Eating a lot of ultra-processed foods could leave more fat in the body, regardless of their calorie content, research has suggested.
Additive-laden foods like chips and candy have been vilified for decades for their supposed risks, and dozens of studies link them to type 2 diabetes, heart disease and cancer.
Experts have even called for ultra-processed foods (UPFs)—generally anything edible that has more artificial than natural ingredients—to be eliminated from diets.
Now, American scientists who followed more than 600 overweight Americans found that those who ate more junk food had greater amounts of fat stored within their thigh muscles.
The amount of calories in the food did not influence the effect.
Subsistence allowance High UPF even affected muscle quality, regardless of how much exercise the participants did.
While the risk was only small, the team argued that their findings echoed calls to limit certain types of UPF and warned that More fat in the thigh muscle could increase the risk of knee osteoarthritis.
Dr. Zehra Akkaya, a radiology and biomedical imaging researcher at the University of California and co-author of the study, said: “The novelty of this study is that it investigates the impact of diet quality, specifically the role of UPF in relation with intramuscular fat in thigh muscles evaluated by MRI.
Diets high in UPF even affected muscle quality regardless of how much exercise the participants did.
In the study, 666 adults with an average age of 60 and a BMI of 27 were questioned about their daily diet and underwent MRI scans.
About 40 percent of the food they ate last year was ultra-processed.
They found that the more UPF people consumed, the more intramuscular fat they had in their thigh muscles, regardless of energy intake – how many calories they ate.
The research will be presented in full at the annual conference of the Radiological Society of North America today in Chicago.
Dr Akkaya said: “In an adult population at risk of knee or hip osteoarthritis, UPF consumption is associated with increased fat in the thigh muscles.
“These findings held regardless of dietary energy content, BMI, sociodemographic factors, or physical activity levels.”
“The goal of initial treatment of knee osteoarthritis has been to focus on modifiable lifestyle factors, primarily the prevention of obesity through a healthy, balanced diet and adequate exercise.”
And he added: ‘Osteoarthritis is an increasingly common and costly global health problem.
The Nova system, developed by scientists in Brazil more than a decade ago, divides foods into four groups based on the amount of processing they have gone through. Unprocessed foods include fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, and meat. Processed culinary ingredients, which are not typically eaten alone, include oils, butter, sugar, and salt.
‘It is the largest contributor to non-cancer healthcare costs in the US and worldwide.
“Since this condition is closely related to obesity and unhealthy lifestyles, there are potential avenues to modify lifestyle and control the disease.”
The general term UPF is used to cover anything edible made with dyes, sweeteners and preservatives that extend its shelf life.
Prepared meals, ice cream, and tomato ketchup are some of the most beloved examples of products that fall under the umbrella term UPF.
This is now synonymous with foods that offer little nutritional value.
They are different from processed foods, which are modified to make them last longer or improve their flavor, such as cured meat, cheese, and fresh bread.
The UK is the worst country in Europe for UPF consumption, which makes up around 57 per cent of the national diet.
They are believed to be a key driver of obesity, which costs the NHS around £6.5bn a year to treat weight-related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and some cancers.
There are 3.5 million people living with osteoporosis in the UK, but it is often known as a ‘silent disease’ as there are no symptoms until someone breaks a bone.
Half of women and one in five men over the age of 50 will suffer a fracture, most often in the spine or hips, due to this disease, which causes bones to become so brittle that a fracture can be caused by a cough or a sneeze.
These fractures are the fourth leading cause of disability and premature death in the UK.