Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38892671›Full record

ReviewNutrients2024

Ultra-Processed Foods: A Narrative Review of the Impact on the Human Gut Microbiome and Variations in Classification Methods.

Allison L Brichacek, Melanie Florkowski, Esther Abiona, Karen M Frank

Abstract readReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Review in Nutrients, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 33 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
33citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

33 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Review
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  8. Observational
  9. Review
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Defining reference values for the gut microbiota in a Southern European population.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026
    Article
  14. Review
  15. Review
  16. Article
  17. Too easy to swallow.Nature medicine · 2025
    Article
  18. Review
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  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Allison L BrichacekDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Building 10, 10 Center Drive MSC 1508, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0115-2535
Melanie FlorkowskiDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Building 10, 10 Center Drive MSC 1508, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Esther AbionaDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Building 10, 10 Center Drive MSC 1508, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Karen M FrankDepartment of Laboratory Medicine, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Building 10, 10 Center Drive MSC 1508, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.

Funding

Intramural Research Program of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center N/A
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are foods that are industrially processed and are often pre-packaged, convenient, energy-dense, and nutrient-poor. UPFs are widespread in the current Western diet and their proposed contribution to non-communicable diseases such as obesity and cardiovascular disease is supported by numerous studies. UPFs are hypothesized to affect the body in multiple ways, including by inducing changes in the gut microbiome. This review summarizes the available research on the effect of UPFs on the gut microbiome. We also review current usage of the NOVA food classification system in randomized controlled trials and observational studies and how its implementation effects UPF research. Despite some differences in methodology between studies, results often associate UPF consumption with a number of negative health consequences. There are attempts to standardize a UPF classification system; however, reaching and implementing a consensus is difficult. Future studies focusing on the mechanisms by which UPFs effect the body, including through the microbiome and metabolome, will be essential to refine our understanding of the effects of UPFs on human health.

Indexed as

Fast FoodsGastrointestinal MicrobiomeFood HandlingFood, ProcessedHumansNutritive Valueclinical studiesdietfood classificationgutmicrobiomemicrobiotaNOVAultra-processed food (UPF)

Identifiers

PMID38892671
PMCPMC11174918

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.