Published November 19, 2025
In this video, I speak with Dr. Samuel Dicken, a Research Fellow at the University College London. We discuss a recently published randomised controlled trial in which he studied the body weight impacts of healthy diets either rich or low in ultra-processed foods (UPF), the mechanisms through which UPF increase ad libitum calorie intake, and the role of consumers, food companies, and policy makers in changing the food environment.
References
- Dicken et al.; UPDATE trial: investigating the effects of ultra-processed versus minimally processed diets following UK dietary guidance on health outcomes: a protocol for an 8-week community-based cross-over randomized controlled trial in people with overweight or obesity, followed by a 6-month behavioran intervention. BMU Open 2024, 14: e079027.
- Dicken et al.; Ultraprocessed or minimally processed diets following healthy dietary guidelines on weight and cardiometabolic health: a randomized, crossover trial. Nature Medicine 2025; 31: 3297-208.
- Dicken and Batterham. Ultra-processed food and obesity: what is the evidence? Current Nutrition Reports 2024; 13: 23-38.
- Hall et al.; Ultra-processed diets cause excess calorie intake and weight gain: an inpatient randomized controlled trial of ad libitum food intake. Cell Metabolism 2019; 30: 67-77.
- Parnham et al.; Framing of ultra-processed foods and associations with interests of actors quoted in UK news media, 2022-2023: a mixed-methods study. Preprint in medRxIV, Aug 19. 2025, accessed on Nov 13, 2025.
- Colvin et al.; Tradeoffs between convenience, cost, and healthy eating index for diets aligned to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, but varying in ultra-processed foods. Preprint in preprints.org, Aug 25, 2025, accessed on Nov 13, 2025.
- The Food Foundation. The Broken Plate 2025. Accessed on Nov 13, 2025.