How Ultra-Processed Foods Diminish Your Ability To Focus

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have a well-earned bad reputation. And yet, most of us still consume at least some, and many people meet the criteria for ultra-processed food addiction.

Now, some UPFs are healthy in moderation. See for example: Not all ultra-processed foods are bad for your health, whatever you might have heard

But we said the bad reputation was well-earned, and that was true. For example: How Likely Is It That Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) Will Kill You?

…which is quite dire.

So what’s this about ultra-processed foods stealing our focus?

The other kind of “brain drain”

The good news: based on recent research (by Dr. Barbara Cardoso et al.), ultra-processed food intake doesn’t seem to affect memory.

The bad news: it (adversely!) effects every other measure of cognitive function tested, and most of all, diminishes focus.

Dr. Cardoso and her team followed 2,192 people aged 40–70 without dementia to examine the impact of diet on cognitive performance.

The main finding: increasing intake of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) was linked to a measurable decline in attention span, even when overall diet quality was otherwise healthy.

In particular, a 10% increase in UPFs was associated with noticeably poorer performance on tests of visual attention and processing speed.

❝To put our findings in perspective, a 10 per cent increase in UPFs is roughly equivalent to adding a standard packet of chips to your daily diet.

For every 10 per cent increase in ultra-processed food a person consumed, we saw a distinct and measurable drop in a person’s ability to focus. 

In clinical terms, this translated to consistently lower scores on standardised cognitive tests measuring visual attention and processing speed.❞

~ Dr. Barbara Cardoso

As for how this happens, Dr. Barbara Cardoso explained that ultra-processing can damage the natural structure of food and introduce additives or chemicals, suggesting cognitive effects go beyond simply lacking “healthy” nutrients. We’ve covered that idea before at 10almonds*, too, so it’s nice to see such a lot of new data backing it up as well.

For example:

• The Preservatives That Increase Diabetes Risk
• The Common Food Preservatives That Are Linked To Cancer

If you’d like to read Dr. Cardoso’s paper in full, here it is: Ultra-processed food intake, cognitive function, and dementia risk: A cross-sectional study of middle-aged and older Australian adults

Want to improve your own dietary habits?

First, it’s good to be well-informed. Reading 10almonds is a great start! Of course, we can’t cover every product in your local supermarket though, so check out this:

How Processed Is The Food You Buy, Really? ← includes a huge, free database!

If you prefer a short hit-list, then here you go: Top 10 Unhealthy Foods: How Many Do You Eat?

And if you know which UPFs you want to cut out, but knowing isn’t the problem, then here’s our main feature on how to do that: When It’s More Than “Just” Cravings: How To Beat Food Addictions!

Want to learn more?

You might like this book we reviewed a little while back:

Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind The Food That Isn’t Food – by Dr. Chris van Tulleken

…and/or as a next step,

Unprocess Your Life: Break Free From Ultra-Processed Foods For Good – by Rob Hobson ← Rob Hobson is not a doctor, but he is a nutritionist with half the alphabet after his name (BSc, PGDip, MSc, AFN, SENR) and decades of experience in the field.

Take care!