How Ultra-Processed Foods Can Sabotage Fat Loss


Aug 12, 2025

 by Abby McCoid
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If you're trying to lose fat, what you eat matters because it affects how much you eat and how many calories you consume. And new research shows that how processed your food is can make a huge difference.

The New York Times recently covered a fascinating new study published in Nature Medicine. It is the largest and longest clinical trial to date looking at how ultra-processed foods impact weight loss. The results? People lost twice as much weight when they ate mostly minimally processed foods, like pasta, chicken, fruits, and vegetables, compared to diets that included ultra-processed foods, even when those foods met standard nutrition guidelines.

That means ready-to-heat frozen meals, breakfast cereals, protein bars, and shakes, often marketed as “healthy” choices, still did not produce the same fat loss as minimally processed or whole meals.

So what exactly is “ultra-processed”?
Ultra-processed foods are:

  • Easy to eat in large quantities

  • More calorie-dense (have more calories per bite) than minimally processed or whole foods

  • Often "hyperpalatable": formulated to taste really, really good so we eat larger quantities of them

  • Low or no fiber

  • Digest easily (cuz, no fiber)


Common ultra-processed food are snacky things like chips, crackers and cookies. Packaged snack cakes and other desserts (Hey, Little Debbie) frozen pizza, instant noodles, sweetened breakfast cereals, and even “healthier” packaged protein bars can also be ultra-processed. 

As we mentioned, these foods are usually high in calorie and hyperpalatable making it very easy to consume a large amount of calories in a short time. When is the last time you sat down and ate five apples in a row? Probably never. But an entire sleeve of Oreos, a big bag of chips, or a pint of ice cream can disappear without much effort. That is the power, and the problem, of ultra-processed foods.

What this means for your goals
You don't need to avoid ultra-processed foods forever or ban them entirely. But if fat loss or weight maintenance is your goal, eating far less of them is one of the most effective steps you can take. Most of your meals should be built from minimally processed or whole foods, prepared at home.

One more tip? Keep ultra-processed snacks out of sight, or better yet, out of the house entirely. If you have to dig into the back of the pantry to find them, you are less likely to eat them mindlessly.

Simply reducing or eliminating ultra-processed foods can have a huge impact on your progress. It is one of the easiest, highest-return changes you can make if you want to look, feel, and perform better.

Small shifts add up. Choosing minimally processed or whole foods most of the time is one of the simplest, most powerful ways to keep your body composition moving in the right direction.

Need more guidance? Beo Nutrition is accepting new clients now. Reach out today and we will help you create a plan that works for your goals and your lifestyle.