ArticleCurrent developments in nutrition2020
Ultra-Processing or Oral Processing? A Role for Energy Density and Eating Rate in Moderating Energy Intake from Processed Foods.
Article in Current developments in nutrition, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 84 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
84 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Cancer Risk: An Umbrella Review of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses.Journal of food science · 2026Pooled it
- Biochemical, Molecular and Behavioral Changes Induced by High-fat and High-sugar Diets: A Systematic Review of Non-clinical Studies.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Pooled it
- Ultra-processed food intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: a pooled analysis of three prospective cohorts of Korean adults and an updated meta-analysis.European journal of epidemiology · 2025Pooled it
- Ultra-Processed Food Consumption and Mental Health: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.Nutrients · 2022Pooled it
- Satiety responsiveness following dietary exposure to ultra-processed foods differing in texture-derived eating rate: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled crossover diet intervention.European journal of nutrition · 2026Trial
- Eating rate has sustained effects on energy intake from ultraprocessed diets: a 2-week ad libitum dietary randomized controlled crossover trial.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Trial
- Consuming an unprocessed diet reduces energy intake: a post-hoc analysis of a randomized controlled trial reveals a role for human nutritional intelligence.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2026Trial
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- Isocaloric replacement of ultraprocessed foods was associated with greater weight loss in the POUNDS Lost trial.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2024Trial
- No significant salt or sweet taste preference or sensitivity differences following ad libitum consumption of ultra-processed and unprocessed diets: a randomized controlled pilot study.Chemical senses · 2023Trial
- Texture-based differences in eating rate influence energy intake for minimally processed and ultra-processed meals.The American journal of clinical nutrition · 2022Trial
- Effect of a plant-based, low-fat diet versus an animal-based, ketogenic diet on ad libitum energy intake.Nature medicine · 2021Trial
- Ultra-Processed Food Intake and its Association With Eating Disorders: A Scoping Review.European eating disorders review : the journal of the Eating Disorders Association · 2026Article
- Metabolic and neural responses to ultraprocessed foods: a randomized, controlled, crossover study.Nature metabolism · 2026Article
- chewR: An Open-Source R Package for Quantifying Masticatory Performance With Applications in Oral Processing Research.Journal of texture studies · 2026Article
- When Ultra-Processed Foods are Eaten: The Missing Dimension in Exposure Measurement for Obesity Research.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
- Review
- Within-Person Variation in Ultra-Processed Food Consumption Is Associated with Total Daily Energy Intake.Nutrients · 2026Article
- The Purpose of Food Processing and Ultra-Processed Food: the Potential, Pitfalls and Path Forward for Public Health.Current nutrition reports · 2026Review
24 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundRecent observational data and a controlled in-patient crossover feeding trial show that consumption of "ultra-processed foods" (UPFs), as defined by the NOVA classification system, is associated with higher energy intake, adiposity, and at a population level, higher prevalence of obesity. A drawback of the NOVA classification is the lack of evidence supporting a causal mechanism for why UPFs lead to overconsumption of energy. In a recent study by Hall the energy intake rate in the UPF condition (48 kcal/min) was >50% higher than in the unprocessed condition (31 kcal/min). Extensive empirical evidence has shown the impact that higher energy density has on increasing ad libitum energy intake and body weight. A significant body of research has shown that consuming foods at higher eating rates is related to higher energy intake and a higher prevalence of obesity. Energy density can be combined with eating rate to create a measure of energy intake rate (kcal/min), providing an index of a food's potential to promote increased energy intake.
objectiveThe current paper compared the association between measured energy intake rate and level of processing as defined by the NOVA classification.
methodsData were pooled from 5 published studies that measured energy intake rates across a total sample of 327 foods.
resultsWe show that going from unprocessed, to processed, to UPFs that the average energy intake rate increases from 35.5 ± 4.4, to 53.7 ± 4.3, to 69.4 ± 3.1 kcal/min (
conclusionsWe conclude that reported relations between UPF consumption and obesity should account for differences in energy intake rates when comparing unprocessed and ultra-processed diets. Future research requires well-controlled human feeding trials to establish the causal mechanisms for why certain UPFs can promote higher energy intake.
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