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Want to lose weight? Avoid ultra-processed food
The blame on obesity might lie in modern diets of ultra-processed food.
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The blame on obesity might lie in modern diets of ultra-processed food. (Shutterstock/Manon van Os)
A new study published in the Cell Metabolism journal found that people eat and weigh more if they consume ultra-processed food.
A trial by the US National Institutes of Health involving 20 adults tracked their calorie intake for 28 days, split into two periods based on an ultra-processed or processed diet.
In the trial, the participants were instructed to eat as much or little as they wanted. The results showed people ate more when they were an ultra-processed diet, resulting in an additional 500 calories per day. The participants also gained 0.9 kg in two weeks of eating ultra-processed food and lost 0.7 kg in two weeks of eating unprocessed food.
Read also: Eating healthy in 2018: Take a close look at the labels
The type of food might influence a hunger-suppressing hormone called PYY. When the participants were on an ultra-processed food diet, they had a lower level of this hormone and higher levels of the hunger hormone -- hence their desire to eat more.
The result suggests that the blame on obesity might lie in modern diets of ultra-processed food. Ultra-processed food has a broad definition, but the term usually refers to food that has been processed, often more than once, and contains additives and industrial sources of dietary energy and nutrients.
Usually, ultra-processed food is cheaper, more convenient and has a longer shelf-life, hence its popularity. (dev/kes)
