What your blood quietly reveals about your eating habits
Blood and urine tests have been found to detect the amount of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) a person eats, according to new research.
Using machine learning, scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) identified hundreds of metabolites (molecules produced during metabolism) that correlated with processed food intake.
The team developed a «biomarker score» that predicts ultraprocessed food intake based on metabolite measurements in blood and urine, according to Erikka Loftfield, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the National Cancer Institute in Maryland.
PREMATURE DEATH LINKED TO CERTAIN TYPE OF FOOD, STUDY REVEALS
The researchers drew baseline data from 718 older adults who provided urine and blood samples and reported their dietary habits over a 12-month period, as detailed in an NIH press release.
Next, they conducted a small clinical trial of 20 adults. For two weeks, the group ate a diet high in ultraprocessed foods, and for another two weeks they ate a diet with no UPFs.
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