Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake
Kevin D Hall, Alexis Ayuketah, Robert Brychta, Hongyi Cai, Thomas Cassimatis, Kong Y Chen, Stephanie T Chung, Elise Costa, Amber Courville, Valerie Darcey, Laura A Fletcher, Ciaran G Forde, Ahmed M Gharib, Juen Guo, Rebecca Howard, Paule V Joseph, Suzanne McGehee, Ronald Ouwerkerk, Klaudia Raisinger, Irene Rozga, Michael Stagliano, Mary Walter, Peter J Walter, Shanna Yang, Megan Zhou, Kevin D Hall, Alexis Ayuketah, Robert Brychta, Hongyi Cai, Thomas Cassimatis, Kong Y Chen, Stephanie T Chung, Elise Costa, Amber Courville, Valerie Darcey, Laura A Fletcher, Ciaran G Forde, Ahmed M Gharib, Juen Guo, Rebecca Howard, Paule V Joseph, Suzanne McGehee, Ronald Ouwerkerk, Klaudia Raisinger, Irene Rozga, Michael Stagliano, Mary Walter, Peter J Walter, Shanna Yang, Megan Zhou
Abstract
We investigated whether ultra-processed foods affect energy intake in 20 weight-stable adults, aged (mean ± SE) 31.2 ± 1.6 years and BMI = 27 ± 1.5 kg/m2. Subjects were admitted to the NIH Clinical Center and randomized to receive either ultra-processed or unprocessed diets for 2 weeks immediately followed by the alternate diet for 2 weeks. Meals were designed to be matched for presented calories, energy density, macronutrients, sugar, sodium, and fiber. Subjects were instructed to consume as much or as little as desired. Energy intake was greater during the ultra-processed diet (508 ± 106 kcal/day; p = 0.0001), with increased consumption of carbohydrate (280 ± 54 kcal/day; p < 0.0001) and fat (230 ± 53 kcal/day; p = 0.0004), but not protein (-2 ± 12 kcal/day; p = 0.85). Weight changes were highly correlated with energy intake (r = 0.8, p < 0.0001), with participants gaining 0.9 ± 0.3 kg (p = 0.009) during the ultra-processed diet and losing 0.9 ± 0.3 kg (p = 0.007) during the unprocessed diet. Limiting consumption of ultra-processed foods may be an effective strategy for obesity prevention and treatment.
Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03407053.
Keywords: diet quality; energy balance; energy intake; processed food; weight gain; weight loss.
Conflict of interest statement
Declaration of Interests
CG Forde has received reimbursement for speaking at conferences sponsored by companies selling nutritional products, serves on the scientific advisory council for Kerry Taste and Nutrition, and is part of an academic consortium that has received research funding from Abbott Nutrition, Nestec, and Danone. The other authors have no conflicts of interest.
Published by Elsevier Inc.
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Source: PubMed