Well, this may put the kibosh on my favorite dinner.  One I have enjoyed since I was a tyke.

For years, there have been rumors that eating processed foods is related to obesity.  The problem is that there were  correlations- but no proof of causation.

It’s true that those of us who eat plenty of processed foods are about 50% more likely to die from heart disease. (B. Srour, RM Andrianasolo, E Chazelas [PhD candidates] along with Drs.  LK Fezeu, E Kesse-Guyot, B Alles, C Mejean, M Deschasaux, S Hercberg, P Galan, CA Monteiro, C Julia, and M Touvier published this NutriNet Sante study of more than 100000 subjects in the British Medical Journal.)    But, here’s another correlation (A Rico-Campa, MA Martinez-Gonzalez, I Alvarez-Alvarez, C de la Fuente-Arrillaga, and M Bes- Rastrollo [along with PhD candidate C Gomez-Donoso] also in the British Medical Journal) that should make you wonder- those of us who eat processed foods are almost 70% more likely to die in an accident.  (You begin to see the problem when you accept correlations instead of causation!)

Well, here comes a study that brings the issue to the fore.  Via the National Institutes of Health, a randomized controlled trial to determine the effects of eating ultra-processed food will be published tomorrow in Cell.  Drs. KD hall, A Ayuketah, R Brychta, H Cai, T Cassimatis, KY Chen, ST Chung, E Costa, V Darcey, LA Fletcher, AM Gharib, J Guo, R Howard, M Stagliano, M Walter, PJ Walter, and M Zhou [all of NIDDKD – National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases], with A Courville and S Yang [NIH Clinical Center], and CG Forde [Singapore Institute for Clinical Services] authored the paper Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake.

For four weeks, 20 subjects (10 male and 10 female, around 30 y of age) were fed one of two diets- either ultra-processed or minimally processed.  Both diets had the same combination of carbohydrates, fats, and protein.  The subjects were allowed to eat as much as they wanted.  (After two weeks, the subjects were switched to the other diet, so all subjects had two weeks on each diet.)

And…

Those on the ultra-processed food diet consumed 500 more calories each day.  Oh, and they gained a few pounds, too.  (The subjects thought all their meals were equally good-tasting, so that was not an issue.)

Note that this was just one study- with only 20 subjects.  More data needs to be developed.  But, it gives more credence to the correlative data.

While we are not sure why those eating the ultra-processed diets gobbled more food, but one of the thoughts is that the ultra-processed foods were more dense (about 2 calories per gram, compared to 1 calorie per gram for the unprocessed food).  That meant the folks ate the meals faster, so the body’s signals that it was full (satiety) didn’t reach the brain until one had already overeaten.  (This has been the theory of Dr. Barbara Rolls of Penn State for years. Rolls provides an example of two cereals- one flaky [high volume] and the other crushed [denser]- and folks eat about 1/3 more of the crushed variety.)

Sheesh.

I am going to have to learn to eat a LOT slower or give up my noodles and cheese.

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