The Study
Impact of ultra-processed foods on short-term appetite regulation: Does body mass index make a difference?
This study watched what happened to people's hunger and blood sugar after they ate two different breakfasts. It found that one breakfast made people feel hungrier and raised their insulin more, but it didn't prove that the food itself caused those changes — maybe other things were involved.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
This study gave people two different breakfasts—one made of ultra-processed foods and one less processed—both with the same calories and nutrients, and measured how hungry they felt and how their body responded.
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 538 / 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 when eating the same calories, ultra-processed foods made people feel hungrier sooner and triggered more insulin, which may encourage overeating over time.
- 2People felt significantly hungrier after eating ultra-processed breakfasts (p=0.009) and had higher insulin spikes (p=0.016), but their blood sugar and appetite hormones like GLP-1 didn't change.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
International Journal of Obesity
Year
2025
Authors
Menşure Nur Çelik, Elif Ulug
Related Content
Claims (6)
In adults, the amount of insulin released and the feeling of hunger after eating ultra-processed or less processed breakfasts are the same regardless of whether a person has a normal or higher body mass index.
People report feeling hungrier after eating ultra-processed breakfasts compared to less processed breakfasts, even when blood sugar levels are the same.
Eating ultra-processed breakfasts results in higher insulin levels after eating and greater feelings of hunger afterward than eating less processed breakfasts, even when both meals have the same calories and nutrients.
Adults who eat ultra-processed breakfasts have higher insulin levels and feel hungrier for two hours after eating compared to those who eat less processed breakfasts, regardless of their body weight.
Eating breakfasts with different levels of processing does not change the levels of amylin, GLP-1, GIP, or glucose in the blood after eating, regardless of a person's body weight.
Ultra-processed foods interfere with the body's metabolic signals and hunger control mechanisms because they lack the natural structure of whole foods and contain isolated nutrients in ratios not found in nature.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.