Mind your mind!
Around 90,000 new cases of Parkinson’s disease are diagnosed in the US each year — the neurodegenerative disorder is commonly associated with slow movement, tremors, stiffness and difficulty walking.
Experts suggest that physical activity and a balanced diet can help lower Parkinson’s risk. A new study supports that guidance, finding that people who consume a lot of ultra-processed foods are more likely to have early signs of Parkinson’s than those who eat less junk food.
“There’s growing evidence that diet might influence the development of Parkinson’s disease,” said study author Dr. Xiang Gao of the Institute of Nutrition at Fudan University in Shanghai, China.
“Our research shows that eating too much processed food, like sugary sodas and packaged snacks, might be speeding up early signs of Parkinson’s disease.”
Nearly 43,000 volunteers with an average age of 48, who did not have Parkinson’s at the start of the study, were followed for up to 26 years.
Participants underwent regular medical exams, completed health questionnaires and maintained a food diary every two to four years.
Researchers calculated the number of UPF servings they ate on an average day.
UPFs included sauces, spreads, condiments, packaged sweets, snacks, desserts, artificially or sugar-sweetened beverages and animal-based products.
A serving was equivalent to a can of soda, 1 ounce of potato chips, a slice of cake, a hot dog or a tablespoon of ketchup.
Participants were split into five groups — the highest group ate 11 or more daily servings, while the lowest group ate fewer than three servings a day.
The researchers also watched for early signs of Parkinson’s in the participants, including REM sleep behavior disorder, constipation, depression, pain, impaired color vision, excessive daytime sleepiness and reduced ability to smell.
After adjusting for factors such as age and exercise levels, participants in the highest UPF group had a 2.5-fold higher likelihood of having three or more of these early signs than those in the lowest UPF group.
Researchers also noted that a diet high in UPFs raised the risk for all the early Parkinson’s symptoms except constipation.
The findings were published online Wednesday in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
“Choosing to eat fewer processed foods and more whole, nutritious foods could be a good strategy for maintaining brain health,” Gao said. “More studies are needed to confirm our finding that eating less processed food may slow down the earliest signs of Parkinson’s disease.”
UPFs often contain lots of calories, sugar, salt and unhealthy fats. They can trigger inflammation in the brain that disrupts brain function, increasing the risk of brain disorders like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease.
Recent research also tied UPFs to higher risks of psoriasis, depression and even early death.
