Research
Macro partitioning
Ultra-processed foods act as significant vectors for 'risk ingredients' (added sugars, sodium, trans-fats, and cosmetic additives), contributing disproportionately to the intake of these harmful components compared to unprocessed foods.
Check labels for added sugars, sodium, and trans-fats. UPFs often contain high levels of these 'risk ingredients' even if they appear healthy (e.g., flavored yogurts, sauces). Reducing UPF intake naturally reduces the intake of these harmful components.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Caloric sweeteners comprised the dominant share of ingredients from UPFs and nearly the entire share of ingredients from UPBs... Vegetable oils made up a large share of the ingredients supplied exclusively from UPFs... Sodium was supplied from salt or salted ingredients added to UPF... Cosmetic additives increased everywhere, mostly from UPFs.
Why this rating
Based on quantitative analysis of sales data and ingredient volumes from the Euromonitor database.
Source
Ultra‐processed foods and the nutrition transition: Global, regional and national trends, food systems transformations and political economy drivers
Phillip Baker et al. · Obesity Reviews · 2020
DOI 10.1111/obr.13126
narrative_reviewCited 1,110×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- High consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) is a primary driver of the global nutrition transition, leading to increased risks of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease due to their role as vectors for excessive intake of added sugars, sodium, and trans-fats.Good
- The global expansion of ultra-processed food markets is driven by political economy factors, including trade liberalization, the activities of transnational food and beverage corporations (TFBCs), and inadequate regulatory policies, rather than solely by consumer demand.Moderate
Related findings · Macro partitioning
- Total daily protein intake of 1.6 g/kg/day is sufficient for maximizing resistance training-induced muscle gains, with an upper confidence interval of 2.2 g/kg/day.Strong
- Resistance exercise training combined with sufficient dietary protein intake acts synergistically to maximize skeletal muscle hypertrophy, with protein intake saturating around 1.6 g/kg/day for general populations and potentially requiring 2.0-2.2 g/kg/day for resistance-trained individuals.Strong
- Trans fats should be completely eliminated from the diet, as they increase LDL cholesterol, decrease HDL cholesterol, and are directly associated with increased coronary risk.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →