Cognitive performance isn’t only about focus and sleep. What people eat, day after day, shapes the brain they bring to work, and the working day shapes what they eat.
A 2024 study in Neurology tracked more than 14,000 adults aged 45 and over. Each 10% increase in ultra-processed food intake was associated with a 16% higher risk of cognitive impairment. Eating more unprocessed or minimally processed food was linked to a 12% lower risk. The researchers are clear the study shows association, not proof of cause.
“Together these studies highlight that higher UPF consumption is consistently associated with poorer cognitive performance.”
Dr W. Taylor Kimberly, Harvard Medical School
Ultra-processed food is what people reach for when time is short. That makes the working day a nutrition policy, whether anyone wrote it down or not. Meetings that run through lunch, a vending machine as the only option after 3pm, nowhere to eat away from a screen: each is a default decision about the brains an organisation depends on.
Fuelling for performance doesn’t need a nutritionist on every floor. It needs time to eat, somewhere worth eating, and options that make the better choice the easy one.
The sharpest teams aren’t the ones working through lunch. They’re the ones who stopped for it.