Does Eating Preservative-Loaded Foods Lead To Mental Health Disorders? Expert Shares 4 Key Insights

In the modern world changing lifestyles, an increase in day and night shift work, and frequent travelling have led to an increase in demand for food with long shelf lives which are appealing to people with wide cultural diversity, easily palatable, easy to prepare and consume. This has led to increased use of food additives, preservatives and artificial colours in various foods to increase the shelf life. While we commonly know that these preservatives lead to heart diseases and obesity, these can also trigger neurodegenerative diseases. Dr Ashish Gosar, Consultant Neurologist, Saifee Hospital, Mumbai shared how this preservative-loaded food can trigger neurodegenerative diseases.

How Eating Preservative-Loaded Foods Lead To Neurodegenerative Diseases?

Here are the reasons why preservative-rich food can lead to neurodegenerative diseases:

Dr Ashish Gosar said, “Use of these leads to a deficiency in a lot of essential nutrients and risk of neurocognitive decline when used in larger quantities and over long periods.”

Neurocognitive Decline

Dr Gosar highlighted that these ultra-processed foods contain artificial colourants, benzoate, non-caloric sweeteners, and emulsifiers all of these have been reported to have adverse effects on mental health, attention span, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome and long-term neurocognitive decline. He mentioned that when this exposure continues in large quantities for over a long period it leads to neurocognitive decline and can lead to various problems such as depression, anxiety, attention deficit, aggressive behaviour, dementia and various mental health problems. Over a while, this may lead to degenerative diseases like Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, dementia, and others.

Increase Oxidative Stress

According to Dr Gosar, these substances increase oxidative stress and neuroinflammation leading to the disruption of neurotransmitters and causing changes in the synthesis of ion transmitters all of which have been reported in various animal studies.

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Disrupt Gut Health

Dr Gosar mentioned that several studies suggest that consumption of such food leads to disruption of gut microbiology which indirectly leads to a reduction in various neurotransmitters. He further explained that the gut and the brain communicate through the vagus nerve and alteration in the gut microbiology leads to disruption of various ion channels and altered neurotransmitter levels.

Hormonal Imbalance

According to Dr Gosar, these foods also alter hormonal levels and may lead to thyroid hormone dysfunction which can indirectly lead to lifelong cognitive consequences, especially in the children and adult age group.

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Dr Gosar recommends eating green leafy vegetables, and fruits rich in vitamins and having a balanced diet with a decrease in the quantity of preserved foods.
He advises avoiding processed meats, red meat, aerated, sugary drinks, fast foods, and alcohol to prevent neurodegenerative diseases.

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