Image by Getty / FuturismNeuroscience/Brain ScienceEach of our brains is swimming in enough microplastics to form a plastic spoon, scientists discovered earlier this year. Since then, medical researchers have been scrambling to understand how that could affect our neurological health.Now, ominous data is starting to trickle in, with new research comprising four papers published in the journal Brain Medicine suggesting that microplastics could be contributing to rising rates of depression, dementia, and other mental health ailments across the globe. And for exposing us to these brain-invading microplastics, a clear culprit emerged in the work: ultra-processed foods, or junk food, which make up a huge part of many Americans' diets."We're seeing converging evidence that should concern us all," said Nicholas Fabiano from the University of Ottawa, who led one of the studies, in a statement about the work. "Ultra-processed foods now comprise more than 50 percent of energy intake in countries like the United States, and these foods contain significantly higher concentrations of microplastics than whole foods."If true, it would mean that microplastics were the missing link in the correlation between junk food consumption and brain disorders. One study cited by the researchers found that people who ate ultra-processed meals had a significantly higher risk of depression, anxiety, and poor sleep. On the flip side, randomized control trials have demonstrated that weaning someone off junk food led to significant improvements in mental health.Implicating the role of microplastics in this, other research has revealed that junk foods are absolutely riddled with plastic particles. Meals like chicken nuggets, for example, have been shown to contain 30 times more microplastics per gram than chicken breasts, likely absorbed as a result of how they're manufactured and packaged."This hypothesis is particularly compelling because we see remarkable overlap in biological mechanisms," Wolfgang Marx from Deakin University's Food & Mood Center who coauthored one of the studies, said in a statement. "Ultra-processed foods have been linked to adverse mental health through inflammation, oxidative stress, epigenetics, mitochondrial dysfunction, and disruptions to neurotransmitter systems. Microplastics appear to operate through remarkably similar pathways."These findings are the latest to illustrate the potential grim health effects caused by microplastics, which have been found everywhere from human bone marrow to clouds to the most remote regions on Earth.So far, though, there's no definitive evidence, including human trials, that prove they're harmful to our health. But the fact that microplastics can easily bypass the blood-brain barrier — our gray matter's last line of defense against harmful substances — has unsettled medical experts. Beyond mental ailments, some research has found that microplastics could cause blood clots in the vessels of the brain, potentially inducing a stroke."What emerges from this work is not a warning. It is a reckoning," wrote Ma-Li Wong, a distinguished professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Upstate Medical University, in an accompanying editorial. "The boundary between internal and external has failed. If microplastics cross the blood-brain barrier, what else do we think remains sacred?"It's impossible not to intake some amount of microplastics every time we eat, but you can take steps to reduce your exposure. And the evidence so far, the researchers argue, makes an increasingly compelling case for cutting ultra-processed junk out of your diet."After all," said Fabiano, "you are what you eat."Share This Article #microplastics #your #brain #causing #mental