hyperpalatable foods

The food industry has been extremely successful in creating a broad range of delicious, affordable, convenient, and safe food and beverage products. However, many of these products are considered to be ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) that contain ingredients and are processed in a manner that may cause adverse health effects. This review article introduces the concept of UPFs and briefly discusses food products that fall into this category, including beverages, baked goods, snacks, confectionary, prepared meals, dressings, sauces, spreads, and processed meat and meat analogs...

Food insecurity is highly prevalent and linked to poorer diet and worse metabolic outcomes. Food insecurity can be stressful, and could elicit chronic psychological and physiological stress. In this study, we tested whether stress could be used to identify those at highest risk for worse diet and metabolic measures from food insecurity. Specifically, we hypothesized that cortisol (a physiological marker of stress) and perceived psychological stress would amplify the link between food insecurity and hyperpalatable food intake as well as metabolic measures...

Poor fetal growth affects eating behavior and the mesocorticolimbic system; however, its influence on the hippocampus has been less explored. Brain insulin sensitivity has been linked to developmental plasticity in response to fetal adversity and to cognitive performance following high-fat diet intake. We investigated whether poor fetal growth and exposure to chronic hyperpalatable food in adulthood could influence the recognition of environmental and food cues, eating behavior patterns, and hippocampal insulin signaling...

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of food addiction among patients seeking bariatric surgery is approximately 30 %. While hyper-palatable foods (HPF) have been identified as the potential 'substance' in food addiction and a contributor to severe obesity, consumption of HPF among individuals with food addiction, including those seeking bariatric surgery, is unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to evaluate the consumption of HPF among individuals seeking bariatric surgery with food addiction, compared to those without food addiction...

High energy intake combined with low physical activity generates positive energy balance, which, when maintained, favours obesity, a highly prevalent morbidity linked to development of non-communicable chronic diseases, including chronic kidney disease (CKD). Among many factors contributing to disproportionately high energy intakes, and thereby to the obesity epidemic, the type and degree of food processing play an important role. Ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) are industrialized and quite often high-energy-dense products with added sugar, salt, unhealthy fats and food additives formulated to be palatable or hyperpalatable...

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Low middle income countries (LMICs) are the predominant contributors to global cancer-related mortality and are projected to bear the greater share of the global cancer burden in the next few decades. Among other factors, lifestyle changes have been linked to the rising incidence of cancer in these countries. As one of the keys to a healthy lifestyle, a balanced diet plays a major role in the preservation of health. Globalization and rapid urbanization have prompted a paradigm shift in various aspects of daily life in LMICs; the influence on dietary choices has been particularly noticeable...

The relationship between the consumption of hyper-palatable ultra-processed foods and the process of addiction gains notoriety due to its relationship with obesity. Food addiction is a complex phenomenon intrinsically related to the individual's behavioral, emotional, and subjective aspects. Therefore, using classical approaches to sensory science may be insufficient to understand better the individual's sensory experience with hyper-palatable foods. In this context, sensory and consumer science techniques with holistic approaches have been aimed at accessing more subjective consumer perceptions...

Chronic consumption of hyperpalatable and hypercaloric foods has been pointed out as a factor associated with cognitive decline and memory impairment in obesity. In this context, the integration between peripheral and central inflammation may play a significant role in the negative effects of an obesogenic environment on memory. However, little is known about how obesity-related peripheral inflammation affects specific neurotransmission systems involved with memory regulation. Here, we test the hypothesis that chronic exposure to a highly palatable diet may cause neuroinflammation, glutamatergic dysfunction, and memory impairment...

Despite a lack of agreement on its definition and inclusion as a specific diagnosable disturbance, the food addiction construct is supported by several neurobiological and behavioral clinical and preclinical findings. Recognizing food addiction is critical to understanding how and why it manifests. In this overview, we focused on those as follows: 1. the hyperpalatable food effects in food addiction development; 2. specific brain regions involved in both food and drug addiction; and 3. animal models highlighting commonalities between substance use disorders and food addiction...

BACKGROUND: The food addiction model of binge-eating postulates that hyperpalatable food can sensitize the reward processing system and lead to elevated cue-elicited motivational biases towards food, which eventually become habitual and compulsive. However, previous research on food reward conditioning in individuals with binge-eating is scarce. The present study examined the Pavlovian-instrumental transfer (PIT) effects in individuals with recurrent binge-eating. It was hypothesized that hyperpalatable food would elicit specific transfer effects, i...

