Ultra-processed food texture can reduce calorie intake, suggests new clinical research

Preliminary research on ultra-processed foods sheds new light on the much-debated products. A randomized controlled trial finds new evidence that texture-derived meal differences — such as mashed versus fried potatoes — influence energy intake from ultra-processed foods.

Over 14 days, participants consuming an ultra-processed food diet with textures that reduced their eating rate, like meatballs, had an average energy intake reduction of 369 kcal daily compared to a group eating foods with textures that promoted a faster eating rate, such as sugar-sweetened yogurt. The researchers measured the eating rate in grams per minute. 

The research conducted by Wageningen University, the Netherlands, found that the effect of food texture on eating rate and impact on energy intake was consistent across all participants and sustained during the intervention. 

“The consistency of the effect of meal texture on eating rate and intake was striking. The cumulative difference in intake on average between the two diets was over 5,000 kcals across the 14 days,” says lead investigator Ciarán Forde, Ph.D., at the university’s Human Nutrition and Health division. 

“Almost all participants adjusted their eating behaviors in response to the meal textures served, without any guidance or instructions or the need to consciously restrict their intake or compromise on food enjoyment and satisfaction.”

The preliminary findings were presented at Nutrition 2025, the annual American Society for Nutrition conference. 

Slower versus faster eating

The researchers randomly assigned the 41 participants to two diets comprising over 90% of energy from ultra-processed foods. The participants consumed products with textures promoting fast or slower eating rates. After the first two weeks, the participants completed a 14-day washout and switched to the other intervention arm. 

In both groups, participants could eat as much or as little as they wanted, with researchers instructing them to eat “until they were comfortably full.” 

Moreover, the researchers matched the meals and snacks on each diet for food energy density (kcal/g), portion size (gram), total energy served (kcal), and energy derived from ultra-processed foods as categorized in the Nova classification system. 

Eating rate has sustained effects on energy intake from ultra-processed diets (Image credit: European Food Information Council).The team at the university’s Human Nutrition Research Unit provided all meals, which were mainly consumed at the unit. Participants were free to work and return home in the evenings. The researchers note this setup enabled a controlled administration of each diet and allowed them to measure intake while facilitating standard living patterns. 

Meal texture impact

The researchers note that meals on both diets were equally liked and familiar to participants. Although participants on the slower-eating diet consumed significantly fewer calories, they did not report differences in appetite sensation or diet satisfaction. 

The team notes that their findings highlight that meal texture can help moderate consumer eating behavior and create new opportunities to regulate energy intake better. 

“Our findings contribute to a better understanding of previously reported differences in energy intake from ultra- and minimally-processed diets and have implications more generally for our understanding of the drivers of meal size,” adds Forde. 

“The consistency of the impact of meal texture across almost all participants and the sustained effect of meal texture on eating rate and intake over the 14 days of the diet intervention highlights the potential for sensory cues to modify our habitual eating behaviors and intake within meals and over time.” 

The study is part of a five-year research program co-financed by a Dutch funding scheme for public-private partnerships. The Restructure project aims to help understand how ultra-processed foods’ meal texture and eating speed impact energy intake and health markers. 

Ultra-processed food research

Dr. Amanda Avery, an associate professor of Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Nottingham, welcomes the study’s findings on eating rate. She was not part of the research team. 

The study participants consumed most meals at the university’s Human Nutrition Research Unit, which provided all foods.“Previous research has suggested that a 20% difference in eating rate leads to a 9–15% difference in food intake,” she highlights. “If a person were choosing a diet that led to an extra 350+ kcal being consumed each day, then one could expect to see associated increases in body weight over time.”

Avery says the study reinforces the importance of people taking time to enjoy their food. “Eating foods quickly and ‘on the hoof’ may lead to extra energy intake, which may long-term lead to weight gain. Ideally, we should choose foods with more texture, such as ultra-processed foods with more texture, balanced with vegetables, whole fruits, whole grain cereals, beans, legumes, lean meat, and fish, so we have to chew the food.” 

“As this study has found, food with very little texture, such as certain ultra-processed foods, may lead to excess energy intake, which over time may increase the risk of obesity, as demonstrated by other studies that have compared the intake of ultra-processed foods with more minimally processed foods.”

The study’s findings follow ongoing research on the potential health impacts of ultra-processed foods, which are taking up increasingly larger shares of people’s diets. Last month, a study revealed that for every 100 g of ultra-processed foods consumed daily, there was an increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular issues, and cancer. 

Meanwhile, some experts pushed back against a study linking these foods to preventable premature deaths, calling for more research to establish a causal link and criticizing the Nova classification system as having “arbitrary definitions.”