ArticleFrontiers in public health2026
Changes in binge eating symptoms following an online community-based ultra-processed food addiction intervention: Liberate.
Article in Frontiers in public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- State of the Science on Ultra-processed Foods and the Ultra-processed Food Addiction Construct.Current obesity reports · 2026Review
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Binge Eating Disorder (BED) is the most prevalent eating disorder worldwide and is associated with significant psychological distress, metabolic risk, and high relapse rates. Standard treatments such as Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and pharmacotherapy offer modest long-term efficacy. Increasing evidence links binge eating behaviours with consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), industrial formulations engineered for hyper-palatability that can activate dopaminergic reward pathways in ways similar to addictive substances. The construct of ultra-processed food addiction (UPFA) provides a conceptual framework for understanding this overlap and exploring addiction-informed treatment models. Objective: To evaluate changes in binge eating symptom severity following participation in Liberate, an online, community-based psychoeducational intervention integrating addiction-informed principles with an abstinent, real-food, low-carbohydrate dietary approach. Methods: This secondary analysis pooled data from two cohorts of adults ( Results: Mean BES scores significantly decreased from 26.5 (95% CI 24.9-28.1) at baseline to 18.0 (95% CI 16.1-20.0; Conclusion: Participation in an addiction-informed, real food, psychoeducational intervention was associated with significant reductions in binge eating symptoms which were largely maintained over 6 months, with no evidence of worsening. These findings challenge assumptions that carbohydrate reduction exacerbates disordered eating and suggest that abstinence-based dietary strategies, when embedded within a psychologically supportive framework, may be beneficial for some individuals with BED and UPFA. Controlled trials are warranted to establish efficacy and inform clinical guidelines.
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