Your brain on junk food: New research shows it's not just harming your body

• Some scientists are proposing a new mental health condition — "ultra-processed food use disorder," The Wall Street Journal reports.

State of play: People who consistently eat high-fat, high-sugar snacks demonstrate higher activity in the parts of their brains that create dopamine, according to a study published in Cell Metabolism.

• In just eight weeks, participants' brains started to reward them for indulging in junk food. Their desire for low-fat foods started to disappear.

Researchers have discovered other troubling effects:

• In one study, some participants were given sugary, processed breakfasts to start their day. Others were given a healthier meal.
• Those who had junk food for breakfast didn't perform as well on learning and memory tests.

Zoom in: One way an imbalanced diet affects our brains is through the gut, The Journal notes.

• A junk-food forward diet is likely to result in a gut microbiome that is less diverse and has fewer types of bacteria, which work together to boost the immune function and regulate stress.