There has long been an anecdotal connection between consuming highly processed foods and weight gain. But until now, there has been no clear scientific proof. Researchers at the US National Institutes of Health (NIH) have discovered a shocking connection between Junk Food and overeating…
Chips to the left of us, Cookies to the right… And we’re stuck there,
in the middle, just where the supermarket manager wants
us. Grocery stores dedicate entire aisles to Junk food!
What they did
Researchers admitted a group of 20 volunteers – 10 men and 10 women – to the NIH’s Clinical Center for a full month. They randomly fed them meals composed of either ‘highly processed’ foods or ‘minimally processed’ foods. For example, an ultra-processed breakfast might consist of a bagel with cream cheese and turkey bacon, while the unprocessed breakfast was oatmeal with bananas, walnuts, and skim milk. study subjects were allowed to eat as much as they wanted of their assigned foods.
What they found
The subjects who ate highly processed foods ate as much as 500 Calories more each day than those who ate minimally processed foods. They also ate faster than those on the minimally processed diet.
Participants, on average, gained 0.9 kilograms, or 2 pounds, while they were on the ultra-processed diet and lost an equivalent amount on the unprocessed diet.
The takeaway
Study Lead Author Dr. Kevin D. Hall says: “This is the first study to demonstrate causality – that ultra-processed foods cause people to eat too many calories and gain weight.”
Over time, extra calories add up, and that extra weight can lead to serious health conditions,” said NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Director Dr. Griffin P. Rodgers. “Research like this is an important part of understanding the role of nutrition in health and may also help people identify foods that are both nutritious and accessible — helping people stay healthy for the long term.”
My take
As I often say at this point in a post, it just makes sense. One of my culinary school Chef Professors was fond of saying, “Processing isn’t for the consumer, it’s to make the ingredients easier to run through the manufacturing process. Processing just takes all the good stuff out of food.”
And that doesn’t count the added Fat, Sugar and Salt that food manufacturers put into their products to make up in flavour and texture for what they process out.
Clearly, it’s better to eat minimally processed foods, and that once again brings to mind the ubiquitous Mediterranean Diet. The more science discovers about food, the more we hear about the Med Diet. Even the most skeptical of us have to admit, there must be something to it. But, as I always observe, we need to make minimally processed and healthy foods more affordable, so lower-income families and those on fixed incomes (like Seniors) can afford enough of them to fill their stomachs.
~ Maggie J.