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Nutrients
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Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods and Risk of Non-Communicable Diseases
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Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods and Risk of Non-Communicable Diseases

A special issue of Nutrients (ISSN 2072-6643). This special issue belongs to the section "Nutrition and Public Health".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 September 2025 | Viewed by 643

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Mariana Di Lorenzo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Physiology Nutrition Unit, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University of Naples Federico II, Via Sergio Pansini 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy
Interests: obesity; visceral adiposity; metabolic disorders; eating habits; ultra-processed food; adipose tissue

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs), as defined using the Nova food classification system, encompass a broad range of manufactured products that are predominantly made of industrial ingredients with little or no whole foods. UPFs present some peculiarities: they are highly palatable, ready to eat, economical, and have attractive packaging, and are also supported by multi-media and other aggressive advertising campaigns; in addition, from a nutritional point of view, these foods are energy-dense foods, with high amounts of sugars, salt, saturated fats, trans fats, and additives such as emulsifiers and preservatives, while being low in vitamins, fibers, and other essential micronutrients. All these characteristics raise concerns about the overall quality of the diet and the health of populations in general. Indeed, emerging evidence suggests that such properties may lead to synergistic or combined consequences for chronic inflammation,obesity and non-communicable diseases including cancer and neurological disorders.

This Special Issue invites original research, literature reviews and meta-analyses that deepen our understanding of how UPFs worsen health and well-being. Topics of interest include clinical evaluations, mechanistic insights, and applications in precision nutrition, clinical prevention, and chronic disease management.

Dr. Mariana Di Lorenzo
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nutrients is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • ultra-processed foods
  • inflammation
  • obesity
  • non-communicable diseases
  • neurological disorders
  • cancer
  • eating habits
  • visceral adiposity
  • childhood obesity

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

17 pages, 1424 KiB  
Review
Ultraprocessed Foods and Neuropsychiatric Outcomes: Putative Mechanisms
by Mariane Lutz, Marcelo Arancibia, Javier Moran-Kneer and Marcia Manterola
Nutrients 2025, 17(7), 1215; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu17071215 - 30 Mar 2025
Viewed by 796
Abstract
A body of evidence indicates an association between ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) and health outcomes. Most of it has been obtained through preclinical studies, although a number of observational studies substantiate how a high intake of these products increases the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders, [...] Read more.
A body of evidence indicates an association between ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) and health outcomes. Most of it has been obtained through preclinical studies, although a number of observational studies substantiate how a high intake of these products increases the risk of neuropsychiatric disorders, and an increasing amount of dietary intervention studies confirm these findings. The aim of this narrative review is to describe some of the putative mechanisms involved in the deleterious effects of a high intake of UPFs on neuropsychiatric outcomes. A myriad of unhealthy actions may be associated with the consumption of UPFs, and some mechanisms are being discussed. They include UPFs’ high caloric density; their high sugar, sodium, and additives content and low amounts of fiber; and a high palatability that induces overconsumption, acting as obesogens. Moreover, thermal treatment of these foods generates oxidative products such as glycotoxins, lipotoxins, and acrolein, all of which affect the brain. The chemical products act, directly or indirectly, on the gut microbiome and affect the gut–brain axis, causing neuroinflammation, oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration. UPFs also exert various epigenetic effects that affect mental health and might explain the intergenerational inheritance of neuropsychiatric disorders. A diet containing a high proportion of these foods has a low nutritional density, including bioactive protective agents such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds that promote eubiosis. The evidence shows that UPFs intake affects neuropsychiatric outcomes such as neurodegeneration, cognitive decline, dementia, and mood disorders and reinforces the need to promote a healthy dietary pattern throughout all life stages, thus interfering with the current commercial determinants of health. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Consumption of Ultra-Processed Foods and Risk of Non-Communicable Diseases)
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