Fast food

Ultra-processed foods – like cookies, chips, frozen meals and fast food – may contribute to cognitive decline

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Scientists have known for years that unhealthy diets – particularly those that are high in fat and sugar – may cause detrimental changes to the brain and lead to cognitive impairment.

Many factors that contribute to cognitive decline are out of a person’s control, such as genetics and socioeconomic factors. But ongoing research increasingly indicates that a poor diet is a risk factor for memory impairments during normal aging and increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

But when evaluating how some diets may erode brain health as we age, research on the effects of consuming minimally processed versus ultra-processed foods has been scant – that is, until now.

Two recent large-scale studies suggest that eating ultra-processed foods may exacerbate age-related cognitive decline and increase the risk of developing dementia. In contrast, another recent study reported that ultra-processed food consumption was not associated with worse cognition in people over 60.

Although more research is needed, as a neuroscientist who researches how diet can influence cognition later in life, I find that these early studies add a new layer for considering how fundamental nutrition is to brain health.

Lots of ingredients, minimal nutrition

Ultra-processed foods tend to be lower in nutrients and fiber and higher in sugar, fat and salt compared to unprocessed or minimally processed foods. Some examples of ultra-processed foods include soda, packaged cookies, chips, frozen meals, flavored nuts, flavored yogurt, distilled alcoholic beverages and fast foods. Even packaged breads, including those high in nutritious whole grains, qualify as ultra-processed in many cases because of the additives and preservatives they contain.

Another way to look at it: You are not likely to find the ingredients that make up most of these foods in your home kitchen.

But don’t confuse ultra-processed with processed foods, which still retain most of their natural characteristics, although they’ve undergone some form of processing – like canned vegetables, dried pasta or frozen fruit. A look at three categories of foods.

Parsing the research

In a December 2022 study, researchers compared the rate of cognitive decline over approximately eight years between groups of people that consumed different amounts of ultra-processed foods.

At the beginning of the study, over 10,000 participants living in Brazil reported their dietary habits from the previous 12 months. Then, for the ensuing years, the researchers evaluated the cognitive performance of the participants with standard tests of memory and executive function.

Those who ate a diet containing more ultra-processed foods at the start of the study showed slightly more cognitive decline compared with those that ate little to no ultra-processed foods. This was a relatively modest difference in the rate of cognitive decline between experimental groups. It is not yet clear if the small difference in cognitive decline associated with higher consumption of ultra-processed foods will have a meaningful effect at the level of an individual person.

The second study, with about 72,000 participants in the U.K., measured the association between eating ultra-processed foods and dementia. For the group eating the highest amounts of ultra-processed foods, approximately 1 out of 120 people were diagnosed with dementia over a 10-year period. For the group that consumed little to no ultra-processed foods, this number was 1 out of 170.

Research examining the relationship between health and ultra-processed foods uses the NOVA classification, which is a categorization system based on the type and extent of industrial food processing. Some nutritionists have criticized the NOVA classification for not having clear definitions of food processing, which could lead to misclassification. They also argue that the potential health risks from consuming ultra-processed foods could be explained by low levels of fiber and nutrients and high levels of fat, sugar and salt in the diet rather than the amount of processing.

Many ultra-processed foods are high in additives, preservatives or coloring agents, while also having other features of an unhealthy diet, such as being low in fiber and nutrients. Thus, it is unclear if eating food that has undergone more processing has an additional negative impact on health beyond low diet quality.

For example, you could eat a burger and fries from a fast food chain, which would be high in fat, sugar and salt as well as being ultra-processed. You could make that same meal at home, which could also be high in fat, sugar and salt but would not be ultra-processed. More research is needed to determine whether one is worse than the other.

Brain-healthy diets

Even when the processes that lead to dementia are not occurring, the aging brain undergoes biochemical and structural changes that are associated with worsening cognition.

But for adults over the age of 55, a healthier diet could increase the likelihood of maintaining better brain function. In particular, the Mediterranean diet and ketogenic diet are associated with better cognition in advanced age.

The Mediterranean diet emphasizes the consumption of plant-based foods and healthy fats, like olive oil, seeds and nuts. The ketogenic diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates, with the primary fiber source being from vegetables. Both diets minimize or eliminate the consumption of sugar.

Our research and the work of others show that both diets can reverse some of these changes and improve cognitive function – possibly by reducing harmful inflammation.

