Sharing this on social yesterday was a bit of a headache 😓: Challenging the matrix when it comes to food quality....
This post really got under people's skin...🫣
Yesterday, I shared a new Nature Medicine trial on social media…and let’s just say my comment section turned into a calorie cage match.
Apparently, this is one of those papers you either skim and miss the point (which is happening all over social media) or you slow down, actually look at the design, and realize why it matters for how we eat in the real world.
So today I want to break it down in a way that is (hopefully) bulletproof.
Keep reading for the link to the study and the breakdown:
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What would happen if you gave people the same amount of nutrients on paper - matched for protein - carbs - fat & fiber, but one group got only home cooked meals (made from single ingredient foods) - and one got ultra processed foods (boxed cereals - protein bars - take and baked meals)......and tested blood markers - weight & asked questions about energy levels and digestion?
That's exactly what this brand new trial did, and the results proved what many of us have been saying for years about food quality (it %100 matters).
(Don't want to read the whole article? I broke it down in less than 2 minutes in this youtube video)
• Both followed UK nutrition guidelines for protein, fat, carbs, fiber, fruit/veg servings & nutrients were equated for.
• All food was prepared, delivered, and weighed before and after eating.
The only planned difference? Processing level of the foods.
Before we dive into the results - I want to share the biggest bit of pushback I got yesterday on instagram...
One of the biggest complaints was that "calories & macros" weren't matched 100%......(keep reading for why that's not a FLAW of the study - it was actually the design).
It’s actually impossible to perfectly match calories between minimally processed foods (MPF) and ultra-processed foods (UPF) without completely changing the foods themselves - and in the process, destroying the very variable you’re studying.
Here’s why:
Energy density - UPFs usually contain less water and more refined fats/sugars, so they have more calories per gram than MPFs.
Food matrix - In MPFs, nutrients are “locked” in plant/animal cell structures. Processing breaks those down, making calories more accessible and changing digestion speed.
Fiber structure - Isolated or powdered fiber in UPFs doesn’t behave like intact fiber in MPFs for satiety or calorie absorption.
Palatability & eating rate - Softer, engineered textures make UPFs easier to overconsume before fullness signals kick in.
If you tried to make an MPF meal and a UPF meal identical in calories, you’d have to manipulate portion sizes, water content, and structure so much that they’d no longer be real MPF or UPF examples - which would make the study meaningless.
That’s why researchers matched nutrients (protein, fat, carbs, fiber, etc.) and weighed all food, but allowed free intake. The "calorie" gap was the result - not a flaw.
Ok now that we got that out of the way... ⬇️⬇️
The Results: After 8 weeks on each diet:
Weight loss
MPF: - 1.84 kg (~4 lbs)
UPF: - 0.88 kg (~2 lbs)
Almost twice as much weight lost on MPF
Fat & visceral fat
MPF group had significantly greater total fat loss and visceral fat reduction (p = 0.008)
Visceral fat is the deeper belly fat linked to metabolic disease
Blood lipids
MPF: Triglycerides decreased
UPF: Triglycerides increased slightly
Appetite & cravings
MPF group reported greater control over cravings and hunger
The researchers in the trial didn’t just stop at reporting the results - they looked at why minimally processed foods (MPF) consistently outperformed ultra-processed foods (UPF) despite matched nutrients.
Here’s what they found:
Satiety Signals
MPF meals tend to trigger stronger release of satiety hormones like leptin, PYY, and GLP-1.
The intact food matrix slows digestion, allowing more time for hormonal feedback to tell your brain you’ve eaten enough.
Energy Density
MPFs have higher water and intact fiber content, meaning fewer calories per gram of food.
You can eat a larger volume before hitting the same calorie load, making it easier to feel full with less energy intake.
Metabolic Signaling
Whole-food structure leads to a slower, more stable release of glucose and lipids into the blood.
This reduces post-meal spikes and crashes, which can otherwise drive rebound hunger and fat storage.
Reward Pathways
UPFs are engineered to be hyper-palatable - a precise mix of sugar, salt, fat, and flavorings that hijack dopamine signaling.
This can override normal satiety feedback, making it harder to stop eating even when your energy needs are met.
Bottom line:
Even when the nutrients are the same on paper, your body doesn’t experience MPFs and UPFs the same way. The signals sent to your brain, gut, and cells are completely different - and those signals decide whether you’re in balance… or stuck overeating.
The calorie piece (and why people get stuck here):
Calories weren’t matched on purpose.
If they had been, the researchers wouldn’t know whether processing level naturally changes how much people eat - which was the whole question.
Even with nutrients matched and food weighed, MPF led to:
• ~170 kcal/day greater deficit by body composition.
That’s not a flaw - that’s the finding.
Why it matters:
This shows why “calories are all that matter” is incomplete.
Calories still count - but the quality and structure of your food change how your body regulates hunger, satiety, and energy use.
And when you layer in circadian timing and light exposure?
You’re not just creating an energy gap - you’re improving the way your metabolism works on a cellular level!
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For advanced learners & practitioners:
If you want to go deeper - to understand why food quality changes satiety signals, how leptin interacts with mitochondrial energy production, and which nutritional strategies best align with your clients’ hormonal rhythms — that’s exactly what I teach in the Leptin Master Plan.
This isn’t just “eat better food.”
It’s learning how to design protocols that match light, timing, and nutrient inputs with the body’s master energy hormone - Leptin - so you can improve fat loss, hormone health, and metabolic resilience from the mitochondrial level up.
If you’re a practitioner, this knowledge will let you create truly individualized, science-backed protocols your clients can stick with, and get better results from.
P.S. You don’t have to be a practitioner to dive into this.
If you’ve ever wondered why eating “healthy” doesn’t always work, why hunger hits harder in certain seasons, or why your metabolism changes with light exposure - the same principles I teach practitioners can transform your own results too. (click here to join us & get the 6 live sessions with me)
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