How much do processed foods contribute to obesity and metabolic disorders compared to other dietary factors?

[Kellyamy]

[NamerOfStars]

Enormously- but for almost the exact opposite of the reason you think. "Processed" is a VERY wide label, and refers to basically anything that alters food from its natural state. Cooking, for example- that's processed food. Of course, there's plenty of stuff that you can safely eat raw, but washing is another example.

Unprocessed food is, almost by definition, INCREDIBLY unhealthful. Processing it allows you to reliably eat it and live. That allows genetics, still the primary driver behind health, to work its magic and/or do its damage.

[Sonorous]

Metabolic adaptation in a negative health sense is something that could stem from eating a poor diet. I won't say processed foods in general because every food has a different process & just because something is processed, doesn't mean it's inherently bad.

[Anonymous]

Probably not as much as you think.

This is one of the big problems with health. That your genetics is still the primary determinant of your overall health. So it makes it EASY for people to use the excuses of, "oh my grandpa smoked 2 1/2 packs a day for 60 years. And got hit by a bus at 80. He never developed cancer or anything. But the reality Is cancer touches just about every life, either directly or indirectly.

And since metabolic diseases take years to manifest generally it's EASY to dismiss it as genes, or just ordinary everyday living.

[ChicoFromThe305]

I'm sure they play a big part, many foods are processed and it seems a lot of them go through an unnecessary, unhealthy process that I'm sure plays a part in obesity and stuff.

[LiamJHayden]

Less than most assume. extra caloric intake and a sedentary lifestyle are far more responsible.

[DrPepper12]

a lot but when paired with a sedentary lifestyle it's deadly

[exitseven]

I don't know but I bet it is more than we think