Abstract

INTRODUCTION: We aimed to assess the prospective associations between consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) and the risk of all-cause dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD) dementia. METHOD: This study included 2909 adult participants who were dementia free at baseline and had a follow-up. Dietary intakes were collected using the Food Frequency Questionnaire (FFQ). Proportional hazards models and cubic spline regression were used. RESULTS: During a mean follow-up of 14.4 years, a total of 306 incident dementia events occurred, including 184 (60.1%) cases of AD. After multivariate adjustments, individuals in the highest quartile for energy-adjusted UPF consumption (over 9.1 servings per day) had a higher risk of all-cause dementia (hazard ratio [HR]: 1.61; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09-2.16) and AD dementia (HR: 1.75; 95% CI: 1.04-2.71) compared to the lowest quartile. [Correction added on 24 July 2023, after first online publication: In the preceding sentence, the text 'the highest quartiles for UPF consumption (> 7.5 servings per day)' was revised to 'the highest quartile for energy-adjusted UPF consumption (over 9.1 servings per day)'.] A nonlinear dose-response pattern was shown for all-cause dementia and AD dementia. CONCLUSIONS: Higher consumption of UPF is associated with an increased risk of all-cause dementia and AD dementia. STUDY REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00005121.