Why eating salty carbs might make you gain weight
Meal composition during an ad libitum buffet meal and longitudinal predictions of weight and percent body fat change: The role of hyper-palatable, energy dense, and ultra-processed foods
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists watched what people ate in a buffet and then checked their weight a year later. They found that people who ate more salty carbs (like pasta with sauce or chips) tended to gain more weight and fat — even if they didn’t eat more total calories.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 547 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists watched what people ate in a buffet and then checked their weight a year later. They found that people who ate more salty carbs (like pasta with sauce or chips) tended to gain more weight and fat — even if they didn’t eat more total calories.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 547 / 72
Evidence Score
Groups of people are followed over time to see who develops an outcome. Strong for identifying risk factors and associations, but cannot prove causation as firmly as RCTs.
Publication
Authors
Fazzino TL, Dorling JL, Apolzan JW, Martin CK
Related Content
Claims (6)
When a person consistently consumes more energy than they expend, the excess energy is stored as body fat.
In healthy young adults, eating foods high in carbohydrates and sodium is linked to gaining weight over a year, even when accounting for total calories, the proportions of fat, carbs, and protein, or how processed the foods are.
In healthy young adults without obesity, eating a higher share of highly palatable foods rich in carbohydrates and sodium during one meal is linked to small increases in body weight and body fat over the next year, even when accounting for total calories eaten and other dietary factors.
Eating foods with high calorie content in one sitting does not lead to increased weight or body fat over a year in healthy young adults, even though such foods may encourage eating more in other situations.
Eating meals high in fat and sodium that are designed to be highly rewarding does not lead to increases in body weight or body fat over a year in healthy young adults, even though these foods are labeled as hyper-palatable using the same criteria applied to carbohydrate-and-sodium foods.