WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A six-month study by University College London found that people lost more weight and unhealthy fat when eating minimally processed foods compared to ultra-processed foods or UPFs.
In the study, participants followed two different diets - one with UPFs like breakfast bars and ready-made lasagne, and the other with fresh, minimally processed meals like oats with yoghurt and homemade spaghetti. Each diet lasted eight weeks, with a four-week break in between. Everyone tried both diets.
Participants were allowed to eat as much or as little as they wanted. All meals were delivered to their homes, and they also filled out questionnaires about their food cravings. The group on the minimally processed diet had fewer cravings and found it easier to control them - even though weight loss usually makes cravings worse.
Even though the two diets had the same nutrients, people lost twice as much weight on the minimally processed diet. They also ate fewer calories, about 290 fewer per day, compared to 120 fewer calories on the UPF diet. Over a year, this could mean up to 13 percent weight loss for men and 9 percent for women.
Researchers said this shows that cooking fresh meals and avoiding packaged or ready-made foods is better for managing weight. They also urged governments to take action by using warning labels, limiting marketing of unhealthy foods, offering tax benefits for healthy options, and making nutritious food more affordable.
'The global food system at the moment drives diet-related poor health and obesity, particularly because of the wide availability of cheap, unhealthy food,' Prof Chris van Tulleken noted.
'This study highlights the importance of ultra-processing in driving health outcomes in addition to the role of nutrients like fat, salt and sugar. It underlines the need to shift the policy focus away from individual responsibility and on to the environmental drivers of obesity, such as the influence of multinational food companies in shaping unhealthy food environments.'
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