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This One Detail About Your Food May Change How Your Body Processes It
Imagine eating two breakfasts with almost identical calories, carbs, and protein.
One is made from minimally processed ingredients, while the other comes from a package. You might expect your body to treat them pretty much the same way. But food is more than its nutrition label.
In a randomized, controlled study1, researchers compared meals with nearly identical nutritional profiles but different levels of processing.
They wanted to find out whether the way food is made could change the body's response, even when the nutrients stay the same.
About the study
Researchers recruited 57 adults to investigate how food processing affects the body.
Of these, 32 participated in matched-meal sessions, eating two carefully matched meals on separate days, one ultraprocessed and one less processed. The study also included brain scans to explore how participants responded to food cues.
The meals contained nearly identical amounts of calories, protein, carbohydrates, fat, fiber, sodium, and water. They also had a similar glycemic index, which estimates how quickly a food raises blood sugar.
Researchers measured participants' blood sugar and insulin levels and tracked how their bodies used energy after eating.
During the brain scans, participants viewed food pictures and indicated how much they would be willing to pay for different foods.
The same nutrients, but a different response
Blood sugar levels were similar after both meals, but the ultraprocessed meal triggered a bigger insulin response that lasted longer. Insulin helps move sugar from the blood into cells, where it can be used for energy or stored for later.
Participants also burned fuel differently. After the less-processed meal, their bodies increased carbohydrate burning more. After the ultraprocessed meal, they burned more fat. Their overall metabolic rate was also higher after the ultraprocessed meal.
Brain scans revealed another potential connection. Among participants who completed both the meal sessions and brain scans, differences in carbohydrate burning were linked to differences in brain activity when they viewed food images. Brain activity also showed different relationships with how much participants were willing to pay for less-processed and ultraprocessed foods, even though they didn't consciously rate one type as more appealing.
These findings suggest food processing may affect both metabolic responses and brain activity.
Why the way food is made matters
Processing can change a food's physical structure, affecting how the body breaks it down during digestion. That means two foods with similar nutrition labels may not affect the body in exactly the same way.
Still, this was a relatively small study, and more research is needed to determine whether these short-term differences affect long-term health.
Simple ways to make more informed food choices
You don't need to ditch packaged foods or prepare every meal from scratch. Instead, try these realistic approaches:
- Choose less-processed options when convenient: Try plain oats with fruit instead of flavored instant oatmeal, or build a grain bowl with ingredients you enjoy.
- Look beyond the nutrition label: Calories and nutrients matter, but they're not the only factors to consider when choosing between foods.
- Take a gentler approach to cravings: Sleep, stress, habits, and your food environment can all influence what you want to eat. This study raises questions about how the body responds to different foods, but it doesn't prove that processing causes cravings.
The goal is to make choices that support your health without adding unnecessary stress to mealtimes.
The takeaway
Your metabolism doesn't always follow the script on the nutrition label. Choosing less-processed foods when they're accessible is one way to add variety to your plate, without turning dinner into a chemistry experiment.