Although inflammation is a normal immune response to injury or infection, chronic inflammation can be detrimental to the brain. Studies have shown that excess sugar and fat can contribute to chronic inflammation, and ultra-processed foods might also exacerbate harmful inflammation.

Another way that diet and ultra-processed foods may influence brain health is through the gut-brain axis, which is the communication that occurs between the brain and the gut microbiome, or the community of microorganisms that live in the digestive tract.

Not only does the gut microbiome help with digestion, but it also influences the immune system, while producing hormones and neurotransmitters that are critical for brain function.

Studies have shown that the ketogenic and Mediterranean diets change the composition of microorganisms in the gut in ways that benefit the person. Ultra-processed food consumption is also associated with alterations in the type and abundance of gut microorganisms that have more harmful effects. There’s a war going on in your gut: good bacteria versus bad bacteria.

The uncertainties

Disentangling the specific effects of individual foods on the human body is difficult, in part because maintaining strict control over people’s diets to study them over long periods of time is problematic. Moreover, randomized controlled trials, the most reliable type of study for establishing causality, are expensive to carry out.

So far, most nutritional studies, including these two, have only shown correlations between ultra-processed food consumption and health. But they cannot rule out other lifestyle factors such as exercise, education, socioeconomic status, social connections, stress and many more variables that may influence cognitive function.

This is where lab-based studies using animals are incredibly useful. Rats show cognitive decline in old age that parallels humans. It’s easy to control rodent diets and activity levels in a laboratory. And rats go from middle to old age within months, which shortens study times.

Lab-based studies in animals will make it possible to determine if ultra-processed foods are playing a key role in the development of cognitive impairments and dementia in people. As the world’s population ages and the number of older adults with dementia increases, this knowledge cannot come soon enough.

Did You Eat Fast Food Today? 1 in 3 of Us Did

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Americans’ love affair with fast food continues, with 1 in every 3 adults chowing down on the fare on any given day.

That’s the finding from a new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. When asked by researchers, 37 percent of adults said they’d eaten fast food at least once over the past 24 hours.

There was one surprise: Bucking the notion that poorer Americans favor fast food the most, the report found that intake actually rose with income.

For example, while about 32 percent of lower-income folks ate fast food daily, more than 36 percent of middle-income consumers had fast food on a given day, as did 42 percent of those with higher incomes, the report found.

Whatever your income bracket, fast food probably isn’t doing your health any favors. That’s because it “has been associated with increased intake of calories, fat and sodium,” the CDC team said.

All that adds up to widening waistlines and hardening arteries, one nutritionist warned.

“Most fast food is not good for our bodies,” said Liz Weinandy, a registered dietitian at Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center.

“The more of it we eat, the more likely we are to be overweight or obese and have increased risk for several diseases like type 2 diabetes, heart disease and metabolic syndrome when talking to patients,” she said.

Too often, though, Americans ignore the danger.

“When we see news clips of a shark swimming near a beach, it scares us into not going near that beach,” Weinandy said. But “what we should be scared of is double cheeseburgers, french fries and large amounts of sugary beverages.”

The new report was led by Cheryl Fryar of the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. Her team tracked data from in-person government surveys conducted with thousands of U.S. adults between 2013 and 2016. People were asked to recall what they’d eaten in the past 24 hours.

The report found that Americans tend to taper off fast foods as they age. While about 45 percent of people in their 20s and 30s said they’d eaten fast food over the prior day, that number dropped to just under 38 percent for people in their 40s and 50s, and about 24 percent for people aged 60 and older, the study found.

Blacks were more likely to have eaten fast food on a given day than whites (roughly 42 percent vs. 38 percent, respectively), while 35.5 percent of Hispanics and 31 percent of Asian-Americans did so. Men tended to eat more fast food than women, Fryar’s group said.

Black men were the most avid consumers of fast food — almost 42 percent had eaten the fare over the past day, the report found.

Melanie Boehmer is a registered dietitian at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. Reading over the report, she said, “On any given day, over one-third of Americans consume fast food — that’s a lot of Big Macs and pizza.”

“These findings remind us that fast food companies have figured out a way to conveniently fit into our daily routine, despite their [products’] negative health implications,” Boehmer said.

She believes that policymakers, doctors and health food advocates need to “beat fast food companies at their own game” in order to turn things around.

“If we can offer healthier options that are just as convenient and just as affordable and just as delicious, then it’s a win for everybody,” Boehmer said.

Weinandy agreed that America has to wean itself off its fast food habit.

“There is no reason to completely avoid fast food, but it shouldn’t be consumed regularly,” she said. “You may want to ask yourself how often you’re currently eating it and then cut that number in half if it’s more than once a week.”

