Skip to main content

Ultra-Processed Foods Linked To Parkinson's Disease Risk

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on May 8, 2025.

via HealthDay

THURSDAY, May 8, 2025 -- Fast food and ready-made packaged eats could be doing slow damage to people’s brains.

Ultra-processed foods like breakfast cereals, soft drinks, hot dogs and ketchup appear to increase a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, a new study says.

People who ate about 11 servings of ultra-processed foods per day had a 2.5-times higher risk of developing three or more early symptoms of Parkinson’s than those who ate the least amount, researchers reported May 7 in the journal Neurology.

Single-serving examples of ultra-processed foods include a can of soda, an ounce of potato chips, a slice of packaged cake, a single hot dog or a tablespoon of ketchup, researchers said.

“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,” senior researcher Dr. Xiang Gao, dean of the Fudan University Institute of Nutrition in Shanghai, said in a news release.

“There's growing evidence that diet might influence the development of Parkinson's disease,” Gao continued. “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.”

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive movement disorder that causes people to shake, become stiff or have trouble with their balance and coordination. It occurs when the brain cells that create the hormone dopamine die or become impaired, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Ultra-processed foods are made mostly from substances extracted from whole foods, like saturated fats, starches and added sugars. They also contain a wide variety of additives to make them more tasty, attractive and shelf-stable, including colors, emulsifiers, flavors and stabilizers.

For this study, researchers tracked the health of nearly 43,000 U.S. health professionals participating in two ongoing large-scale medical studies.

None had Parkinson’s at the start of the study. With an average age of 48, they were followed for up to 26 years with regular medical exams, health questionnaires and food diaries.

The research team looked for early symptoms of Parkinson’s among the participants, including problems with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, constipation, depression, body pain, impaired color vision, excessive daytime sleepiness and reduced ability to smell.

They then compared those symptoms to people’s intake of ultra-processed foods, after dividing the participants into five groups based on how much manufactured eats they consumed.

People in the highest-intake group — 11 or more servings a day — had a 2.5-fold greater risk of three or more early signs of Parkinson’s compared to those in the lowest-intake group with fewer than three daily servings.

Eating more ultra-processed foods was linked to increased risk of nearly all early Parkinson’s symptoms except constipation, researchers added.

Ultra-processed foods tend to contain high levels of unhealthy nutrients like excess sugar, sodium and saturated fats, which might explain their link to Parkinson’s, researchers said. Food additives also might contribute to brain-damaging inflammation.

“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.”

Sources

  • American Academy of Neurology, news release, May 8, 2025

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Read this next

High Noon Recalls Vodka Seltzer Cans Mislabeled as Energy Drinks

THURSDAY, July 31, 2025 — High Noon is recalling some of its vodka seltzer packs after finding that a few cans were incorrectly labeled as non-alcoholic energy drinks. The...

Ground Beef Shipped to 5 States Recalled for Possible Metal Pieces

THURSDAY, July 31, 2025 — More than 1,000 pounds of frozen ground beef are being recalled after metal pieces were reportedly found in the product. The frozen, fully cooked...

'Ultra-Processed' Foods Could Hike Your Odds for Lung Cancer

WEDNESDAY, July 30, 2025 — Experts already know that high consumption of ultra-processed foods is bad news for your health, and new research suggests these foods can raise...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.