When 10 million people are brought together in one massive review of 14 studies, you're getting some pretty reliable health information. That's what a 2024 meta-review did when it explored the association between eating ultra-processed foods and health problems.

And the result?

Researchers identified 32 different conditions that can be linked to eating these nutrition-stripped foods that are associated with increased risks of obesity, heart disease, cancer, insomnia, dementia, and diabetes.

In addition, data showed that these lousy foods increase your risk of mental disorders and anxiety by up to 53%, and increases the risk of depression by 22%.  

But the damage doesn't stop there.

The review also found that ultra-processed foods are associated with increased risks of:

• Asthma

• High blood pressure

• Crohn's disease

• Ulcerative colitis

• Metabolic syndrome

• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

• High blood sugar levels

In case you don't know what ultra-processed foods are, they're packaged foods made with manufactured ingredients that in no way contain the structure or nutritional content of the original foods. Examples include packaged snacks, prepackaged meals, sweets, and sodas; they generally contain ingredients that are impossible to pronounce and that you've never heard of.

Your smartest, mood-enhancing, nutrition-improving move is to opt for unpackaged, fresh foods, lean proteins, non-fried fatty fish (that's good fat), and whole grains.

You can do that with my "What to Eat When Cookbook."