A common food in 70 percent of American diets can feed mental disorders, dementia and autism.
An important new review has ultra -processed foods (UPFS) – which includes everything, from chips to protein bars – to rising speeds of neurological disorders.
Researchers believe that the hidden perpetrator could be microplastics, small plastic particles that are now found in rising levels in UPFS – and increasingly in the human brain.
Studies have shown that UPFs are more sensitive to microplastics, because contamination can occur during the processing and packaging of food – which are often in plastic wrappers and containers.
Co-lead author of the new newspaper Dr. Nicholas Fabiano, from the University of Ottawa, said: ‘We see converging proof that we are all concerned.
‘Ultra-processed foods … contain considerably higher concentrations of microplastics than entire foods.
“Recent findings show that these particles can cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in alarming quantities.”
Another author of the article, Dr. Wolfgang Marx from the Food & Mood Center of Deakin University, said that there is ‘remarkable overlap’ in the way UPFS and Microplastics harm mental health.
Ultra-processed foods contain high concentrations of microplastics. Pollution can occur during the processing and packaging of food – which are often in plastic wrappers and containers.
He explained: ‘This hypothesis is particularly compelling because we see remarkable overlap in biological mechanisms.
‘Ultra-processed foods are linked to unfavorable mental health due to inflammation, oxidative stress, epigenetics, mitochondrial dysfunction and disruptions of neurotransmitter systems.
“Microplastics seem to work through remarkably comparable paths.”
In the new article, published in Brain Medicine, the authors assessed studies that looked at the relationship between ultra-processed foods, microplastics and mental health.
One of the studies in the article was a recent Published in the British Medical Journal. It discovered that people who consumed UPFS had a 22 percent higher risk of depression, a 48 percent higher risk of anxiety and a 41 percent higher risk of poor sleep – which can cause a cascade of poor health results themselves.
And another study included that microplastics and nanoplastics cause oxidative stress on the central nervous system, which can cause cellular damage and can increase the vulnerability to neurological disorders.
Based on the evaluation by the authors of the current data, they concluded that the high levels of microplastic contamination in ultra-processed foods may be the reason that they have such adverse health consequences.
Scientists think that ultra-processed foods damage your intestines, and that can in turn damage your brain.
This connection-the gut-brain-henas means that when your intestines are out of fun, your mood and mental health can also take a hit.
Research has also shown that this junk food is full of artificial sweeteners, which can throw away the way your brain cells talk to each other and disrupt hormones.
In addition, microplastics in the food can be linked to depression and anxiety, whereby researchers warn that they can harm the development of the brain, cause inflammation and disrupt sleep and mood.
Microplastics are small plastic pieces that are less than 5 mm in size and insoluble in water
The microplastics in UPFS can also feed an increase in dementia, believe researchers from a separate study.
A study from earlier this year – which was not included in this week’s article review – analyzed brain tissue from 54 autopsies and discovered that each brain contained microplastics – equivalent in mass to a plastic spoon.
The researchers discovered that people with dementia showed up to 10 times more microplastics in their brain tissue compared to those without this condition.
Although the study does not connect them directly, it does show a connection between the accumulation of microplastics and neurological disorders. Says who
An author of that study said that the microplastic levels in the human brain have increased by 50 percent in the last eight years – and that dementia rates have also increased, with the expectation that the cases almost double almost by 2030.
Microplastics can exceed the blood-brain barrier, a protective shield that usually prevents harmful substances from entering the brain.
Once inside, these small particles can cause inflammation, disrupt neurological signaling and possibly contribute to the development of neurological disorders.
Although scientists are still investigating the direct impact of microplastics on human health, animal studies have shown that exposure can lead to behavioral changes, memory disorders and reduced motor coordination.
Another separate study from 2022 discovered that people who ate most UPFS had a 25 percent faster percentage of the executive function and a 28 percent faster percentage of overall cognitive disorders compared to people who are the least amount of food.
Researchers believe that the high content of sugar, salt and fat in UPFS promotes harmful inflammations throughout the body, including the brain, which can harm cognition and memory.
Another neurological disorder on the rise that can be bound by microplastics in UPFS is autism, which affects one in 31 children in the US. This is a dramatic increase in one in 150 children two decades ago.
Researchers have stated that UPFs can have a negative influence on intestinal microbiome, and an off-balance microbiome has often often been with children with autism.
There is also any evidence that UPF’s gene expression can change that leads to changes in the development and function of the brain.
Processed foods can also contain a high level of heavy metals, including mercury and lead, which can contribute to whether the symptoms of autism can worsen.
There is no known cause of autism.
Although preliminary research has been conducted into the association of microplastics and autism, scientists say that there is not enough information to draw conclusions and more research needs to be done.
To tackle the issue of microplastics, the authors of the most recent article proposed the Microplastic Index (DMI) of the diet. A system that would quantify exposure to microplastics through food consumption and microplastic content and assess the risk of accumulation based on the food that people eat.
Dr. Stefan Bornstein, who has written a peer-reviewed research paper about removing microplastics from the body, said: “Although we should reduce our exposure to microplastics through better food choices and alternatives to packaging, we also need research into how to remove these particles from the human body.”
In his paper he states that a process called Apheresis could remove microplastics from the body. This is a medical procedure that removes specific blood components from the body – such as plastics – and the remaining components – such as the building blocks that form blood.
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