> That's the point at which it becomes highly speculative.
The “…in order to sell more product” part is scientifically speculative, I agree—the book makes the claim, but the scientific research it references does not, IIRC. The book’s author imputes it from interviews and the like.
The “overwhelm…feedback mechanisms” part is mainly substantiated by a 2019 study by Kevin Hall where, similar to TFA, they had people essentially live inside a calorimeter and eat calorie- and nutrient-matched meals that were UPF or not. They found that when given UPF, the same people ate more and faster, and gained weight at a pace that surprised the study authors (who were initially skeptical of the theory and had constructed the study to try and disprove it. The study author is interviewed and explains why he found it compelling).
Whether you find the evidence compelling is, of course, up to you :-), but I felt the book did a good job interviewing members of the obesity research community and tracing the history of the theory.
The “…in order to sell more product” part is scientifically speculative, I agree—the book makes the claim, but the scientific research it references does not, IIRC. The book’s author imputes it from interviews and the like.
The “overwhelm…feedback mechanisms” part is mainly substantiated by a 2019 study by Kevin Hall where, similar to TFA, they had people essentially live inside a calorimeter and eat calorie- and nutrient-matched meals that were UPF or not. They found that when given UPF, the same people ate more and faster, and gained weight at a pace that surprised the study authors (who were initially skeptical of the theory and had constructed the study to try and disprove it. The study author is interviewed and explains why he found it compelling).
Whether you find the evidence compelling is, of course, up to you :-), but I felt the book did a good job interviewing members of the obesity research community and tracing the history of the theory.