Emulsifiers are common in ultra processed foods, and a new study in the journal Cell Metabolism says those kinds of foods can cause people to gain more weight than unprocessed foods. Ultra processed, refers to food that have emulsifiers, high fructose corn syrup, flavoring agents and hydrogenated oils.

In the study, 10 healthy adults ate an ultra processed diet for 14 days. It included foods like baked potato chips, turkey bacon and bagels with cream cheese. Ten others ate an unprocessed diet, including oatmeal bananas, meats and walnuts. Then the two groups switched diets for another 14 days. The meals all had the same amount of calories, fat and carbohydrates, but participants were allowed to eat as much or as little as they wanted. They also exercised about the same amount each day.
The results? On the ultra processed diet, people ate faster and took more helping, consuming about 500 more calories per day than those on the unprocessed diet. With the ultra processed foods, they tended to gain about two pounds. With the unprocessed foods, they tended to lose about two pounds. So one big conclusion was that limiting the ultra processed foods we eat can help prevent obesity. But that's not always easy. Researchers say it takes less time to prepare the ultra processed foods and they cost less. A week of processed meals was estimated to be around $106. A week of more natural meals, $151. That may be why another study found that majority of the foods that Americans, Britains and Canadians eat is ultra processed.

乳化劑在超加工食品中很常見，《細(xì)胞代謝》期刊上發(fā)表的最新研究顯示，與未加工食品相比，超加工食品可能更容易令人們體重增加。超加工食品指含有乳化劑、高果糖玉米糖漿、調(diào)味劑和氫化油的食物。
在這項(xiàng)研究中，10名健康的成年人連續(xù)14天食用超加工食品。他們的飲食包括烤土豆片、火雞培根和奶酪百吉餅。另外10名健康的成年人則食用未加工食品，包括香蕉麥片、肉類和核桃。然后兩組互換飲食，再繼續(xù)食用14天。每一餐的卡路里、脂肪和碳水化合物的含量是相同的，不過參與者可以自行決定吃多少。另外，參與者每天的運(yùn)動量也是一樣的。
結(jié)果呢？就超加工食品來說，人們吃得又快又多，每天大約比未加工飲食多攝取500卡路里。食用超加工食品，人們的體重一般會增加2磅左右。而食用未加工食品，人們的體重則會減少2磅左右。這項(xiàng)研究的一個重要結(jié)論是，限制超加工食品的食用量有助于預(yù)防肥胖。但這并不容易。研究人員表示，超加工食品的準(zhǔn)備時間更短，花費(fèi)也更少。據(jù)估計(jì)，食用一周的加工食品大約花費(fèi)106美元。而食用一周的天然食品則要花費(fèi)151美元。這也許可以解釋另一項(xiàng)研究的結(jié)果，該研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，美國人、英國人和加拿大人食用的食品大多是超加工食品。