WASHINGTON — Instant noodles, soft drinks, sweetened breakfast cereals and ready meals: Ultra-processed food means not only missing recommended grains and proteins, it can also leave you at risk of “silent stroke” and cognitive decline by middle age, researchers in Canada say.

After testing around 9,000 people in Canada aged 35 to 69, scientists at McMaster University and the Population Health Research Institute (PHRI) found those with the “highest intake” of processed food to be 40% more likely to exhibit a form of brain damage that “may increase the chances of clinical stroke and future memory problems.”

Silent strokes show no obvious symptoms, but cause permanent damage and are seen as early warning signs that can appear years before a major stroke.

“I would not have expected this finding, frankly,” said Russell de Souza, a McMaster associate professor and PHRI scientist, who said the impact is usually “associated with conditions we hear about and treat at a much older age.”

Processed food made up…