Processed foods highly correlated with obesity epidemic in the US
As food consumed in the U.S. becomes more and more processed, obesity may become more prevalent. Detailed recommendations to improve diet quality and overall nutrition are needed for consumers, who are prioritizing food that is cheaper and more convenient, but also highly processed.
FAB RESEARCH COMMENT:
Abundant evidence has shown for a very long time now that rates of obesity, and the chronic diseases that go with it - like Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease - are strongly linked with the consumption of modern, western-type diets, rich in highly processed foods.By contrast, traditional diets, based on a variety of whole and minimally processed foods, are consistently linked with better health - both physical and mental.
This new review of dietary and health trends in the US reinforces these links yet again - and also flags the fact that the problem with the ultra-processed foods that now dominate typical diets in the US, UK and many other developed countries lies not just in their calorie content, but in the industrial processing methods used to create them - including the use of numerous artificial additives.
Of course, 'correlation is not causation'. And definitive causal links between diet and health are extremely difficult to 'prove' in humans - for numerous practical and ethical reasons.
However, as the authors of this review make clear:
Recent human trials have linked ultra-processed foods to decreased satiety (fullness), increased meal eating rates (speed), worsening biochemical markers, including inflammation and cholesterol, and more weight gain.
In other words, solid evidence IS now available from randomised controlled trials in humans - the 'gold standard' of study design for showing cause-and-effect relationships' - that ultra-processed diets increase appetite and food intake, and cause not only weight gain, but metabolic changes known to contribute to obesity, Type 2 diabetes and other chronic diseases. See:
For details of this research, see:
For more information on the effects of ultra-processed foods on mental as well as physical health, please see:
And see here for the latest articles on the 'obesity epidemic'.
6 January 2020 - MedicalXpress
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As food consumed in the U.S. becomes more and more processed, obesity may become more prevalent.
Through reviewing overall trends in food, George Washington University (GW) researcher Leigh A. Frame, Ph.D., MHS, concluded that detailed recommendations to improve diet quality and overall nutrition are needed for consumers, who are prioritizing food that is cheaper and more convenient, but also highly processed. Her conclusions are published in a review article in Current Treatment Options in Gastroenterology.
"When comparing the U.S. diet to the diet of those who live in 'blue zones'—areas with populations living to age 100 without chronic disease - the differences are stark," said Frame, co-author of the article, program director for the Integrative Medicine Programs, executive director of the Office of Integrative Medicine and Health, and assistant professor of clinical research and leadership at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences.
"Many of the food trends we reviewed are tied directly to a fast-paced U.S. lifestyle that contributes to the obesity epidemic we are now facing."
The rising obesity epidemic in the U.S., as well as related chronic diseases, are correlated with a rise in ultra-processed food consumption.
The foods most associated with weight gain include potato chips, sugar sweetened beverages, sweets and desserts, refined grains, red meats, and processed meats, while lower weight gain or even weight loss is associated with whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Other food trends outlined in the report include insufficient dietary fiber intake, a dramatic increase in food additives like emulsifiers and gums, and a higher prevalence of obesity, particularly in women.
In mice and in vitro trials, emulsifiers, found in processed foods, have been found to alter microbiome compositions, elevate fasting blood glucose, cause hyperphagia, increase weight gain and adiposity, and induce hepatic steatosis.
Recent human trials have linked ultra-processed foods to decreased satiety (fullness), increased meal eating rates (speed), worsening biochemical markers, including inflammation and cholesterol, and more weight gain.
In contrast, populations with low meat, high fiber, and minimally processed foods - the 'blue zones' - have far less chronic diseases, obesity rates, and live longer disease-free.
"Rather than solely treating the symptoms of obesity and related diseases with medication, we need to include efforts to use food as medicine," said Frame.
"Chronic disease in later years is not predestined, but heavily influenced by lifestyle and diet.
"Decreasing obesity and chronic disease in the U.S. will require limiting processed foods and increasing intake of whole vegetables, legumes, nuts, fruits, and water. Health care providers must also emphasize lifestyle medicine, moving beyond 'a pill for an ill.'"
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