Minimally Processed Foods Lead to Double the Weight Loss: UCL Study Finds

New Delhi: If you're trying to lose weight, choosing fresh, home-cooked meals over packaged or ready-made foods could make a big difference. A new study from University College London (UCL), published in Nature Medicine, has shown that people lose twice as much weight on a minimally processed diet compared to one high in ultra-processed foods—even when the two diets are nutritionally similar.

The study is the first of its kind to directly compare weight loss from ultra-processed (UPF) and minimally processed foods (MPF), while keeping calories and nutrients matched. Researchers found that people eating mostly MPF lost significantly more weight and experienced better control over their food cravings.

“The primary outcome of the trial was to assess percentage changes in weight, and on both diets, we saw a significant reduction, but the effect was nearly double on the minimally processed diet,” said Dr. Samuel Dicken from the UCL Centre for Obesity Research.

The trial involved 55 adults, who were split into two groups. One group started with an eight-week MPF diet, including meals like overnight oats or homemade spaghetti Bolognese. After a four-week break where they returned to their usual eating habits, they switched to an eight-week UPF diet, which included items like breakfast bars and ready-made lasagna. The other group did the same diets but in the reverse order.

Both diets led to weight loss, but the MPF diet showed a 2.06% reduction in body weight compared to just 1.05% with the UPF diet. The weight loss on the MPF diet came mostly from fat loss and water weight—without affecting muscle mass.

Participants also saw improved craving control, especially for savoury foods. The MPF diet led to a two-fold improvement in overall cravings and a four-fold improvement in resisting savory food cravings.

The study "underlines the need to shift the policy focus away from individual responsibility and on to the environmental drivers of obesity, such as the influence of multinational food companies in shaping unhealthy food environments", said Professor Chris van Tulleken, from UCL Division of Infection and Immunity.

The findings support a shift in public health focus from personal responsibility to changing the food systems that promote unhealthy eating habits.