Nov 11, 2026 · 1h 20m
Ultra-processed food may reshape the developing brain
What If Your Diet Is Affecting Your Brain More Than You Think? | Michael Goran, PhD
The conversation connects early exposure to processed food with brain development, metabolic health, and disease risk before obvious changes in body weight appear.
- 1Ultra-processed diets may affect brain structure and development even before differences in weight or diabetes emerge.
- 2Prenatal and childhood exposure combines missing protective nutrients with additives, altered food structures, and possible microbiome disruption.
- 3Reducing liquid sugar, cooking more from scratch, and improving school meals offer practical routes toward healthier food environments.
Don't miss
Goran describes findings in six-year-olds linking higher ultra-processed food consumption with lower subcortical brain volume before weight differences appear.
The brief
Michael Goran, PhD, frames ultra-processed food as a developmental issue: nutrition from pregnancy through childhood may influence the brain as well as metabolism.
The episode examines a central tension in food policy: researchers see broad health signals, while industry opposition and definitional disputes complicate action.
Goran discusses research in six-year-olds associating higher ultra-processed food intake with lower subcortical brain volume, even without weight differences.
Sugary drinks emerge as the clearest target because rapidly absorbed liquid sugar delivers a metabolic burden linked to fatty liver disease, inflammation, and diabetes.
The practical response is less about perfection than access: reduce liquid sugar, cook more from scratch, and make healthier school and home food affordable.
Books & mentions
Some links are affiliate links — PodLume may earn a commission if you buy.
Fed Up
It extends the episode’s discussion of sugar, metabolism, appetite, and chronic disease.
Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet-One Bite at a Time
It broadens the conversation from individual food choices to reforming the food system.
100: What to Do Today to Live 100 Healthy Years
It offers a broader set of practical health and longevity actions from the show’s host.
Weekly email
State of the Pod, every Monday
The week's most-discussed names and stories from podcasts, with the moments behind them. Free, five minutes, unsubscribe in one click.