A study conducted by the US government suggests that people who eat mostly ultra-processed products ingest more calories and gain more weight than others.
It is no longer a myth: a diet based on ultra-processed products (industrial food, ready meals, etc.) rhymes with higher calorie levels and weight gain. In the review Cell Metabolism, researchers have published the results of a trial that directly compares the differences between a diet based solely on ultra-processed products and a diet without ultra-processed products. The results show that even when the levels of carbohydrates, fats, sugars, salts and calories are the same in the two diets, people on an ultra-processed diet tended to eat more and gain weight.
Experts have long suspected that the growing consumption of ultra-processed foods over the past fifty years was a major cause of today’s obesity epidemic. But until now, it was difficult to establish a direct connection.
“I was surprised by the results of this trial, because I thought that if we equalized the levels of components like sugars, fat, carbohydrates, proteins and sodium, there would be nothing magical about the ultra-processed foods causing people to eat more, says Kevin Hall, the study’s lead author and section chief in the Laboratory of Biological Modeling at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. an ultra-processed diet ate more calories, which meant weight and fat gain.”
508 more calories per day
Twenty volunteers participated in the study. Each participant was placed on an ultra-processed or unprocessed diet for two weeks, consisting of three meals a day with unlimited access to water and ultra-processed or unprocessed snacks. The next two weeks, he changed his diet.
On average, when fed the ultra-processed diet, participants consumed 508 more calories per day, compared to their daily consumption on the unprocessed diet. In two weeks, they also gained on average almost a kilo while they lost one on the unprocessed diet period.
Another discovery: the participants had much more energy to spare when they consumed ultra-processed foods. But they weren’t expending enough to compensate for the increased number of calories consumed.
Foods that make you eat faster
Several hypotheses emerged after this trial as to why the ultra-processed diet caused people to eat more and gain weight. The most interesting shows that it could be related to the fact that participants on the ultra-processed diet often ate faster. “It may have to do with the texture or sensory properties of the food that caused them to eat faster,” Hall explains. we are no longer hungry. It can easily lead to overeating.”
We will have to wait for subsidiary studies to understand the why and how.
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