HAMILTON — Researchers at the Population Health Research Institute, a partnership of McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, have reported a link between ultra-processed food intake and signs of vascular brain injury.

The study, published October 15 in JAMA Network Open, examined 8,783 Canadians aged 35 to 69 without cardiovascular disease, using dietary questionnaires and brain MRI.

What the finding means

Comparing the highest and lowest intake groups, measured as servings per 2,000 calories, researchers reported 40 per cent higher adjusted odds of MRI-defined vascular brain injury. That is an odds comparison, not a 40-percentage-point increase in risk.

The study did not find a significant association with performance on its cognitive tests. Results also varied with the way food intake was measured.

Not a test of cause and effect

This was a cross-sectional analysis, not an experiment assigning people different diets. It cannot show that ultra-processed foods caused the MRI changes. Self-reported diets and other unmeasured differences between participants are limitations.

PHRI's account says neurologists reviewed scans without knowing participants' dietary patterns. First author Russell de Souza is an associate scientist at PHRI; senior author Sonia Anand is a PHRI senior scientist. The institute says longer-term follow-up is ongoing to investigate whether changing diets could affect these findings.

Sources: Original peer-reviewed study, October 15; PHRI research announcement.

Lead image: AI-generated TNC archive illustration of an MRI room. Not a study participant, research scan or photograph of a specific facility.