Summary: Yes, a new study shows a connection between ultra processed food and mental health. Results show that adults over age 50 are at highest risk of unhealthy ultra processed food consumption patterns and associated negative mental health consequences.
Key Points:
- Ultra processed foods (UPFs) first entered our mainstream food supply in the late 1970s and become common by the early 1980s.
- People born between 1960 and 1980 are at highest risk of developing unhealthy ultra processed food consumption habits.
- UPFs are hyperpalatable, meaning they taste great to almost everyone, because they contain high amounts of sugar, salt, and fat.
- Unhealthy UPF consumption patterns are associated with weight problems, chronic physical illness, and increased likelihood of poor mental health in middle-aged adults.
Finding and Leveraging the Bliss Point in Food
If you’ve never heard of the bliss point in relation to the commercial food industry, here’s a basic definition:
“The bliss point, a concept coined by food scientist Howard Moskowitz, refers to the optimal balance of sweetness, saltiness, and fattiness that triggers the brain’s reward system, leading to an intense sensation of pleasure. By understanding and manipulating this sensory sweet spot, food manufacturers have gained the ability to create flavor profiles that are virtually irresistible.”
Research shows commercial food manufacturers identified three profiles that appeal so strongly to most humans that they “create synergistic sensory experiences that override normal satiety mechanisms.”
In other words:
Foods created to trigger the bliss point taste so good we ignore physical signals that we’re full and should stop eating.
Food researchers identified three food profiles that make foods/snacks highly palatable:
- Combinations of fat and sodium, i.e. bacon
- Mixtures of fat and sugar, i.e. ice cream
- Combinations of carbohydrates and sodium, i.e. snacks like pretzels
Evidence indicates that moderate to high levels of these components, in combination, may “increase consumption by as much as 30 percent.”
Most people understand that eating ultra processed foods, or any diet high in sugar, salt, and fat can lead to increased risk of serious health problems, including:
- Obesity
- Type2 diabetes
- Cardiovascular disease
- Colon, breast, and endometrial cancer (cancer of the uterus)
What many people do not understand yet is that UPFs can lead to an unhealthy pattern of food consumption that overlaps with and resembles disordered consumption, or disordered use, in the same way that unhealthy consumption of alcohol and substance can also become disordered, and meet criteria for a clinical diagnosis.
A new study called “Ultra-Processed Food […] In a Nationally Representative Sample of Older Adults In The USA” examines these connections, and further, analyzes data to identify any possible connections between ultra processed food and mental health.
The Connection Between Ultra Processed Food and Mental Health
Here’s how the researchers describe their analysis:
“This study examines the prevalence of ultra-processed food addiction (UPFA) in older US adults and its association with various health domains.”
To conduct the study, the research team accessed data from the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA) and examined survey records from 2038 adults over age 50.
In order to measure levels of UPFs and identify the presence of ultra processed food addiction (UPFA), they administered a modified version of the Yale Food Addiction Scale 2.0, which applies criteria from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) for the disordered use of substances to habits and patterns of ultra processed food consumption. To measure the impact of UPF consumption on mental health, participants in the NHPA completed self-report questionnaires on levels of mental distress and social isolation.
Let’s take a look at what they found, and keep our attention focused on a specific aspect of this research: the mental health outcomes.
Ultra Processed Food, UPFA, and Mental Health
- Prevalence of UPFA in entire sample:
- Total: 21%
- Males: 7.5%
- Females: 16.9%
UPFA prevalence highest – 21% – among women over age 50.
- Poor mental health, women:
- 78 times more likely to meet UPFA criteria
- Poor mental health, men:
- 02 times more likely to meet UPFA criteria
- Social isolation, women:
- 40 times more likely to meet UPFA criteria
- Social isolation, men:
- 35 times more likely to meet UPFA criteria
This data shows us that middle-aged women are at highest risk of both UPFA and social isolation than other demographic groups, while middles aged men who meet UPFA criteria are at highest risk of poor mental health, and show significantly increased risk of social isolation.
We’ll discuss these results below.
What We Eat and How We Think and Feel Are Related
That heading may appear obvious, and in some ways, it is. After we have a nice meal, we often feel better, and our thoughts become more orderly. Anxiety can drop as feelings of satiety – that UPFs can block – improve our overall mood.
However, this research shows us something different: the negative impact of food on mood and genal mental health. The study shows that when we consume high amounts of ultra processed food, our mental health can deteriorate. In other words, excess consumption of HPFs may impact how we think and feel over the long term.
The authors of the study propose several theories to explain this phenomenon:
- Eating UPFs may be a coping strategy to manage psychological/emotional distress.
- Inflammation associated with UPFs may exacerbate mental health symptoms.
- Gut microbiome dysfunction associated with UPFs may contribute to mental health symptoms.
- Shame about overconsumption of UPFs may increase presence of negative emotions.
- Middle-aged adults may self-isolate to avoid revealing UPF consumption to others.
- Self-isolation may increase negative emotions and promote UPF consumption in a mutually reinforcing negative cycle
Those theories make logical sense, and can help us support our adult and middle-aged adult patients with mental health disorders. Our takeaway from this research is that we can review – and emphasize – the relationship between food and mental health, with attention to the data in this study, which show that high levels of UPF consumption – and presence of UPFA – are associated with poor mental health and social isolation.
