Inside the government study trying to understand the health effects of ultraprocessed foods

Betisda, Maryland (AFP)-Sam Seritata, a 20-year-old college student in Florida, spent a month lived inside a government hospital here in the past fall, played video games and allowed scientists to document all the food that entered his mouth.

From the large vessels of salad to the dishes of the meat balls and spaghetti sauce, SriSata made a way to study nutrition aimed at understanding the health effects of super foods and the controversial fare that is now representing More than 70 % From the United States food supplies. The Associated Press was allowed for one day.

“Today, the nucleus of chicken, some chips, and some ketchup,” said SriSata, one of the three participants, who dedicated 28 days of their lives. “It was very satisfactory.”

The study of what made these nuggets very satisfactory is the goal of a widely expected research led by the National Institutes of Health Institutes Kevin Hall.

“What we hope to do is know what these mechanisms are so that we can better understand this process,” Hall said.

Hall’s study depends on patients’ measurements around the clock throughout the week, instead of self -reported data, to investigate whether the processed foods are superior to eating more calories and weight gain, and they may lead To obesity And other well -documented health problems. And if they did, how?

At a time when health minister Robert F. Kennedy Junior Nutrition and Chronic Diseases is a major priority, the answers cannot come soon.

Kennedy has repeatedly targeted processed foods as the main perpetrator behind a group of diseases affecting Americans, especially children. Senate pledged Confirmation session To focus on removing such foods from school lunch for children because they “get sick”.

High -treated foods in the United States and other places have exploded in recent decades, just as obesity and other diseases related to diet are increased.

Foods, which are often high in fat, sodium and sugar, are usually cheap and great production and contain additional chemical colors and materials that are not present in the home kitchen. Think about sugary grains, potato chips, frozen pizza, soda and ice cream.

Studies have linked Useful foods For negative health effects, but whether the actual treatment of foods – instead of the nutrients it contains or anything else – are still unconfirmed.

small 2019 Analysis By Hall and his colleagues, he found that highly treated foods pushed the participants to eat about 500 calories a day more than they were eating a identical diet of unprocessed foods.

The new study aims to repeat and expand this research – and test new theories about the effects of highly treated foods. One of them is that some foods contain irresistible groups of ingredients – fats, sugar, sodium and carbohydrates – that lead to eating more people. The other is that foods contain more calories for each bite, which makes it possible to consume more without realizing it.

Treachery of these answers requires volunteer readiness such as SRISATTA and the knowledge of health and diet experts who determine, collect and analyze data behind the study estimated at millions of dollars.

During his month in the National Institutes of Health, Seritata monitored his wrist, ankle and waist to follow each movement, and abandoning up to 14 vials of blood. Once a week, he spent 24 hours inside a metabolic room, a small room equipped with sensors to measure how his body uses food, water and air. He was allowed to go out, but only with supervision to prevent any snacks.

“He doesn’t really feel this bad,” said Sarisa.

It can eat a lot or a little as I like. Sarah Turner, a dietitian at the National Health Institutes of Health, which designed the food plan, said that the meals that were transferred to his room three times a day were made to meet the accurate requirements of the study. On the bottom floor of the National Health Institutes Building, a team measured the cooked foods, its slices and kitchen carefully before sending it to SriSata and other participants.

“The challenge is to make all the nutrients work, but it still has to be delicious and look good,” said Turner.

The results of the experiment are expected to be later this year, but the initial results are interesting. At a scientific conference in November, Hall stated that the first 18 participants in the experiment took about 1,000 calories a day more than a highly processed diet, which was especially excessive and intense energy from those who eaten minimal processed foods, which leads to weight gain.

Hall said that when these characteristics were modified, consumption decreased, even if foods are considered super treatment. The data is still collected by the remaining participants and must be completed, analyzed and published in the corporate review magazine.

However, early results indicate that you can “normalize” almost the amount of energy “, although they are still eating a diet more than 80 % of calories from the treated super -treated food,” Hall told the public.

Not everyone agrees with Hall’s methods, or the effects of his research.

Dr. David Ludwig, an endocrinologist and researcher at Boston Children’s Hospital, criticized Hall’s study of 2019 as “mainly defective within a short period” – about a month. He said that scientists have long knew that it could make people eat more or less for short periods of time, but these effects are declining quickly.

“If it is perseverance, we will have an answer to obesity,” said Ludwig, who has argued for years.

He called for larger studies and the best design of at least two months, with “laundry” periods separating the effects of one diet from the following. Otherwise, “We waste our energy, we are misleading science,” Ludwig said.

Marion Nestle, a food policy expert, said the fears about the short length of studies may be valid.

“To resolve it, Hall needs funding for longer studies with more people,” she said in an email.

The National Health Institutes spend about $ 2 billion annually, or about 5 % of their total budget, on nutrition research, according to Senate documents.

At the same time, the agency has reduced the metabolic unit capacity as researchers conduct such studies, which reduces the number of beds that must be shared among researchers. Participants are now registered in the position and the two planned two are the hall that you can study at any time, adding two months to the search process.

SriSata, a volunteer in Florida who hopes to become a doctor in the emergency room, said that participating in the trial left him keen to learn more about how foods processed affect human health.

“I mean, I think everyone knows it is better not to eat processed foods, right?” He said. “But there is evidence that supports this in ways that the public can easily digest,” he said.

HHS officials have not responded to Kennedy’s intentions regarding nutrition research at the National Health Institutes. The agency, just like many others in the federal government, is the cost -run -up engineering engine and his billionaire billionaire assistant.

Gereold Mandy, a former federal food policy consultant in three departments, said he supports Kennedy’s goals of treating diseases related to diet. It has paid a proposal for a 50 -bed attachment where government nutritionists can put and feed enough volunteers in the study, such as SriSata, to determine how to affect the meals specified on human health.

“If you will make America healthy again and will treat chronic diseases, we need a better science to do this,” said Mandy.

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