SynthesisNutrients2022
Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.
Synthesis in Nutrients, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06252701 (Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of the Reduction of Ultra-processed Foods From the Diets of a Subset of Patients With Depression - A Pilot Open Label Crossover Trial.), which is not on this map. Cited by 160 papers, 11 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Assessing the Feasibility and Acceptability of the Reduction of Ultra-processed Foods From the Diets of a Subset of Patients With Depression - A Pilot Open Label Crossover Trial.
Who cites it
160 citing papers in PubMed, 11 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 248 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adherence to the EAT-Lancet diet and neuropsychiatric disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Psychological medicine · 2026Pooled it
- Ultra-Processed Foods and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: Evidence from a Systematic Review.Nutrients · 2026Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Neurobiological insights into the effects of ultra-processed food on lipid metabolism and associated mental health conditions: a scoping review.Frontiers in nutrition · 2025Pooled it
- Association between ultraprocessed foods consumption, eating disorders, food addiction and body image: a systematic review.BMJ open · 2024Pooled it
- Causality or confounding? Applying E values to examine associations between ultra-processed food consumption and risk of weight gain.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2024Pooled it
- Association between junk food consumption and mental health problems in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Ultra-processed food exposure and adverse health outcomes: umbrella review of epidemiological meta-analyses.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2024Pooled it
- The causal relationship between serum metabolites and the risk of psoriasis: a Mendelian randomization and meta-analysis study.Frontiers in immunology · 2024Pooled it
- Unhealthy behaviors associated with mental health disorders: a systematic comparative review of diet quality, sedentary behavior, and cannabis and tobacco use.Frontiers in public health · 2023Pooled it
- Increasing Minimally Processed Food Intake in Depression via Commercial Meal Delivery: Qualitative Accounts of Participant Experiences.Nutrients · 2026Trial
- The risk associated with ultra-processed food intake on depressive symptoms and mental health in older adults: a target trial emulation.BMC medicine · 2025Trial
- When Ultra-Processed Foods are Eaten: The Missing Dimension in Exposure Measurement for Obesity Research.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Psychological and Behavioural Correlates of Dietary Intake in Adolescent Elite Female Handball Players.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Ultra-processed food supply in hospitals: A cross-sectional analysis of Australian hospitals using cook fresh foodservices.Nutrition & dietetics : the journal of the Dietitians Association of Australia · 2026Article
- Perceived Stress and Disordered Eating Behaviors in Emerging Adulthood: A Multidimensional Pilot Study of Dietary and Genetic Factors.Diseases (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Dietary Patterns and an Adverse Mental Health Indicator Among School-Attending Brazilian Adolescents: Analyses of the 2015 and 2019Nutrients · 2026Article
- A Frequency-Based Proxy Score for Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Among Adolescents: Associations with Lifestyle Factors and Tinnitus.Nutrients · 2026Article
- Interpreting ultraprocessed food trial evidence: evidentiary limits, reporting practices, and policy relevance.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Review
100 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Since previous meta-analyses, which were limited only to depression and by a small number of studies available for inclusion at the time of publication, several additional studies have been published assessing the link between ultra-processed food consumption and depression as well as other mental disorders. We aimed to build on previously conducted reviews to synthesise and meta-analyse the contemporary evidence base and clarify the associations between the consumption of ultra-processed food and mental disorders. A total of 17 observational studies were included (
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.