From Plate to Brain Microplastics in the Brain: New Studies Link Ultra-Processed Foods to Mental Health Risks

New research in Brain Medicine explores how microplastics from ultra-processed foods may accumulate in the brain — and raises urgent questions about their possible role in depression, dementia, and other mental health disorders.

A groundbreaking collection of four papers published in the May issue of Brain Medicine synthesizes mounting evidence that microplastics from ultra-processed foods may be accumulating in human brains and potentially contributing to the rising global rates of depression, dementia, and other mental health disorders. The papers provide the most comprehensive analysis to date of how these tiny plastic particles might be affecting brain health through multiple interconnected biological pathways.

The Plastic Spoon in Your Brain

The striking cover of Brain Medicine's May 2025 issue depicts a human brain stippled with colorful microplastic particles alongside a plastic spoon — a visual that powerfully captures the main finding that human brains contain approximately “a spoonful” of microplastic material. This alarming concept is examined in depth across all four articles in this special collection, including a peer-reviewed commentary previously published online titled “Human microplastic removal: what does the evidence tell us?” that appeared in the May issue alongside three new papers.

The featured peer-reviewed viewpoint article by Dr. Nicholas Fabiano from the University of Ottawa, Dr. Brandon Luu from the University of Toronto, Dr. David Puder from Loma Linda University School of Medicine, and Dr. Wolfgang Marx from Deakin University’s Food & Mood Centre, titled “Microplastics and mental health: The role of ultra-processed foods”, builds upon their earlier commentary on microplastic accumulation in human tissue, “Human microplastic removal: what does the evidence tell us?”. This new viewpoint paper synthesizes emerging evidence to propose a novel hypothesis connecting ultra-processed food consumption, microplastic exposure, and mental health outcomes.

“We’re seeing converging evidence that should concern us all,” explains Dr. Fabiano. “Ultra-processed foods now comprise more than 50 % of energy intake in countries like the United States, and these foods contain significantly higher concentrations of microplastics than whole foods. Recent findings show these particles can cross the blood-brain barrier and accumulate in alarming quantities.”

The Mental Health Connection

The researchers cite substantial evidence linking ultra-processed food consumption with adverse mental health outcomes. A recent umbrella review published in The BMJ found that people who consumed ultra-processed foods had a 22 % higher risk of depression, 48 % higher risk of anxiety, and 41 % higher risk of poor sleep outcomes.

What makes their hypothesis particularly compelling is the novel suggestion that microplastics — tiny plastic particles less than 5 mm in size — may be a missing link in this relationship. The researchers point to disturbing data showing that foods like chicken nuggets contain 30 times more microplastics per gram than chicken breasts, highlighting the impact of industrial processing.

The hypothesis gains further credibility from recent findings published in Nature Medicine that demonstrated alarming microplastic concentrations in the human brain — approximately “a spoon's worth” according to the researchers — with levels three to five times higher in those with documented dementia diagnoses.

Shared Mechanisms of Harm

“This hypothesis is particularly compelling because we see remarkable overlap in biological mechanisms,” notes Dr. Marx. “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.”

The viewpoint article raises an intriguing question: Could the microplastic content of ultra-processed foods be partially responsible for their observed negative mental health effects? To study this relationship more systematically, the authors propose the development of a Dietary Microplastic Index (DMI) to quantify exposure through food consumption.

Possible Removal Pathways

Complementing the viewpoint article is a peer-reviewed Brevia research paper titled “Therapeutic apheresis: A promising method to remove microplastics?” by Dr. Stefan Bornstein and colleagues. This paper, also published in the May issue, examines preliminary evidence that extracorporeal therapeutic apheresis — a technique that filters blood outside the body — may have the potential to remove microplastic particles from human circulation.

“While we need to reduce our exposure to microplastics through better food choices and packaging alternatives, we also need research into how to remove these particles from the human body,” notes Dr. Bornstein. “Our early findings suggest that apheresis might offer one possible pathway for microplastic removal, though much more research is needed.”

A Call to Action

The issue is further contextualized by a powerful guest editorial by Dr. Ma-Li Wong titled “Una cuchara de plástico en tu cerebro: The calamity of a plastic spoon in your brain”, which frames the collection of papers as not just a scientific warning but a paradigm shift in how we must think about environmental contaminants and brain health.

“What emerges from this work is not a warning. It is a reckoning,” writes Dr. Wong. “The boundary between internal and external has failed. If microplastics cross the blood-brain barrier, what else do we think remains sacred?”

The authors of all four papers emphasize that while more primary research is needed, their analyses add another dimension to the growing case for reducing ultra-processed food consumption and developing better methods to detect and potentially remove microplastics from the human body.

“As the levels of ultra-processed foods, microplastics, and adverse mental health outcomes simultaneously rise, it is imperative that we further investigate this potential association,” concludes Dr. Fabiano. “After all, you are what you eat.”

Original Article: Una cuchara de plástico en tu cerebro: The calamity of a plastic spoon in your brain; Brain Medicine; DOI:10.61373/bm025g.0062

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