Table 3 Macronutrient-dependent effects of food processing.

From: Competing paradigms of obesity pathogenesis: energy balance versus carbohydrate-insulin models

Native food structure

Disrupted food structure

Major processing-dependent health effects

High-carbohydrate foods [230,231,232,233,234]

 Wheatberries

White bread

+

 Oat groats

Instant oatmeal

+

 Apple

Apple juice

+

High-fat foods

 Olives

Olive oil

–

 Peanuts

Peanut butter

–

 Avocado

Guacamole

–

 Sesame seeds

Tahini

–

 Cacao

Dark chocolate

–

 Heavy cream

Whipped cream

–

High-protein foods

 Turkey

Ground turkey

–

 Soybeans

Tofu

–

 Boiled egg

Scrambled egg

–

  1. The cellular structure of plants, including cellulose and soluble fibers, protects intrinsic carbohydrates from enzymatic digestion and diffusion to the gut wall. Extensive food processing disrupts this structure, resulting in acellular starches and sugars with markedly increased GL and adverse health effects. With inherently slower digestion rate, high-fat and high-protein foods are less affected by food processing. (Although sometimes designed with animal-sourced foods [144], a low-GL diet may be vegetarian or vegan, as most of these examples highlight.).
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