The new report was published Oct. 3 as an National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief.

MealSquares: A New Era of Healthy Fast Food?

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IN BRIEF

The fast-paced nature of modern society has lead to an increase in fast food and, thus, an increase in obesity. MealSquares is trying to fix this problem by revolutionizing the very nature of fast food.

A MODERN DILEMMA

It’s no great secret that the United States has a bit of a problem with obesity. Some 78 million adults and some 13 million children in the U.S. face obesity. And sadly, America isn’t alone. A number of countries have similar problems when it comes to healthy nutrition; it seems to come part and parcel with our modern industrial way of living.

Increasingly, individuals aren’t sitting down for a meal, but grabbing a Big Mac or McChicken sandwich as they jet off to (yet another) meeting or event. We need fast food to complement our fast paced lifestyle. But just in case you didn’t know, fast food isn’t exactly healthy.

That’s where MealSquares comes in.

THE NEXT ERA OF FAST FOOD?

Image credit: MealSquares

MealSquares, simply put, is an all-in-one meal for someone on the go. And unlike some other meal replacement options, it isn’t loaded with tons of added sugar. As the company’s website asserts, it has “more protein per calorie than a Big Mac, less sugar than a banana.”

In this respect, MealSquares stands apart from some other brands.

For example, as MealSquare’s co-founder John Maxwell states, “despite pretending to be a healthy snack, a chocolate chip Clif Bar actually has slightly more sugar on a per-calorie basis than a Hershey’s bar with almonds in it.” To clarify, Clif Bar states that their product is “wholesome, organic ingredients. Performance nutrition.” However, it is ultimately billed as an energy bar—something to give you a boost of energy with a boost of sugar.

This is not what MealSquares is. It’s not an ‘energy bar’ but a ‘meal bar.’

To that end, it is meant to be a “nutritionally complete meal replacement.” Maxwell summarizes, stating, “You have all your healthy options, and you have all your fast options, and there really aren’t that many things that are healthy and fast. That’s what we’re trying to do.”

He continues by clarifying exactly what it meant by the term “nutritionally complete:” “MealSquares doesn’t just improve on Clif Bar by cutting down on sugar….five MealSquares a day gets you 100% of all your daily recommended vitamins and minerals, through a carefully chosen combination of whole food ingredients.”

That said, Maxwell is quick to clarify that MealSquares isn’t meant to entirely replace your current diet. Indeed, he notes that there are a number of things about nutrition that scientists don’t quite understand yet, stating, “there are a lot of indicators that we don’t have completely figured out.”

To that end, you shouldn’t throw out the bread and dairy just yet.

MealSquares nutritional information.
MealSquares nutritional information.

“MealSquares is engineered so that you can subsist off of nothing but MealSquares; however, our official recommendation is that you don’t do that.” Romeo Stevens, an independent health researcher and MealSquare’s co-founder, adds. He continues, “it’s the difference between thinking in terms of ‘what is the optimal human diet’ versus ‘an improvement on your current diet’….Soylent presented themselves as the optimal diet, and that’s a hard position. You’re always going to be falling short of that mythical optimum, because we [nutritional scientists] don’t even 100% understand it.”

Thus, it is about replacing poor quality meals with something higher quality. Not living entirely off of the product. And indeed, the human body is absurdly complex. To date, nothing about our biology is understood 100%. So it is about improving where you can, not finding some ultimate answer to the perfect diet.

To Sum: Only have 5 minutes to grab lunch? Then maybe try a MealSquare instead of that large McDonald’s fries. Going hiking for the day or have a super long plane flight? Throw a few MealSquares in your bag to keep you going, but don’t make them your entire bread and butter (pun intended).

SO. WHAT’S IT LIKE TO EAT ONE?

When MealSquares arrived, the first thing that I noticed was that the things seem to be super-vacuum sealed, which is rather handy, I suppose. Since there is no excess air, it means less space will be taken up in your bag (and if you are going for a hike or plan on carrying one in your bag as you rush about for work, every centimeter of space matters).

MealSquares. KellyChow
MealSquares. Image Credit: KellyChow

Unfortunately, it looked a little like a shrink-wrapped CD, and as we all know, CDs are notoriously tedious to open. So I grabbed my trusty scissors and went to slice in. However, I realized that most of the people eating MealSquares likely wouldn’t have scissors handy. So I put them down and tried to open the bag with my hands.

