Processed food tied to higher risk of early Parkinson’s symptoms
Eating more nutritious foods may promote brain health, researchers say
People who eat large amounts of highly processed foods are more likely to develop early Parkinson’s disease symptoms, a study found.
“There’s growing evidence that diet might influence the development of Parkinson’s disease,” Xiang Gao, MD, PhD, co-author of the study and a professor at Fudan University in China, said in an American Academy of Neurology news story. “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.”
The study, “Long-Term Consumption of Ultraprocessed Foods and Prodromal Features of Parkinson Disease,” was published in Neurology, the academy’s medical journal.
“Choosing to eat fewer processed foods and more whole, nutritious foods could be a good strategy for maintaining brain health,” Gao said.
Parkinson’s is a neurological disorder that’s defined by motor symptoms such as tremor, difficulty with balance, and slowed movement. In order for someone to be diagnosed with Parkinson’s, the person must be experiencing motor symptoms typical of the disease.
Early Parkinson’s symptoms include pain, depression
A growing body of research has indicated that many people with Parkinson’s start to experience nonmotor symptoms before motor symptoms develop. These early symptoms, known as prodromal symptoms, may include body pain, depression, impaired color vision, unusual daytime sleepiness, constipation, and rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (acting out dreams during sleep).
Eating large amounts of highly processed foods, such as soda, potato chips, cookies, and hot dogs, has been linked with a wide range of negative health outcomes. Here, researchers wanted to see if eating ultra-processed food is associated with a higher risk of developing health issues that may be prodromal symptoms of Parkinson’s.
“Eating a healthy diet is crucial as it has been associated with a lower risk of neurodegenerative diseases and the dietary choices we make today can significantly influence our brain health in the future,” Gao said.
For the study, the researchers used data collected from 42,853 people who were followed for up to 26 years. Every few years, these people completed a survey in which they self-reported their dietary habits.
The researchers split the participants into five groups, or quintiles, based on processed food intake. The highest quintile included people who ate 11 or more servings of ultra-processed food per day on average, whereas the lowest quintile included people who ate less than three servings. For the purposes of the study, one serving of processed food was equivalent to a can of soda, an ounce of potato chips, a slice of cake, one hot dog, or a tablespoon of ketchup.
Statistical analyses, which accounted for factors like age, physical activity and smoking, showed that people in the highest quintile were more than twice as likely to have at least three prodromal Parkinson’s symptoms, relative to individuals in the lowest quintile.
When the researchers looked at each prodromal symptom individually, all of them except constipation were significantly more common among people who ate more ultra-processed food.
The scientists stressed that these data don’t prove that eating ultra-processed food causes prodromal symptoms of Parkinson’s or Parkinson’s itself, as the data only show correlations (statistical associations). The data are consistent with the notion that people who eat less processed food might be less likely to get Parkinson’s, but additional studies will be needed to test this idea, the researchers said.
The study was supported by organizations in China and by the National Institutes of Health.
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