Why You Should Worry Less About Ultraprocessed Foods

The Washington Post published a story exploring the connection between ultraprocessed foods and obesity, and it’s not a lot of naïve, fearmongering stuff. Rather, it’s a pretty insightful look at the energy density of those foods, compliments of Kevin Hall, a scientist at the National Institutes of Health – at least he was at NIH, last time we checked.

Why worry less? “It’s not because processed foods are good for you! They’re not, mostly,” the article says early on. “But the processing isn’t the reason.”

Ultraprocessed foods are typically more energy-dense, Hall theorized in his 2019 study on the subject, thereby packing more calories into the same amount of food. But that study didn’t explain why people tend to eat more of ultraprocessed foods. His current study does, with a preliminary finding that energy density actually drives overeating.

It’s a good read and it doesn’t require registering or a subscription; see it here.