You don’t have to get too far into the research on processed foods to figure out that they slow down our fitness journeys. That’s because the combination of added ingredients such as salt, fat, and a long list of preservatives, play havoc with gut health and have even been linked to osteoarthritis. Now, a new study from the University of Bristol has shed light on just how many extra calories you may be consuming by opting for convenience, and why whole foods are a definite winner when it comes to losing weight while still eating more food.
The study, published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, was the result of valuable teamwork provided by the University of Bristol in the U.K and nutritional experts in the U.S., who found that when we eat a lot of fast or processed foods, our body’s ability to make healthy choices becomes impaired. Apparenty, we all have an innate ‘nutritional intelligence,’ that serves us well if eating whole foods, but it goes haywire when we opt for processed diets, gorging on empty calories and derailing our fitness goals.
How Was the Study Carried Out?
Individuals with a consistently stable body weight were told to eat separate, two-week diets of both ultra processed and unprocessed meals to assess how these regimes would regulate their overall food choices, meal sizes, and nutrient intake.
How Ultra-Processed Foods Disrupt Your Body’s Natural Hunger Signals
The experts found that people eating a completely unprocessed diet consumed more than 50% more food than those eating only UPF’s, but incredibly, the unprocessed group ate an average of 330 calories less, per day. “It’s exciting to see when people are offered unprocessed options, they intuitively select foods that balance enjoyment, nutrition, and a sense of fullness, while still reducing overall energy intake,” said the study’s lead author, Jeff Brunstrom. The results showed that rather than gravitating to higher calorie foods like rice or butter, the unprocessed group chose options such as fruits and vegetables, without a concerted effort to reduce calories.
“Our dietary choices aren’t random – in fact we seem to make much smarter decisions than previously assumed, when foods are presented in their natural state,” added Brunstrom. Building on earlier work that had found a similar pattern, the team believe that they also uncovered why people eating solely whole foods ate healthier overall. The new study concludes that the whole food group were able to make choices that allowed them to reap the benefits of essential vitamins and nutrients, because this behavior reflects a form of nutritional intelligence, which scientists call “micronutrient deleveraging” while the UPF group ate more calories but received a more negative nutritional profile. This intelligence becomes impaired when eating a processed diet, and people tend to chase energy dense foods.
“Overeating is not necessarily the core problem,” explained Brunstrom. “But the nutritional make-up of food is influencing choices, and it seems that UPFs are nudging people towards higher calorie options, which even in much lower quantities are likely to result in excess energy intake and in turn fuel obesity.”
If you’ve ever eaten a ton of junk calories from processed foods, only to feel hungry a short while later, this theory may ring true for you. Instead, it’s heartening (and heart healthy) to learn that focusing on whole foods means fuller stomachs, with fewer calories consumed, and better nutrition for our bodies.
