A long time ago humans were eating what they could find. We evolved to do some processing of our food outside of our bodies through the use of heat (cooking). Our jaws became small and our digestive system shorter.
We use capitalism everywhere. Companies are pressured to find ways to make more money. This is good and bad. The climate suffers. Our food suffers. Companies are incentivised to get you to eat as much of there food and to produce that food the cheapest way possible. In 2023 that means that all ingredients can be subsititued for a more palatable cheaper to produce ingredient. These are additives. For example an additive may emulate the taste of a natural fat like butter. But it isn't butter.
In the UK and other countries there have been attempts to stop the rise of obesity. One government method was to condemn fats. Saturated fats were avoided. Obesity kept rising. Then sugars were replaced with sweetners. Obseity kept rising. Now, starting in Brazil, the aim is to reduce ultra-processed food = foods with additives = replacements for the "real"/"whole" ingredients.
https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/pdfExtended/S1550-4131(19)30248-7
This paper compares two diets. 1. ultra-processed 2. non-ultra-processed. They have the same fat/sugar/salt/protein etc. But they differ in their creation. As example compare these two lunches:
ultra-processed Macaroni and cheese (Stouffer’s) Chicken tenders (Perdue) Canned green beans (Giant) Diet lemonade (Crystal Light) with NutriSource fiber
un-processed Entrée salad with grilled chicken breast, farro (Bob’s Red Mill), apples, grapes Vinaigrette (fresh squeezed lemon juice, apple cider vinegar (Giant), olive oil) Salt and Pepper (Monarch)
When allowed to eat as much as you want, they found that you eat around 500 kcal more of ultra-processed that un-processed.
The point here is that it is the additives/subsitutions/processing that makes you eat more calories. Not the amount of sugar/fat/salt/protein etc.
We know that the amount of calories consumed is the main result of gaining weight. So by simply eating un-processed food we will naturally be eating less calories and less likely to gain weight.
The subjects in this paper did lose weight on the un-processed diet even though there were allowed to eat as much food as they wanted!
In parallel we have discovered recently how the body manages calories out. It appears to be impossible to adjust how many calories you burn on average a day. More exercise does not seem to change the fact that an average male adult will burn around 2500 on average a day. Your body will unconsciously make adjustments to ensure this.
This means you MUST only focus on calories in for weight loss.
Exercise has massive benefits outside of weight loss, mainly in mental health.