The Study
A Meal with Ultra-Processed Foods Leads to a Faster Rate of Intake and to a Lesser Decrease in the Capacity to Eat When Compared to a Similar, Matched Meal Without Ultra-Processed Foods
This study showed that when people with obesity ate a meal made of ultra-processed foods, they ate it faster and felt like they could eat more afterward—compared to a similar meal made of regular food. But it only looked at one meal, so we don’t know if this leads to weight gain or health problems over time.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Scientists gave people with obesity two breakfasts that had the same calories and nutrients — one made of ultra-processed foods, one made of regular foods — and watched how they ate and how their bodies reacted.
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 569 / 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 food is equally healthy, ultra-processing makes you eat faster and feel less full right after — which might lead to eating more overall.
- 2People ate the ultra-processed meal in 7.9 minutes vs.
- 311.1 minutes for the regular meal, chewed less, and felt they could eat more afterward (39.7 mm vs.
- 424.0 mm on a hunger scale).
- 5Their hormones and metabolism didn't change differently between meals.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Nutrients
Year
2024
Authors
Maria Bárbara Galdino-Silva, K.M.M. Almeida, A. D. Oliveira, J. V. L. Santos, M. Macena, D. R. Silva, M. R. Pereira, A. Silva-Júnior, D. C. Ferro, D. Paula, Guilherme César de Oliveira Carvalho, M. V. C. Rocha, Juliane Pereira da Silva, E. Barreto, N. Bueno
Related Content
Claims (6)
Foods that are highly processed and lack physical structure lead to higher calorie consumption because they require less chewing and reduce the body's natural signals that tell you when you are full.
In adults with obesity, eating one meal made from ultra-processed ingredients does not change the levels of ghrelin, leptin, GIP, glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR, energy expenditure, or heart rate variability after eating, compared to eating a meal with the same nutrients but without processing.
In adults with obesity, eating one ultra-processed meal results in a smaller drop in leptin levels compared to other meals, and this drop is larger in men than in women.
Adults with obesity report higher hunger levels immediately after eating a single ultra-processed meal compared to a nutrient-matched unprocessed meal, but this difference disappears when accounting for sex.
When adults with obesity eat a single meal of ultra-processed foods that have the same calories, fats, proteins, fiber, and salt as a non-processed meal, they eat it faster and chew less.
When meals have the same amounts of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, ultra-processed and non-processed foods produce the same metabolic responses.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.