Natália Gomes da Silva Lopes, Celine Saraiva Ferreira, André Eduardo da Silva-Júnior, Mateus de Lima Macena, Dafiny Rodrigues Silva, Jennifer Mikaella Ferreira Melo, Maria Clara Tavares Farias da Silva, Déborah Tenório da Costa Paula, Débora Cavalcante Ferro, Micnéias Roberth Pereira, Marianna Victória Cerqueira Rocha, Nassib Bezerra Bueno
Summary: Cutting back on ultra-processed foods does not necessarily mean experiencing significant withdrawal symptoms. In a randomized clinical trial involving 107 adults with obesity, participants followed either a general calorie-restricted diet or a diet that also restricted ultra-processed foods. Although the ultra-processed food restriction group substantially reduced its intake, withdrawal symptoms were not significantly higher than in the general calorie-restriction group. Anxiety was associated with greater withdrawal symptoms, while Food Addiction was not, although only 16% of participants met criteria for Food Addiction. The findings suggest that anxiety may be more closely related to withdrawal-like symptoms during dietary change than Food Addiction in this group.