The Study
Effect of dietary advanced glycation end products on postprandial appetite, inflammation, and endothelial activation in healthy overweight individuals
This study tested if eating food cooked at high heat (like grilled chicken) changes how hungry you feel or how your body reacts right after eating. It found tiny changes in some body signals, but it didn't prove that eating grilled food makes you gain weight or get sick — it just showed what might happen after one meal.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave people two meals with the same food — one grilled (high-AGE) and one steamed (low-AGE) — to see if the grilled version made them hungrier or sicker.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 548 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Even though the body showed signs of stress and higher blood sugar, people didn’t feel any different — so the meal didn’t make them overeat, but it did stress their cells.
- 2After the grilled meal: blood sugar went up 2.7% (p=0.027), urine showed 15–20% more oxidative stress markers, and the hunger hormone ghrelin rose by 16%.
- 3But people didn’t feel hungrier or eat more.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Nutrition
Year
2013
Authors
Malene W Poulsen, M. Bak, Jeanette M. Andersen, Rastislav Monošík, Anne C. Giraudi-Futin, J. Holst, J. Nielsen, L. Lauritzen, L. Larsen, S. Bügel, L. Dragsted
Related Content
Claims (8)
Cooking protein- and fat-containing foods at high temperatures produces compounds called advanced glycation end products that trigger systemic inflammation.
Eating one meal high in advanced glycation end products raises levels of CML, MG-H1, F2-isoprostanes, and blood glucose in the blood and urine of healthy overweight adults compared to a meal low in these compounds.
In healthy overweight adults, eating a meal high in advanced glycation end-products causes a greater spike in blood sugar after eating compared to eating a meal low in advanced glycation end-products.
Eating one meal high in advanced glycation end-products raises ghrelin levels by about 16% compared to a low-AGE meal in healthy overweight adults, but does not change reported hunger or how much food is eaten afterward.
In healthy overweight adults, eating one meal high in advanced glycation end products does not change levels of inflammation or blood vessel activation markers more than a low-AGE meal, although there is a borderline statistical change in blood vessel activation.
A single meal high in advanced glycation end-products raises levels of F2-isoprostanes in urine by 15–20% compared to a low-AGE meal, showing a measurable increase in lipid peroxidation and oxidative stress without altering inflammation or appetite.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.