Max Lugavere on ultra-processed foods: warns against

Max Lugavere calls ultra-processed foods (UPFs) a driver of overeating. In his 2026 Missouri Medicine paper, he cites controlled feeding studies showing roughly 500 kcal/day excess intake on ultra-processed diets, and a 2024 meta-analysis of more than 860,000 adults finding 44% greater dementia risk among the highest UPF consumers.

His stated reasoning is that UPFs are the central metabolic villain of the modern diet — displacing nutrient-dense whole foods and driving the metabolic dysfunction he links to cognitive decline. Avoiding them is the flip side of his “food-first” prescription.

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