About this trial
Ultra processed food is everywhere in modern society and may contain multiple ingredients that affect the way participants' bodies store energy. Some studies have shown that eating a diet high in ultra processed foods leads to weight gain, but these foods have not been studied enough to understand why. Recently, the gut microbiome has become a potential way to measure energy balance in the human body; this is done by measuring how many calories are in the stool. The investigators propose to test a very high ultra-processed food diet where 80% of calories are coming from ultra processed food and a low ultra processed food diet where 20% of the calories are coming from ultra processed food. This study will compare stool sample energy content of the two diets.
Eligibility criteria
This trial does not accept healthy volunteersQualifiers
BMI 30-40kg/m2
weight stable
able to download app and willing to use it for duration of study
does own grocery shopping
Disqualifiers
pregnancy
history of or planned bariatric surgery
history of anti obesity medications
Trial design
Crossover
Treatments tested in this trial
Diet containing 80% ultra processed foods
BehavioralVery high ultra-processed food diet where 80% of calories are coming from ultra processed food
Diet containing 20% ultra processed foods
BehavioralLow ultra processed food diet where 20% of the calories are coming from ultra processed food
Treatment groups
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
Fecal energy loss
Amount of calories absorbed from diet will be the difference from energy intake - calories in stool
Resting Energy Expenditure
Energy expenditure at rest, derived from whole-room calorimetry
Body composition
Lean and fat mass quantified from QMR
Secondary outcomes
Microbial taxa
Change in types of microbial taxa from baseline to end of diet period
Other outcomes
Insulin, glucose, serum lipid and lipoproteins (mg/dl)
Bloods drawn at each timepoint will be assayed for overlapping metabolic markers
C-peptide (ng/ml)
Bloods drawn at each timepoint will be assayed for overlapping metabolic markers
Sponsors and contacts
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Columbia University
Lead sponsor
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
Collaborator