Tada! It opened with a light tug [Edit: Maxwell adds that the final product will have different packaging, so no worries in this regard either way].

The bread smells rather like banana bread (I like banana bread, so that’s a good thing). The company tells you that it is best warmed up in microwave, as the bread is a little dry. They also suggest adding butter or Nutella or something to moisten it. But who has a microwave when hiking and such? Probably no one. So I tried it cold and plain.

It was actually pretty good. It’s probably not something that I will ever crave (like nachos, or what-have-you), but it tastes like a good, thick bread. A little reminiscent of banana bread, but much heartier.

Anyways, they are right, it is a bit dry. So I tried it warmed up with some butter, and it was likewise quite pleasant. Want to give them a try yourself? You are in luck. They are currently in Beta testing, and they are looking for feedback.

Source: Futurism..com

The ‘mystery ingredients’ in fast food are actually industrial chemicals

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Many people are aware of how bad fast food is for them – or at least, they kind of are. But the faults in fast food do not lie solely in the exorbitant calories, excess fat and copious use of salt and sugar. In fact, it turns out that these aspects may indeed be the more innocent parts of the dangers inherent in the fast food industry.

Fast food is surely not nutritionally sound (far from it), but there are many other secret ingredients lurking in those meat-shaped patties, and most of them are hidden because  people would not eat the food if they knew what was actually in it .

 Image: The ‘mystery ingredients’ in fast food are actually industrial chemicals

MSG, or monosodium glutamate, is a perfect example of this. While there are many people who will concede that MSG is harmful to  some people, they insist that it is not harmful to the majority. But, as  Food Renegade discusses, it is a cumulative compound, which means it can build up in your body over time. Even if you aren’t sensitive to it now, if you consume it regularly, eventually you will be. MSG is associated with a lot of side effects, including headaches. In fact, research has shown that it can even cause brain damage and lead to neurological disorders.

No one uses that stuff anymore though, right? Wrong. In fact, nearly every item on the KFC menu contains MSG, except for desserts and drinks. It is not uncommon for MSG to even be used in salads in the fast food industry. In addition, MSG has a host of alternative names that we should all be on the lookout for, including “yeast extract” and “hydrolized soy protein.”

High fructose corn syrup is another star of fast food and convenience items alike. While many people associate this ingredient with sweets like sodas and apple pies, HFCS is also added to salad dressings and other items. Despite claims that HFCS is “just like regular sugar,” evidence indicates that this is not true. As Natural News reports, “[T]his substance does not stimulate insulin secretion or reduce the hunger hormone ghrelin, people continue to eat while the body converts what they consume into fat.”

As a result of the growing concerns about HFCS, many manufacturers have taken to renaming HFCS with more innocent-sounding terms, such as “corn sugar.”

Another of the toxic ingredients hiding in your favorite fast food items is dimethylpolysiloxane, an anti-foaming agent with a variety of uses that are not at all food-related. For example, dimethylpolysiloxane is used in caulk, sealants and Silly Putty. It’s also featured in multiple items from McDonald’s, KFC and Wendy’s.

Of course, this just the beginning. There are many other harmful additives in fast foods. Sodium benzoate, sodium aluminum phosphate and acrylamide are just a few of the things you can find in your favorite takeaway meals. Next time you think you want a cheeseburger, do yourself a favor and make it yourself.

Eating fast food linked to significantly higher phthalate levels.

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Fast food

If the fat, salt and calories in fast food weren’t enough, how about a mouthful of phthalates?

A study from the Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) at George Washington University found that people who reported eating more fast food were exposed to higher levels of phthalates.

We’ve been talking about phthalates for years here – this group of chemicals is used to soften and increase the flexibility of plastic and vinyl, and they have been setting off alarm bells for their broad range of potential ill-health effects. In 2008 Congress banned the use of phthalates in the production of children’s toys because of concerns about them, but they still run rampant in hundreds of consumer products.

While there has long been concern about phthalates leaching into food from packaging, this new research is the first to look at eating fast-food and exposure levels. The researchers analyzed data from almost 9,000 participants who answered detailed questions about what they ate in the past 24 hours; they also provided researchers with a urinary sample. Tested for the breakdown products of two specific phthalates, DEHP and DiNP, the results were grim.

“People who ate the most fast food had phthalate levels that were as much as 40 percent higher,” says lead author Ami Zota, ScD, MS, an assistant professor of environmental and occupational health at Milken Institute SPH. “Our findings raise concerns because phthalates have been linked to a number of serious health problems in children and adults.”

