My 9-week unprocessed food self-experiment
11 hours ago
- The author conducted a 9-week self-experiment alternating between eating whatever and eating only minimally processed food, tracking blood sugar, blood pressure, pulse, and weight.
- Several theories explain why processed food might be unhealthy, including nutrient differences, blood sugar spikes, hyperpalatability, calorie density, and reduced food variety.
- A lab study (Hall et al., 2019) found people ate less and lost weight on an unprocessed diet, even with matched macronutrients.
- The concept of 'processing' is vague, covering everything from washing to adding preservatives, making it an imprecise guide for diet.
- The experiment used strict rules: only single-ingredient foods, no flour, sugar, juice, white rice, rolled oats, or dairy (except plain yogurt), and no portion control.
- The diet was difficult, especially without starches like bread; the author experienced cravings and emotional reactions to seeing others eat bread.
- Results showed no significant changes in blood sugar, systolic/diastolic blood pressure, or pulse, but a possible small weight loss (about 0.5 kg) during the second diet period.
- The author concludes that switching from a healthy diet to an extremely unprocessed diet has no immediate miraculous benefits and was not enjoyable enough to continue.