One of the mechanisms linking increased consumption of ultra-processed foods and increased risk

of death and disease is calorie overload leading to excess body fat.

This could be due to all the extra sugar and fat added to these foods, but in my last video

I profiled

a randomized controlled study that found that those in the ultra-processed diet gain more

weight than those eating unprocessed foods, even when the two diets were matched with the same

nutrient profile. But ultra-processed foods are also designed to be eaten quickly. And indeed,

the ultra-process group snarfed calories at a 50%

faster rate. So changes in texture due to processing may contribute to the calorie overload,

but so too may the increased calorie density of ultra-processed foods, as well as the degradation

of the food matrix. Calorie density is the number of calories for a given weight or volume

of food. Some foods have more calories per cup, per pound per mouthful than others. Oil, for example,

has a high calorie density, which means it has a high calorie concentration, with lots of calories

packed into a small space. Drizzling just one tablespoon of oil on a dish adds 120 calories.

For those same 120 calories, you could eat about two cups of blackberries,

food with low calorie density.

You could swallow that spoonful of oil, not even feel a difference in your stomach,

but eating a couple cups of berries could start to fill you up.

A handful of jelly beans has about 16 times more calories than a handful of cherry tomatoes.

So for the same number of calories, you could eat that one handful of jelly beans or about

four cups of cherry tomatoes.

A large serving of french fries is about the same size and weight as a baked potato,

...