The new study, the first clinical trial to directly compare how ultra-processed foods and unprocessed foods influence health, could have important implications. Ultra-processed foods make up more than half of the calories that Americans consume, and they are becoming increasingly widespread across the globe as multinational food companies push deeper into developing countries. While there are many ways to define ultra-processed foods, they are typically packaged or fast foods that contain many ingredients, such as added sugars, refined carbohydrates, industrial oils, sodium and synthetic flavors and preservatives. But people in lower socioeconomic brackets tend to consume the most ultra-processed foods. As a result, large population studies cannot entirely separate the effects of eating ultra-processed foods from other lifestyle factors that influence disease risk.

Source: New York Times May 16, 2019 15:35 UTC