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Health Check: Does eating processed foods make us put on weight?

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2019/05/29 GMT

Does eating processed foods make us put on weight?

BBC World Service - Health Check, Does eating processed foods make us put on weight?

The lab experiment comparing nutritionally matched diets of processed food with fresh food

How eating processed foods tempts us to eat more; Raising awareness of differences of sex development; The alarming number of injuries after mishaps with swimming pool chemicals

It is well known that it is healthier to eat fresh food than processed food, but it tends to be assumed that this is because the processed food is often high in salt, fat and sugar.  But if a person eats ultra-processed foods with the same nutritional value as fresh food, would they gain weight?  According to a lab experiment done recently, the answer is yes.  Participants ate on average an additional 508 calories per day on the ultra-processed diet and after two weeks gained an average of two pounds. Kevin Hall from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases was senior investigator on the study, which has recently been published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

The controversy surrounding the athlete Caster Semenya is raising awareness of differences of sex development, or DSD. There are about 40 different known pathways an embryo can take towards DSD, affecting the production of, or sensitivity to sex hormones, which in turn can impact on genital development and fertility. This is very rare; in the UK for example, just 150 children are diagnosed each year.  A new report out this week from the British charity DSD Families is calling for children, young people and families living with different sex development to be given a voice and a better say in their healthcare.  Angela Robson reports for Health Check.

It is the time of year that is traditionally the start of the summer swimming season in the US.  A new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, warns that this is also the peak season for injuries caused by the chlorine, bromine and acid used to disinfect pools.  Data shows that more than 4,500 people visit hospital emergency departments each year as a result of these chemical injuries.  Michele Hlavsa is chief of the Health Swimming programme at the CDC.


(Photo caption: A selection of processed food and drink – credit: Getty Images) 


Health Check was presented by Claudia Hammond with comments from Matthew Fox, Professor of Epidemiology and Global Health at Boston University, USA.


Producer: Helena Selby

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