The Junk Foods That Harm Your Brain Most, Ranked by New Research

By Ivan Farkas – Science alert

Homing in on the junk-food pyramid to rank its most harmful members, researchers from Virginia Tech have discovered that ultra-processed meats and beverages are the worst for brain health.

Individuals who consumed one or more extra servings of either of these foods showed a significantly increased risk of developing cognitive impairments, including those associated with forms of dementia such as Alzheimer’s disease.

Using data from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study, the researchers tracked 4,750 US residents aged 55 or older to evaluate how their health had evolved over a period of up to 7 years, assessing their cognitive status every two years from 2014 to 2020.