Research

Energy balance

Replacing ultra-processed foods with minimally processed foods leads to significant weight loss and reduced energy intake even when macronutrients and calories are matched.

Stop eating ultra-processed foods. The paper shows that even if you eat the same number of calories, UPFs make you eat more because they are hyper-palatable. Switch to minimally processed foods to naturally reduce calorie intake and lose weight.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Participants consumed 508 kcal/day more on the UPF diet, resulting in a weight gain of 0.9 kg, whereas they lost 0.9 kg when switched to the minimally processed food (MPF) diet.
Erind Gjermeni et al. · Cardiovascular Diabetology · 2025

Why this rating

Supported by randomized controlled trials (Hall et al.) and multiple meta-analyses of observational studies.

Source

The impact of dietary interventions on cardiometabolic health

Erind Gjermeni et al. · Cardiovascular Diabetology · 2025

DOI 10.1186/s12933-025-02766-w

narrative_reviewCited 11×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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