According to the FDA, exposure to DEHP (di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate) has “produced a range of adverse effects in experimental animals, but those of greatest concern involve effects on the development of the testicles and the production of normal sperm in young animals.” In California it is listed as a chemical known to cause reproductive toxicity for the developmental and male reproductive endpoints, as per the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) of the California EPA. Meanwhile, DiNP is listed by OEHHA as a chemical that is “clearly shown, through scientifically valid testing according to generally accepted principles, to cause cancer.”

Not surprisingly, Zota and the team discovered that the more fast food study participants ate, the higher the exposure to phthalates was. Those who ate the most fast food had 23.8 percent higher levels of the breakdown product for DEHP in their urine sample and nearly 40 percent higher levels of DiNP metabolites in their urine compared to people who reported no fast food in the period prior to the testing, according to the study.

Grain and meat products seemed to be the worst offenders – the grain category included a wide variety of items including bread, cake, pizza, burritos, rice dishes and noodles.

More research to conclusively link phthalates in fast food and specific health problems could take years to conduct, says Zota. It’s slippery research that has been slow in coming. But in the meantime, could it really hurt to limit fast food consumption?

“People concerned about this issue can’t go wrong by eating more fruits and vegetables and less fast food,” Zota says. “A diet filled with whole foods offers a variety of health benefits that go far beyond the question of phthalates.”

The Surprising Ways in Which Fast Food and Its Packaging Harms Your Health

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A number of common chemicals are potent endocrine disruptors, meaning, they disrupt your hormone function. Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) are similar in structure to your natural sex hormones, such as estrogen.

soda-may-age-you-fb

These chemicals can potentially interfere with normal physiology, even in extremely small amounts. Your endocrine glands regulate vital physiological processes such as metabolism, reproduction, growth, and development.

A hormone’s job is to help regulate your cell’s function, sending signals that instruct them to perform certain tasks, but EDCs interfere with proper hormone signaling.

Endocrine disrupting chemicals, such as bisphenol-A (BPA), can mimic your natural hormones, tricking your body into increasing or decreasing hormone production or blocking hormone signals by binding to cell receptors. Therefore, compounds that interfere with these vital processes can produce profound effects.

Bisphenol-A (BPA) is one well-known endocrine disruptor, and according to recent research, a chain of events that occur probably millions of times each day across the US actually maximizes the harm done by these chemicals. As reported by Time Magazine:[1]

“According to a new study[2]… people who used hand sanitizer, touched a cash register receipt and then ate French fries were quickly exposed to high levels of bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical widely used to coat receipt paper.” [Emphasis mine]

Triclosan, Receipts, and Greasy Fingers Maximizes Chemical Exposure

All of these things: triclosan (the active ingredient in many hand sanitizers), bisphenols (both BPA and BPS), and vegetable oils are harmful to your health in isolation.

The featured research now shows that when combined, you create a situation in which your body absorbs the greatest amounts of toxin possible… First of all, absorption of BPA via your skin promotes higher levels of biologically active BPA in your body, compared to ingesting it via contaminated food.

“When scientists added in two other factors—scrubbing hands with hand sanitizer and eating greasy food—the evidence points to a super-sized dose of BPA,” Time Magazine notes.

’The chemicals used to make hand sanitizers, soaps, lotions, and sunscreen degrade the skin’s ability to act as a barrier and so act as skin penetration enhancers,’ says [study author] vom Saal.

So BPA enters the body more efficiently than it would otherwise. Food grease and other oils can act similarly because BPA itself is fat-soluble…”

Remarkably, absorption of BPA occurred in people holding a receipt for as little as TWO SECONDS! According to the author of the study, the amounts of BPA absorption found in his research “are in a zone where effects associated with obesity, diabetes, and neurological effects can result.”

Past research also suggests caution is warranted when handling receipts, even if you only hold them long enough to put them in your wallet. A 2010 study in Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry[3] found that of 13 thermal printing papers analyzed, 11 contained BPA.

In that study, holding the paper for five seconds was enough to transfer BPA to a person’s skin, and the amount of BPA transferred increased by about 10 times if their fingers were wet or greasy (such as if you’ve just applied lotion or eaten greasy food).

So far, laws have been passed in a dozen US states banning BPA from a variety of products, primarily products intended for children, such as baby bottles and sippy cups. Connecticut is the only state that has banned BPA in cash receipts.

