People in the UK have lost twice as much weight by eating dishes that are usually made at home than when eating ultra-prohibited food, considered healthy, have found the latest research.
“This new study shows that even when the ultra -processed diet responds to nutritional instructions, people will still lose weight by eating a minimally processed diet,” says Co -Guer Dr. Kevin Hall, a former senior researcher at the US National Health Institutes, which has conducted some of the only controlled clinical trials in the world for Ultra -Processes.
“This (study) is the largest and longest randomized controlled clinical trial of ultra -processed foods so far,” Hall added.
Past studies of the living room have seized healthy volunteers at the clinic for one month, measuring the effects of ultra -prohibited food on their weight, body fat and various health biomarkers. In a 2019 study, he found that people in the United States ate about 500 calories more every day and gained weight when on an ultra -processed diet than when they eat a minimally processed diet combined with calories and nutrients.
Weight loss from minimally processed food in the new study was modest – only 2% of the main weight of the person, said the first author of the study Samuel Dicker, a research associate at the Department of Behavioral Science and Health and the Center for the Study of Obesity at London University College.
Food made from whole foods at home are considered “minimally processed”. – Momo Productions/Digital Vision/Getty Images
“Although a 2% reduction may not look very big, it’s only over eight weeks and without people trying to actively reduce (food) intake,” Dicker says in a statement. “If we have scale these results for one year, we would expect to see a 13% weight loss of men and a 9% reduction in women.”
Men usually have more lean muscle mass than women, who, along with testosterone, often give them a faster impetus to women when it comes to weight loss, experts say.
More healthy ultra -processed foods
The study, published on Monday, on Nature Medicine, provides free ultra -processed or minimally processed dishes and snacks to 55 overweight people in the UK for a total of eight weeks. After a short break, the groups went to the opposite diet for another eight weeks.
The study participants were told to eat as much or a little of 4,000 daily calories as they liked and to record their consumption in a diary. At the end of the study, 50 people spent eight weeks for both dietsS Although the number of participants may seem small at first glance, providing 16 weeks of food and the application of randomized controlled clinical trials can be expensive.
During the first eight weeks, 28 people receive daily deliveries of minimally processed meals and snacks, such as oats overnight and home -made spaghetti Bolognese.
Minimally processed foods, such as fruits, vegetables, meat, milk and eggs, are usually cooked from their natural state, according to a new, recognized system for categorizing foods at their level of processing.
At the same time, the other 27 people receive a daily delivery of ultra-processed foods-as ready to consume breakfast bars or lasagna with heat and eating for eight weeks.
Ultra -processed foods or UPFS contain supplements that are never used or rarely in kitchens and often undergo extensive industrial processing, according to the NOVA classification system.
Since ultra -procedural foods are usually high in calories, added sugar, sodium and saturated fat and low fiber content, they are associated with weight gain and obesity and the development of chronic conditions, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and depression. Such foods can even cut life.
However, researchers in this study did something unusual, said Christopher Gardner, Professor of Renborough Farkhar medicine at Stanford University in California, who runs Stanford’s Food Research Research Research.
“They tried to make a healthy ultra -prohibited diet by choosing ultra -procedural foods with the recommended number of fruits, vegetables and fiber and lower levels of salt, sugar and saturated fats,” says Gardner, who did not participate in the study.
Both the ultra -pro -processed and minimally processed dishes had to meet the nutritional requirements of the Eatwell Manual, the official government leadership of the United Kingdom how to eat a healthy, balanced diet. The United States has similar dietary guidelines that are used to determine federal nutrition standards.
“This is a very solid study that corresponds to dietary interventions for the distribution of nutrients and nutritional groups, while changing only the contribution of ultra-processed foods,” says Dr. David Katz, a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine, in email. Katz, who did not participate in the study, is the founder of the non -profit initiative for real health, a global coalition of experts dedicated to lifestyle medicine based on evidence.
The lure of ultra -proceduced food
The purpose of the study was to lose weight, which often came with improved cardiovascular indications, such as less blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood sugar.
This happened, but in a rather strange and surprising ways, said Marion Nesten, Palett Emery Nutrition Professor, Food Research and Public Health at New York University, which was asked to write an editorial to be published with the study.
Instead of gaining weight, the people of the ultra -prosecuted diet chose to eat 120 less calories a day, thus losing weight. However, the people of the minimally processed diet ate 290 less calories a day, thus losing even more weight and some body fat.
“One of the possible explanations is that (people on a minimally processed diet) do not like” healthy “dishes as much as their usual diets,” a Nestle, who has not participated in the study, writes in the editorial office.
“They considered the minimally processed diet less tasty,” Nestle said. “This diet focuses on” real “fresh foods, while the ultra -processed diet included packaged on the” healthy “ultra -processed foods such as fruits, nuts and protein bars; sandwiches and dishes; drinking sour and vegetable milk. “
Less than 1% of people in the United Kingdom follow all the nutritional recommendations of the government, according to the study, often choosing ultra -processed foods as the basis of its normal daily intake. In the United States, nearly 60% of adult calorie consumption is from ultra -processed foods.
“People in this study are overweight or obese and have already eaten a high -degree diet in all kinds of ultra -processed foods,” Gardner said. “So the ultra -prosecuted diet in the study was fresher than their typical normal diet. Isn’t that a strange twist?”
People at the minimally processed diet had a lower levels of triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, but other heart health markers do not vary much between the two diets, according to the study.
There was one remarkable exception: low density lipoprotein or LDL, known as “bad” cholesterol, because it can accumulate in arteries and create blockages in the heart.
“Surprisingly, LDL cholesterol has been reduced more than the ultra -processed diet,” says nutritionist Dimitrios Kutukidis, Assistant Professor of Diet, Obesity and Behavioral Science at Oxford University who did not participate in the study.
“This may mean that processing is not as important for heart health if food already meets the standard guidelines for healthy eating in the UK,” Cukidis says in a statement. “Additional research is needed to better understand this.”
According to the living room, the results fit quite well with the preliminary results of his current study, which is still underway. In this study, Hall and his team measure the impact of four configurations of ultra -processed foods on the health of 36 volunteers. Everyone has lived in the Metabolic Clinical Research Unit of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center in Besda, Maryland.
“When you change an ultra -processed diet to have a lower energy density (calories) and less highly pleasant foods, you can compensate some of the effects of ultrapro -foods in causing unnecessary calorie intake and weight gain,” Hall said.
In other words, choose healthier foods, regardless of processing levels.
“People do not eat the best ultra -processed foods, they eat the highest, so taking home here is to follow the national instructions on the quality of nutrients,” Gardner said.
“Read your nutrient label and choose foods that are low in salt, fats, sugar and calories and high in fiber and avoid foods with too many supplements with non -adopted names. This is the key to a healthier diet.”
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