The claimEvidence A · guideline-tier
All calories are equal (naïve CICO)
The evidence
Five UPF mechanisms (reward/hormones/microbiome/eating speed/food matrix) yield a real calorie gap (Hall 2019).
The mechanism, in brief
The NOVA food classification is a framework proposed by Monteiro's team at the University of São Paulo (Brazil) in 2009, now adopted by WHO, FAO, the EU, and Canadian dietary guidelines. It classifies food by processing degree, not by macro or calorie:
Sources (2)
- Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Moubarac, J.-C., Levy, R. B., Louzada, M. L. C., & Jaime, P. C. (2018). The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing. Public Health Nutrition, 21(1), 5-17.
- Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Levy, R. B., Moubarac, J. C., Louzada, M. L. C., Rauber, F., et al. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: what they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), 936-941.