anywhere close to as harmful as the last?
Oat milk can't be that ultraprocessed. It wouldn't have many (or any) artificial ingredients and is not fried 😆 in unhealthy fats. Btw, you can make oat milk yourself from organic rolled oats. Not difficult, have a look online. Unless you're eating a lot of gummy bears every day I don't think you have a lot to worry about if the rest of your diet is healthy.
I know it’s not that unhealthy, but I buy it with preservatives and stabilizers, etc. I could make it (and used to make it), but it’s currently so hot and humid where I am that my cat’s litter box grew mold in the 24 hours between cleanings*. I just don’t have the fridge space for anything else, because we have to keep basically everything cold. And freshly made oat milk sucks 🫠
/* I seriously want to rant about how ridiculous this is. I know feces is obviously fertile ground, but a matrix of mold grew through the clumps of urine soaked litter itself. Granted, I intentionally use biodegradable litter but shouldn’t cat pee have enough ammonia to be inhibitive to fungus for at least 24 hours?