© HALL ET AL./CELL METABOLISM
Researchers tracked how much people ate on “ultraprocessed” (left) and “minimally processed” (right) diets that were matched for calories and nutrients.
Researchers tracked how much people ate on “ultraprocessed” (left) and “minimally processed” (right) diets that were matched for calories and nutrients.
The study is "a landmark first," and a "shot over the bow" in a debate over the health of processed food, says Steven Heymsfield, an obesity researcher at Louisiana State University's Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge who was not involved with the work. But some experts question whether the study controlled for important differences between the diets.
The definition of "processed food" is controversial. Nearly all the food at grocery stores is subject to some processing: It's pasteurized, vacuum sealed, cooked, frozen, fortified, and mixed with preservatives and flavor enhancers. Some of these processes can change its nutritional qualities. And some studies have found associations between processed diets and increased risk of obesity, cancer, and even earlier death, but none has shown a causal link.
Comment: It could be that the processed foods, carefully formulated to maximize palatability, are addictive, and there is little doubt this has some affect on how much of it people eat. But it could also be that the food is so lacking in essential nutrients that the body actually signals one to eat more of it in order to get the minimum required nutrition. While the above study meticulously measured the nutrient content of the foods served in both trials, matching them as best they could, how many unknown nutrients are found in fresh whole foods that are lost during processing?
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