Other Hazardous Chemicals in Fast Food Packaging

Another hazard associated with fast food relates to the packaging used. While American manufacturers have ceased using perchlorate and perfluorocarboxylates (PFCs) in non-stick food wrappers and take-out boxes, many restaurants are using imported boxes and wrappers.

These may still contain these hazardous chemicals. Research has shown that PFC’s can cause:[4][5]

  • Infertility — PFOA and PFOS have been shown to dramatically increase the odds of infertility. In one 2009 study, PFOS increased the risk of infertility anywhere from 70 to 134 percent, while PFOA was linked to a 60 to 154 percent increase in the chance of infertility.
  • Thyroid disease — Another study published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives found that PFOA can damage your thyroid function. Individuals with the highest PFOA concentrations were more than twice as likely to report current thyroid disease, compared to those with the lowest PFOA concentrations.
  • Cancer — PFOA has been associated with tumors in at least four different organs in animal tests (liver, pancreas, testicles, and mammary glands in rats), and has been associated with increases in prostate cancer in PFOA plant workers. The EPA has ruled PFCs as “likely carcinogens,” and has stated that PFOA “poses developmental and reproductive risks to humans.”
  • Immune system problems — Several studies by scientists in Sweden indicate that PFCs have an adverse effect on your immune system. As described in the EWG report on PFCs, PFOA was found to decrease all immune cell subpopulations studied, in the thymus and spleen, and caused immunosupression.
  • Increased LDL cholesterol levels – A study in the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine found that children and teens with higher PFOA levels had higher levels of total cholesterol and LDL or “bad” cholesterol, while PFOS was associated with increased total cholesterol, including both LDL cholesterol and HDL or “good” cholesterol.

For more information on the studies linking PFCs with various health problems, please review the Environmental Working Groups extensive report[6] on this topic.

In response to concerns that PFCs are still reaching consumers via imported fast food packaging, a petition created by consumer and health groups was recently filed[7] with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), requesting the agency pass regulations to “close this loophole and clearly ban the chemicals in food production.”

Soda Ages You as Much as Smoking, Researchers Claim

In related news, research published in the American Journal of Public Health[8] claims that drinking soda on a daily basis ages your immune cells to a degree similar to that of a daily smoking habit. To reach this conclusion, the researchers studied the effect of sugary sodas on human telomeres.

Every cell in your body contains a nucleus, and inside the nucleus are the chromosomes that contain your genes. The chromosome is made up of two “arms,” and each arm contains a single molecule DNA. A typical DNA molecule is about 100 million bases long. It’s curled up like a slinky, extending from one end of the chromosome to the other.

At the very tip of each arm of the chromosome is where you’ll find the telomere. Your telomeres shorten with time because they cannot replicate completely each time the cell divides. Hence, as you get older, your telomeres get shorter and shorter. As noted by Time Magazine:[9]

“Shorter telomeres have been linked to health detriments like shorter lifespans and more stress, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer… [Study author Elissa Epel, PhD] and her team analyzed data from 5,309 adults in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from about 14 years ago.

They found that people who drank more sugary soda tended to have shorter telomeres. Drinking an 8-ounce daily serving of soda corresponded to 1.9 years of additional aging, and drinking a daily 20-ounce serving was linked to 4.6 more years of aging.

The latter, the authors point out, is exactly the same association found between telomere length and smoking… ‘The extremely high dose of sugar that we can put into our body within seconds by drinking sugared beverages is uniquely toxic to metabolism,’ she says.”

The Not-So-Sweet Truth About Artificial Sweeteners

Another toxic hazard inherent with processed foods is artificial sweeteners,[10] which I’ve discussed in many previous articles. Most recently, a study published in the journalNature[11]  concluded that artificial sweeteners induce glucose intolerance by altering the microbial balance in your gut. This in turn raises your risk for diabetes. Other studies have found similar results, raising serious questions about the wisdom of recommending artificial sweeteners for diabetics.

One 2012 study published in PLOS One[12] found that chronic lifetime exposure toaspartame, commencing in utero, produces changes in blood glucose parameters in mice. The researchers used a dosage of aspartame that approximates the allowable daily intake (ADI) for aspartame in the US (approx. 50 mg/kg body weight). Not only was aspartame found to decrease insulin sensitivity compared to controls, it also wrought havoc on brain function.

As I’ve mentioned on countless occasions, optimizing your insulin sensitivity is key for optimal health, as insulin resistance is a hallmark of virtually every chronic disease you can think of, but especially type 2 diabetes. Now, contrary to popular belief, aspartame is being revealed as a substance that actually decreases or worsens insulin sensitivity, which is the complete opposite of what you want—especially if you’re already pre-diabetic or diabetic!

