Healthy Food For Life

"Eat whole foods" is common advice — but most articles explaining why rely on observational studies, which only show correlation. There's actually a much stronger piece of evidence: a controlled experiment that proves cause and effect. Here's what it found, and what it means for how you eat. The Strongest Evidence: An NIH Controlled Trial In 2019, an NIH-run randomized controlled trial found participants ate 508 more calories per day on an ultra-processed diet compared to a whole-food diet — even though both diets were carefully matched for calories, sugar, fat, sodium, and fiber content. Participants gained about 2 pounds during the ultra-processed phase and lost about 2 pounds during the whole-food phase, with no instructions to eat more or less either time. This matters because it isolates processing itself — not just "unhealthy ingredients" — as a cause of overeating. 💡 Did You Know? Both diets in the study were rated equally tasty by partici...