Over 40 y, Americans have consumed larger portions of hyperpalatable, energy-dense foods, sugary beverages, and meals prepared at home and away from home, which have contributed to obesity and diet-related chronic diseases in the United States (US). This perspective article explores synergies between the portion size and food matrix effects, and their associated biological, physiological, environmental, and cultural susceptibilities for populations. Thereafter, we describe evidence of US public- and private-sector initiatives to reduce, standardize, and incentivize portion size norms to align with recommended servings to promote a healthy weight for children, adolescents, and adults...

Low-grade inflammation alters the homeostasis of the organism and favors the onset of many chronic diseases. The global growth in the prevalence of noncommunicable diseases in recent years has been accompanied by an increase in the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF). Known to be hyperpalatable, economic and ready-to-eat, increased consumption of UPF has already been recognized as a risk factor for several chronic diseases. Different research groups have tried to investigate whether UPF consumption could promote low-grade inflammation and thus favor the development of noncommunicable diseases...

The availability of hyper-palatable foods (HPF) increased over the past three decades worldwide, a period when eating disorders (ED) and obesity have become global public health concerns. The present study aimed to assess HPF consumption during binge and non-binge meals in a representative sample of adults with and without ED from a metropolitan city in Brazil. A total of 2297 individuals were interviewed in their homes by trained lay interviewers to assess the presence of binge eating disorder (BED), bulimia nervosa (BN), and recurrent binge eating (RBE)...

Background: Stress has been associated with food habits. Stress changes eating patterns and the salience and consumption of hyperpalatable foods. During the lock-down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, stress was very common. Objective: We investigated the association between stress and diet quality in Ecuadorian adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Design: A cross-sectional study. Setting: Data was collected using a self-administered online survey...

People's health is closely linked to their diet. Diet can be defined as the set of foods that are consumed in a day, and it is susceptible to being altered by various factors, such as physiological, environmental, psychological, and social. These, in turn, can be affected by an inadequate diet and/or a dysregulation of emotions. Emotions are an immediate response by the organism informing it of the degree of favorability of a certain stimulus or situation. Moods are similar to emotions but more intense and prolonged...

Nutrition is crucial for maintaining normal growth, development, and glycemic control in young people with diabetes (PwD). Undue restrictions cause nutrient deficiencies as well as poor adherence to meal plans. Widespread availability of low-cost, ultra-processed, and hyperpalatable food is further damaging. Most families struggle to find ways to provide nutritious, yet attractive, food with a low glycemic index (GI). India is one of the oldest continuous civilizations with a rich and diverse cultural and culinary heritage...

Independent from homeostatic needs, the consumption of foods originating from hyperpalatable diets is defined as hedonic eating. Hedonic eating can be observed in many forms of eating phenotypes, such as compulsive eating and stress-eating, heightening the risk of obesity development. For instance, stress can trigger the consumption of palatable foods as a type of coping strategy, which can become compulsive, particularly when developed as a habit. Although eating for pleasure is observed in multiple maladaptive eating behaviours, the current understanding of the neurobiology underlying hedonic eating remains deficient...

Shortened and fragmented sleeping patterns occupying modern industrialized societies may promote metabolic disturbances accompanied by increased risk of weight gain and skeletal muscle degradation. Short-term sleep restriction may alter energy homeostasis by modifying dopamine brain receptor signaling, leading to hyperpalatable food consumption and risk of increased adiposity. Concomitantly, the metabolic damage caused by lower testosterone and higher cortisol levels may stimulate systemic inflammation, insulin resistance, and suppress pathways involved in muscle protein synthesis...

Objective: To characterize the prevalence of hyperpalatable foods (HPF) among baby foods in the U.S. and examine the prevalence of HPF exposure and consumption from both baby food and adult food sources among infants aged 9-15 months. Methods: A U.S. baby food database as well as baby foods from three 24-h dietary recalls of 147 infants were used to identify baby foods as HPF per previous publication. HPF exposure was defined as intake of any HPF during the 3-day measurement period. To determine the extent of HFP consumption, % kilocalorie (kcal) intake from HPF was characterized...