Male mice fed aspartame also experienced significantly higher weight gain compared to the control group, whereas female weight gain was unaffected by the aspartame diet compared to controls. Still, deposits of visceral fat—those dangerous fat deposits around internal organs, which are associated with an increased risk of heart disease in humans—increased in aspartame-fed mice of both sexes. Aspartame-fed mice of both sexes also had elevated fasting blood glucose levels compared to non-consumers of aspartame. Another study published in 2007 in the journal Diabetes Care[13] reported similar results.

The fact that aspartame can alter your microbial balance has also been demonstrated in previous studies. One such study published in the journal Clinical and Experimental Rheumatology[14] revealed a potential link between aspartame and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Sucralose (Splenda), which is associated with many of the same adverse effects as aspartame, has also been found to decimate your gut flora. In fact, research published in theJournal of Toxicology and Environmental Health[15] in 2008 found that Splenda reduces the amount of good bacteria in your intestines by 50 percent!

Fast Food Nutrition Shows Little Change, Still Have High Levels Of Calories, Salt, And Saturated Fat

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Fast food burger
The fast food industry has publicized its effort to offer healthier foods on menus, but data shows there’s been little, if any, nutritional change. 

The fast food industry has been making an effort to include healthier options on its menus since 1996, but a new study from Tufts University suggests they should try harder.

Tufts’ researchers surveyed the nutrition content of cheeseburgers, French fries, grilled chicken sandwiches, and soda (all popular items) to see what kind of change, if any, fast food outlets have put into motion. While portion size, calories, and trans fat have greatly reduce, salt and saturated fat are still high. And of the 56 percent of items that have been reduced in calories, the remaining 44 percent have seen increases.

Fast foods consumed separately are healthier than consuming fast foods together as a complete meal. According to Alice Lichtenstein, lead study author, this is where it gets problematic. She and her team cited prior research that found a cheeseburger with French fries and a soda accounts for 80 percent of a person’s daily recommended calorie intake, and 139 percent of their salt intake.

“That does not leave much wiggle room for the rest of the day,” Lichtenstein said.

Fast food pizza is a prime example of how some fast food chains have had worsening nutrition over the years. A recent survey found the meat lover’s option served at UK Pizza Hut locations exceeds the daily recommended amount of salt five times over — the equivalent of seven Big Macs. And across the country, salt has increased in both delivery and store-bought pizza.

The lack of balanced fast food nutrition raises a specific set of problems for children. A studypublished in Clinical Pediatrics found increased fast food consumption impedes their educational attainment. In fact, children who regularly eat these foods perform worse on reading, match, and science tests. Fast food has an equally negative impact on adults, too, encouraging consumers to eat 57 percent more calories than they should. One study suggests an adult’s fast food habit can be passed through their DNA and to their future children.

But, Lichtenstein said there’s time for chains to get it right. And the fact that some chains were able to balance their nutritional content means other chains, and the industry as a whole, are capable of doing the same.

“For this reason, our findings strongly suggest that public health efforts promoting reduction of calories and over-consumed nutrients need to shift from emphasizing small, medium, and large portion sizes, to additional factors such as actual number of calories and the nutrient content of the items, as is increasingly becoming available at point of purchase,” Lichtenstein said. “A 100-calorie difference per day can mean about a 10-pound weight change per year.”

Source: Urban LE, Roberts SB, Fierstein JL, Gary CE, Lichtenstein AH. Sodium, Saturated Fat and Trans Fat Content Per 1,000 Kilocalories: Temporal Trends in Fast-Food Restaurants, United States, 2000-2013. Preventing Chronic Disease. 2014.

Fast food, slow kids: Eating junk leads to poorer academic results, study shows

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Children who eat the most fast-food tend to get significantly poorer scores in math, science and reading tests, a new nationwide study that examined the habits of over 8,500 young Americans reveals.

Parents now have a new matter of concern regarding their kids’ fast-food consumption, as it correlates with future academic achievements, not to mention obesity and skin problems.

Visits to popular restaurants such as McDonald’s, Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC, at the age of 10, could have ill-effects three years later, in eighth grade, says the report, published in Clinical Pediatrics journal this month.

“Research has been focused on how children’s food consumption contributes to the child obesity epidemic. Our findings provide evidence that eating fast food is linked to another problem: poorer academic outcomes,” leading author Kelly Purtell at Ohio State University told the Telegraph.

