Research paper
Hall KD, Ayuketah A, Brychta R, Cai H, Cassimatis T, Chen KY, Chung ST, Costa E, Courville A, Darcey V, Fletcher LA, Forde CG, Gharib AM, Guo J, Howard R, Joseph PV, McGehee S, Ouwerkerk R, Raisinger K, Rozga I, Stagliano M, Walter M, Walter PJ, Yang S, Zhou M. Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain: an inpatient randomized controlled trial of ad libitum food intake. Cell Metabolism. 2019;30(1):67-77.e3. doi:10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008
Why we cite it
Provides the first randomized controlled trial demonstrating that ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain — showing that 20 inpatient adults ate 508 kcal/day more on ultra-processed vs. unprocessed diets matched for presented calories, macronutrients, sugar, fat, fiber, and sodium, establishing causality where previously only observational associations existed.