Scientific Breakthrough: Blood and Urine Tests Can Detect Ultraprocessed Food Intake
Recent research has revealed that blood and urine samples can be used to accurately detect the consumption of ultraprocessed foods, offering a groundbreaking advance in tracking dietary habits. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) have developed a ‘biomarker score’ utilizing machine learning to predict ultraprocessed food intake by analyzing metabolites in blood and urine samples.
The study, published in the journal PLOS Medicine, involved analyzing data from 71,8 older adults who provided urine and blood samples, along with detailed dietary reports. Researchers also conducted a small clinical trial with 20 adults, where participants were given diets high in ultraprocessed foods and then switched to a diet free of these foods for two weeks each. The findings suggested that hundreds of metabolites in serum and urine correlated with the percentage of energy intake from ultraprocessed foods.
According to Dr. Erikka Loftfield, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the National Cancer Institute, the discovery could have far-reaching implications for health research. The method reduces the reliance on self-reported dietary data, which is often unreliable. Loftfield highlighted that the metabolites correlated with ultraprocessed food intake are involved in numerous biological pathways, indicating the complex impact of diet on the metabolome. The NIH emphasized that further validation is needed before this method can be widely applied. Additionally, more research is required across different age groups and diets to enhance the applicability of the biomarker score. This new approach could potentially be used to explore the relationship between processed food consumption and chronic diseases, offering valuable insights for future health research.
Ultra-processed foods are defined as ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat, industrially manufactured products that are typically high in calories and low in essential nutrients. The study highlights the potential of objective biomarkers to improve the accuracy of nutritional research, a growing area of interest among scientists. While the method shows promise, experts caution that further validation is necessary before it can be implemented in broader settings. Despite these challenges, the development of the biomarker score represents a significant step toward understanding the complex relationship between diet and health.
Dr. Loftfield suggested that individuals concerned about ultraprocessed food intake can use ‘nutrition facts’ labels to avoid foods high in added sugars, saturated fat, and sodium, thereby aligning their diets with robust scientific research on diet and health. As more data becomes available, the potential applications of this breakthrough could extend to public health initiatives, dietary guidelines, and even clinical practice, making it a topic of considerable interest in both scientific and medical communities.