Summary of the research of ultra-processed foods:

1⃣ +++ Observational studies link ⬆️total UPF to bad health outcomes.

2⃣ But sub-analysis by UPF type indicates that only a few UPFs are driving these associations (mainly fizzy pop🥤 & ultra-processed animal products🥓). 3⃣ The aforementioned observational studies usually control for diet quality & energy intake... this is NOT about whether junk food is bad for health (we pretty much know it is).

The key question is whether ultra-processing is intrinsically harmful.

The “heritability” of bodyweight is thought to be between 40-50%. For those with severe obesity, this figure rises to 80%.

What does this mean❓

In this 🧵, I’ll try to shed some light🔦 on this Q.👇 "Does it mean that the obesity crisis was primarily caused by genetics?"

💬 No.

The recent surge in obesity was/is primarily caused by environmental changes (imo) ....

... & this is entirely compatible with high heritability values for bodyweight.

In this study from 1994, 7 pairs of identical twins 🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️were monitored for 24/7 for 4 months in a metabolic ward (wow 🤯).

They were placed on a maintenance diet & an energy deficit (1000kcal/d) was induced via exercise training (🚴‍♀️🚴) for about 90 days.

So what happened❓ They lost weight (naturally).

Mean weight loss was 5kg. Which is 78% of the estimate energy deficit.

Nearly all the weight loss was from fat 🤩

A meal containing animal flesh was found to be more anabolic compared to a protein-equated whole-food plant-based dish in older adults:

⬆️ EAA
⬆️ Peak EAA
⬆️ Leucine
⬆️ Peak leucine

⬆️ Muscle protein synthesis
⬆️ Whole body protein synthesis

Some thoughts 👇🧵 This result is what many of us would have predicted... as whole plant foods contain more anti-nutritional factors as well as fibre (which may impair absorption/speed of amino acids).

But it's good to see this confirmed in a controlled study.

In this thread I will gather studies on vegan/vegetarian meats & hard clinical outcomes 🧵 👇

💬 Please feel free to link me to studies I may have missed In this prospective cohort (AHS-2) "meat analogues of at least one serving daily reduced the risk of hip fracture by up to 49 %".

Interesting to note that legumes intake and meat intake independently reduced the risk of hip fracture by 40–64 %.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

👁️📜 "Red meat consumption & risk factors for type 2 diabetes: a systematic review & meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials"

💬Yes, it was funded by "Beef Checkoff".

But in this 🧵, I want to focus on analysing the details of the SR&MA itself (+ included studies).





You can find the study here.

I am going to be reading all of the studies... so it's going to take a while.

Feel free to help by replying with learned opinions & observations 🖖ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/P…

In this thread 🧵 I will gather studies which look at the associations (or lack thereof) between sub-groups of ultra-processed foods & health outcomes.

Please feel free to link me to such studies that I may have missed 👍 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36854188/

👁️📜 Meta-analysis of RCTs shows that an 🏃‍♀️exercise-induced 🚴 calorie deficit is superior for inducing reductions in visceral fat compared to caloric restriction (dieting),

What's more, the relationship between exercise & ⬇️ visceral fat was found to be dose dependent I am not terribly surprised by this. I think it's pretty much common sense.

Exercise has a tendency to protect lean mass... and this may be the explanation imo.

IMO ⬇️ energy density > ⬆️ protein (for satiety & weight loss).

Disagree❓ Why❔ "Experimental studies indicate that decreasing energy density of food products has a strong and largely linear effect on daily energy intake".

link.springer.com/article/10.118…

Effects on daily energy intake (all studies) & studies manipulating energy density of all foods/meals 👇

🟢Chickpeas (boiled) vs 🔴Sirloin steak (fat eaten)

[Per 250kcal]

🔔Round 1 [fibre and fats]

Fibre 🟢🥊💥
Saturated fat 🟢🥊
Cholesterol 🟢

🎙️"A great first round for chickpeas... this plucky underdog seems to have been underestimated!"

https://twitter.com/MariaEmmerich/status/1511452891936030720

🔔Round 2 [protein and amino acids]

Total protein: 🔴🥊💥(26.7 vs 13.5
Cystine: 🔴
Histidine: 🔴
Isoleucine: 🔴
Leucine: 🔴🥊
Lysine: 🔴
Methionine: 🔴
Phenylalanine:🔴
Threonine:🔴
Tryptophan: 🔴
Tyrosine:🔴
Valine: 🔴

(1/n) I will be conducting an N=1 'experiment' to try to determine the impact of 2 #eggs per day on my LDL-C, ApoB, HDL-C and triglycerides.

I will document everything in this thread 👇

#eggsperiment (2/n) Protocol:

Blood test.

Tofu diet phase: Breakfast of scrambled tofu plus a set menu x 14 days.

Blood test.

Wash out phase: Usual diet x 10 days.

Blood test.

Egg diet phase: Isocaloric breakfast of scrambled egg plus the same set menu x 14 days.

Blood test.

(1/n) Some ideas on the planning of a healthy low-carb plant-based diet.

A THREAD 👇⬇️

#Vegan #plantbased #lowcarb #ecoatkins (2/n) ⚠️TWITTER IS NOT A SOURCE OF MEDICAL ADVICE⚠️

• If you have a serious medical condition &/or take medication, it is necessary to consult your doctor before making changes to your diet.

• Ketogenic diets have been associated with serious side-effects.

To make table sugar from sugar beets involves a level of processing which seems to me more akin to creating a pharmaceutical grade substance than a foodstuff.

I will list the processes below. Sugar beets are washed and cut into chips and boiled.

Only the water is used to make suagr -- the 'chips' are used to create pet food.

Next the 'sugar water' is cleaned with limewater and then filtered.

Plant-based proteins do not stimulate muscle growth as well as animal-based. It is less digestible and contains lower levels of branch-chain amino acids. But I do not think that this is a good enough reason to favour animal-based protein: I will explain why below:

https://twitter.com/moonrisen809/status/1314586805455462401

Plant proteins in sufficient quantities can help us to build muscle and strength – the numerous elite-level plant-based athletes are a testament to this. When plant protein is eaten at higher levels, the problems of lower digestibility and anabolic potential are overcome.