Image from "Fast Food Consumption and Academic Growth in Late Childhood" study

The longitudinal study boasts models controlling numerous potentially-confusing variables, including socioeconomic indicators, such as family income and place of living, as well as physical activity and TV watching, that could influence the results.

(Reuters/Stefano Rellandini)

It suggested two theories, explaining the impact of fast-food on learning processes. According to one theory, it is the lack of a specific nutrient, iron, usually associated with fast-food that slows down certain processes in the brain. Another theory links degradation in academic achievements and decreased attention to high amount of fat and added sugar.

The scientists analyzed the rates of fast-food consumption among children to learn that 10 percent had eaten it every day, another 10 percent had eaten it four to six times in the previous week. Over half of the representative sample – more than 8,500 people – or 52 percent had eaten fast food between one and three times during the same period.

Most impressive, the test results in science among the daily fast-food eaters saw an average of 79 percent, while those who never ate fast food (29 percent) scored 83. The “clear and consistent associations” are also observational in scores for reading and math.

A Map of the Road to Obesity.

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In every age group, obese adults consumed the highest percentage of calories from fast food, a vivid picture of the role fast food plays in obesity. From 1990 to 2010, there was a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States, the fattest country in the world. The report’s overall finding, that we are eating a little less fast food than we used to, may be behind the recent finding that obesity rates have stopped rising for the first time in years.

People aged 20 to 39 consumed more than 15 percent of daily calories from fast food; however, the percentage tended to decrease with age.

According to the latest statistics, nearly 36 percent of U.S. adults are obese. Although the consumption of fast food appears to be slowing a bit, the correlation shown in this report between heavier weight and the amount of fast food eaten is a concern.

Those who eat the most fast food, according to the report, are people in their 20s and 30s. This puts them at risk for obesity-related medical problems later in life. Some of the leading causes of preventable death are obesity-related conditions such as heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and certain types of cancer. The lower rate of fast food consumption among those 60 and up may be due to the fact that those medical problems have begun to show up.

This is not clear from the evidence, however. Putting a dent in our consumption of burgers, fries, and sugar-sweetened soda just can’t be bad. And in fact, it may be the beginning of something very good.

The report is published in the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics Data Brief.

 

A Shift Away from Fast Food.

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Finally, a glimmer of good health news. If you are a regular consumer of health news, you know about increasing rates of obesity and diabetes, the overturn of the law banning large servings of sugar-sweetened beverages in New York, and an “anti-soda ban” bill in Mississippi.

So is it really possible, despite all of the above, that we are beginning to put the brakes on our fast food habit?

The answer is a qualified, “yes.”

A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that Americans are eating a little less fast food than they were a few years ago.

A Small Change for the Better

It is a small drop, but using data from the 2007-2010 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the CDC found that adults consumed an average of 11.3 percent of their total daily calories from fast food, down from the 12.8 percent recorded in the 2003-2006 survey.

Over one-third of Americans are obese and the frequent consumption of fast food has been cited as a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic.

Because the findings are the result of in-person interviews in which people are asked to recall what they’ve eaten during the past 24 hours, they are believed to be accurate. But with fast food’s bad press lately, there is a chance that some participants experienced selective amnesia when it came to a quick trip to the drive-through.

Eating less fast food hasn’t had an effect on the obesity rate, at least not yet. Fast-paced lifestyles, eating on the run, and high fat, high sodium, nutrient-poor fast food go hand in hand for many people. Over one-third of Americans are obese and the frequent consumption of fast food has been cited as a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic.

The CDC’s new report looked at differences in fast food consumption by demographic characteristics and weight status. Men and women both eat fast food at pretty much the same rate. So did non-Hispanic white and Hispanic adults.

Older and Wiser? Or Sicker?

Aging baby boomers appear to be one reason for the dip in fast food consumption. As age goes up, time at fast food outlets goes down. People aged 20 to 39 consumed more than 15 percent of daily calories from fast food; however, the percentage tended to decrease with age. This drops to 10 to 13 percent of daily calories among those aged 40 to 59. Older and perhaps wiser adults, age 60 and above, consumed only 6 percent of their daily calories from fast food.

The craving for fast food knows no economic boundaries. Income did not affect the amount of fast food people ate, according to the report. There was one exception: young adults in the 20 to 39 age group with the highest incomes tended to consume less fast food. Non-Hispanic black adults in the same age group consumed over 20 percent of their calories from fast food.