David Allison

Once you've defined it clearly, then we can say what's its value?

How can we use it?

What's its utility?

Second thing I would say is, as with any category, if it permits a lot of variability in that category, which ultra-processed certainly does, it starts to get a little silly to talk about the overall category because you say,

So wait a minute, you want me to consider a meal replacement shake in the same category as I consider a Big Gulp and a 7-Eleven, in the same category I consider a chocolate bar, in the same category I consider a TPN nutrition.

These are all arguably ultra-processed and very different things.

And I think we want to talk about the things.

The next thing I want to bring up is what are we trying to do with it?

And this is probably the intellectually most important.

If you say to me, David, what I am looking for is a heuristic, and this loops back to something I said we'd address later, or earlier I mentioned, I said we'd come back to it.

The distinction between how much protein do I think somebody ought to eat for a certain goal

Versus how would I tell them to eat it or what would I tell them about it?

And those are two different things.

If you said, David, I just want something I can tell people so that when I tell them this, it has a beneficial effect.

Does telling them not to eat ultra-processed foods or to eat as few of them as possible, defining ultra-processed in this way, help?

The answer is it might help a lot.

It might vary a little bit depending on how you set it.

We need more studies.

We need to figure out.

My guess is, as with everything else, it won't last long.