Foods like cookies, chips, and sugary cereals are designed to be eaten quickly and taste super good, so people eat more before feeling full than they do with whole foods like fruits or beans.

Processed foods often contain artificial sweeteners, chemicals to make them smooth, and toxins from packaging, which might interfere with how your body regulates hunger and fat storage.

People who eat a lot of highly processed foods like chips, sugary snacks, and frozen meals tend to eat more calories and gain more weight than those who eat whole foods, even when they’re not trying to.

Foods like white bread, soda, and packaged snacks cause rapid spikes in blood sugar, which can mess up your body’s ability to manage energy and insulin over time.

Consumption of hyper-palatable processed foods, even at matched meal frequency, leads to adverse metabolic outcomes (e.g., elevated insulin, insulin resistance, increased adiposity) compared to whole, unprocessed foods.

Processed foods are easier for your body to break down because they’re stripped of fiber and nutrients — so your body doesn’t have to work as hard, which means fewer calories burned.