Food processing influences metabolism and brain activity

esperent

From the actual study: > The non-UPF and UPF test meals were closely matched on meal weight, energy, energy density, macronutrients, available carbohydrate, glycaemic index and load, total dietary fibre, sodium and water (all ≤1.6% deviation between meals; Fig. 1b). So they did match glycemic index, which the article omits.

niek_pas

Would love to read the original research paper if anyone has access to it. My university unfortunately doesn’t.

TheChaplain

I believe they are on to something, but wouldn't it be much better if the sample size was larger than just 57 people?

parasti

Only includes water in one type of meal?

pythonRon

Before we come to a final conclusion on this, we need to reexamine the NOVA food classification system. It holds some rather baffling contradictions. For instance, if you buy a deep fryer and a mandolin slicer to make your own potato chips at home, they're classified as processed foods. But if you buy a bag of plain potato chips (ingredients: potatoes, oil, salt) they're classified as ultra-processed.

bigbaguette

Make your own pastas with good quality flour and prepare a serve the same size as what you would normally be having with pastas from the supermarket. It's very likely you're not going to finish your plate.

astura

Why is cheese not considered highly processed?

bentt

> “The two meals are matched within 1 percent of carbs, fat, proteins, calories, water, and salt,” said Zach Hutelin, a researcher at the institute and the study’s first author. Note that fiber is not part of that list. Stripping out fiber essentially means that our gut microbiome is starved. Not coincidentally, it also means that these foods are much less prone to spoilage.

bilsbie

How should an anti maha person handle this finding? Seems like evidence maha is right to avoid processed foods. But that can’t be right.

seanhandley

I hope the ultra processed food industry will come to be viewed similarly to the tobacco industry over time. The human body is evidently not able to safely consume these products over the course of a lifetime and the ultimate toll on society and healthcare is already evident. They are addictive and harmful to the body’s mechanisms. It’s time to control the promotion, labelling and taxation of these products the same way we do cigarettes.

CharlieDigital

In Taiwan, many people eat out because it is quite cheap and convenient to do so (and for other cultural and social factors). Most homes have very small kitchens and refrigerators. Yet the rate of obesity is quite low for a high income country (Japan even lower) [0] But something that is different is how much of the food is prepared at the vendor from whole ingredients. Ingredients often acquired whole day-of from nearby markets. Ingredients that have a shorter supply chain and higher freshness due to the smaller geography. Reading this study, I wonder how much cheap ease of access to less processed foods contributes to the lower level of obesity and higher lifespans. [0] https://data.worldobesity.org/rankings/

scotty79

I wonder how they managed to put in same amount of salt in the low processed meal. That cheese must be super salty. I'd also wonder what would happen if they didint use heat treated carbs in the ultraptocessed one. If I were to guess I think they might be main offenders.

rramon

I think because the foods aren't equally digestible and as such lead to a different supply of steady energy. Food cravings can distract.

ticulatedspline

good study with, entirely expected results? Variances in bioavailability are well known no? A block of wood has calories but you can't live off it. As for processing there's been papers describing "roasting meat and veggies" as a gateway to our larger brains because cooking makes calories in food more available. Does a cooked steak and a raw steak actually show different values when measured with a calorimeter? their chosen dishes also seem to conflate a lot of factors, like processing, vs flavor. it's known that artificial sweeteners can elicit insulin responses despite not being a digestible sugar, I've heard studies showing that "Tasting" in the gut can perceive the sweetness.

bettercallsalad

What about blending? I often blend veggies and fruits with protein powder as smoothie to drink on the go. I noticed it keeps me less full than if I had the ingredients as a whole.

msteffen

For anyone who hasn’t read it, I highly recommend the book “Ultraprocessed People.” It's a scientifically literate and yet quite readable overview of research into ultraprocessed foods. FWIW there are four categories: 1 is whole foods (eg fruits, nuts) 2 is stuff that is processed but still basically an ingredient (eg flour, maple syrup) 3 is combinations of 1 and 2 (most restaurants are here) 4 is ultraprocessed food (UPF): things that were not food that have been turned into food (e.g. modified starches, artificial flavors). Also, anything containing UPFs is a UPF, so e.g. most breakfast cereal (food coloring, flavors) The basic thesis (which this research challenges, interestingly) is that UPFs aren’t inherently bad, but food scientists are shockingly good at creating highly specific and desirable flavors and textures (the book gives the example of a food company creating "ice cream" out of various modified starches and flavors so that it doesn't melt during shipping), and foods that come out of this process have generally been engineered to overwhelm our natural feedback mechanisms against overeating in order to sell more product.