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"Once you have jumped, you can not stop yourself anymore," says Pringles' old slogan.
Anyone who has ever opened a bag of potato chips knows how difficult it can be to store it unfinished. A new study from the National Institutes of Health aims to understand why.
The "flagship" research, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, shows that "ultra-processed" foods can actually create a habit, causing people to overeat and gain more weight than those from an entire food or from a poorly processed diet.
Previous studies have shown that food consumption of this type is associated with an increased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease and premature death, but these self-reported observational studies could only show a correlation. As a result, scientists could not attribute processed diets directly to a diet. obesity and disease.
The first strictly controlled trial of this type conducted by the NIH found that those who followed a high-consumption diet consumed an average of 508 more calories – which led experts to speculate that these foods were addictive – and each earned about 2 kilos during the two weeks. period of the week. Those on the unprocessed diet actually lost 2 pounds.
"I was surprised by the results of this study because I thought that if we combine the two diets with components such as sugars, lipids, carbohydrates, proteins and sodium, nothing would be magic about Ultra-processed food people eat more, "said senior author Kevin Hall of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases at NIH. "But we found that in fact, people were consuming a lot more calories in their ultra-processed diet, which made them gain weight and body fat."
For a month, 20 healthy volunteers were admitted to NIH's Metabolic Clinical Research Unit and split into two groups: one on an ultra-processed diet (read: white bread, canned goods , potted condiments, etc.) and the other-based -scratch meal. After two weeks, the groups exchanged their patterns. Participants received three meals a day, as well as water and snacks at will, depending on their diet. Everything they consumed was recorded.
According to the NOVA Food Classification System, which separates foods into four groups based on their processing level, a breakfast consisting of honey and walnut Cheerios, fiber-enriched whole milk, blueberry muffin and margarine was considered ultra-processed; A perfect breakfast based on Greek yogurt, strawberries, bananas, nuts, salt and olive oil, with a side of sliced apple and freshly squeezed lemon is an example of a breakfast not transformed. Participants agreed that both diets were tasty and satisfying.
Researchers also ensured volunteers in both diets received almost the same nutrition regardless of treatment. To compensate for the lack of dietary fiber in the processed diet, participants in this group also received drinks with added fiber, such as fruit juice or lemonade.
Participants who started on a diet cut 508 calories a day, took 2 pounds and took body fat in the first two weeks. They then lost weight and fat by switching to whole foods. In just one month, metabolic tests revealed no significant health problems, such as those observed in liver fat, hormones and blood glucose levels.
Why do processed foods encourage overeating?
Researchers believe that participants in processed diets may consume more, because they also eat faster than others.
"The textural or sensory properties of food may make them eat faster," says Hall. "If you eat fast, you may not be able to give your digestive tract enough time to signal to your brain that you are full. When this happens, you could easily eat too much.
Processed foods also tend to be more calorie dense. As a result, less is needed to provide the same amount of energy as unprocessed foods. Even with the addition of fiber-based beverages, which some researchers believe does not satisfy the taste of solid foods, participants sought stronger foods and therefore consumed more calories.
In addition, despite all the efforts they made to balance nutrition in both diets, they could not help but think that 15.6% of calories from an unprocessed diet came from protein, compared with 14%.
"It may be that people are eating more because they are trying to reach certain protein targets," Hall says.
The investigators plan to continue researching the causes of increased caloric intake among those who consume a lot of processed foods, although they admit that this can be hard to avoid.
"We know that many factors explain why a person can choose an ultra-prepared meal instead of a non-processed meal," Hall said. "People in lower socioeconomic groups, in particular, must take into account the skills, equipment, knowledge and expenses needed to create unprocessed meals."
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