Research

Adherence

UPF intake may influence energy intake and metabolic responses through factors like energy density, eating rate, and hyper-palatability, but these mechanisms are not yet fully understood.

Try to be mindful of how quickly you eat and the energy density of your meals. UPFs are often designed to be hyper-palatable and energy-dense, which can lead to overconsumption. Choosing whole, minimally processed foods may help regulate energy intake.

ModerateConditionalMEDIUM confidence
What, if any, attributes of UPFs influence ingestive behavior and contribute to excess energy intake? What, if any, attributes of UPFs contribute to clinically meaningful metabolic responses?
Lauren E O’Connor et al. · Advances in Nutrition · 2023

Why this rating

Some controlled feeding trials show differences in energy intake, but results are mixed and mechanisms are not fully established.

Source

Perspective: A Research Roadmap about Ultra-Processed Foods and Human Health for the United States Food System: Proceedings from an Interdisciplinary, Multi-Stakeholder Workshop

Lauren E O’Connor et al. · Advances in Nutrition · 2023

DOI 10.1016/j.advnut.2023.09.005

narrative_reviewCited 40×
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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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