Food

New research highlights the damage caused by processed food

A landmark paper proves that obesity is not just energy in and out; the type of food matters. And while one study shows we’re eating more processed food, another reveals what can be gained if we clean up our act.

Mike Haney - October 29, 2021

Carbs—not calories—are driving the obesity epidemic

The Study: The carbohydrate-insulin model: a physiological perspective on the obesity pandemic

What it Says: The comprehensive paper seeks to be the final nail in the coffin of the long-held view that the obesity epidemic is driven by people eating too much and moving too little. If it’s hard to believe that that view is wrong, it’s because it has been central to how we talk about weight loss for decades, despite growing evidence that it is overly simplistic and does not explain why obesity has only increased or why calorie restriction diets so rarely work.

That Energy Balance Model (EBM) seems to make intuitive sense: we gain weight because we consume more calories than we burn. However, as the authors note in the abstract, “Conceptualizing obesity as a disorder of energy balance restates a principle of physics without considering the biological mechanisms that promote weight gain.”

https://www.levelshealth.com/blog/new-research-highlights-the-damage-caused-by-processed-food