Ultra‑processed foods hurt muscle
A Radiology study released April 14 found higher intake of ultra‑processed foods is linked to fat infiltrating thigh muscles — a change the authors measured on MRI scans and reported alongside data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (Akkaya et al., Radiology, Apr 14). (CNN summarized the finding as streaks of fat in muscle and a possible link to knee osteoarthritis, and Everyday Health named the specific paper and dataset.) (cnn.com) (everydayhealth.com)
A new MRI study linked higher intake of ultra-processed foods to fattier thigh muscles in adults at risk for knee osteoarthritis. (pubs.rsna.org) The study was published April 14 in *Radiology* by Zehra Akkaya and colleagues, who analyzed baseline data from 615 participants in the Osteoarthritis Initiative. The group’s mean age was 59.5, 340 were women, and the average body mass index was 27. (pubs.rsna.org) The researchers used magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to look for fat streaks inside thigh muscle, then scored that fat on a 0-to-4 scale called the Goutallier grade. They compared those scans with each person’s diet over the prior 12 months using a food frequency questionnaire and the Nova food classification system. (pubs.rsna.org) Ultra-processed foods made up an average 41.4% of participants’ diets. Higher intake tracked with more fat infiltration across all thigh muscles, including flexors and adductors, even after the models adjusted for calories, smoking, physical activity, depression, and either body mass index or waist size. (pubs.rsna.org) The sample was not drawn from the general public. Participants were in a National Institutes of Health-backed osteoarthritis cohort, and the paper included only people who were at risk for knee osteoarthritis but had no radiographic osteoarthritis and no pain in either knee or hip at baseline. (nda.nih.gov) (pubs.rsna.org) That design let the researchers look for changes that showed up before standard imaging found knee osteoarthritis. The Osteoarthritis Initiative was built to track physical changes that happen before arthritis symptoms begin or worsen. (clinicaltrials.gov) (nda.nih.gov) The paper does not show that ultra-processed foods caused the muscle changes. It was a cross-sectional analysis of existing data collected from February 2004 to October 2015, which means diet and MRI findings were measured at the same baseline window. (pubs.rsna.org) The definition of ultra-processed food in the study came from the Nova system, which groups foods by how they are industrially formulated rather than by calories alone. That framework is widely used in research, but some nutrition researchers argue it can lump together products with very different nutritional profiles. (pubs.rsna.org) (cambridge.org) Akkaya said the team used standard, non-contrast MRI scans rather than specialized imaging, which could make similar assessments easier to fold into routine musculoskeletal research. The study’s closing claim was narrower: higher ultra-processed food intake was linked to poorer muscle quality on thigh MRI in this at-risk group, regardless of sex. (rsna.org) (pubs.rsna.org)
