Table 1.
Characteristics of the participants according to UPFs consumption categorized according to <3 servings per day and >5 servings per day.
| Whole Population | Women | Men | p Value (Women-Men < 3) 4 | p Value (Women-Men > 5) 5 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | <3 serv/d (n = 96) |
>5 serv/d (n = 90) |
p Value 1 | <3 serv/d (n = 57) |
>5 serv/d (n = 66) |
p Value 2 | <3 serv/d (n = 39) |
>5 serv/d (n = 24) |
p Value 3 | ||
| UPF consumption (serv/ d) | 2.0 ± 0.1 | 6.4 ± 0.2 | <0.001 | 2.0 ± 0.1 | 6.2 ± 0.1 | <0.001 | 2.0 ± 0.1 | 7.01 ± 0.52 | <0.001 | 0.76 | 0. 21 |
| Age (y) | 46 ± 1 | 43 ± 1 | 0.03 | 45 ± 1 | 43.5± 1 | 0.17 | 48 ± 1 | 43.5 ± 1.9 | 0.08 | 0.27 | 0.98 |
| Smoking | 20 | 24 | 0.54 | 11 | 15 | 0.68 | 9 | 9 | 0.98 | 0.47 | 0.23 |
| Alcohol habit | 61 | 51 | 0.36 | 30 | 30 | 0.93 | 30 | 21 | 0.74 | 0.98 | 0.16 |
| METs | 28.5 ± 1.5 | 22.5 ± 2.4 | 0.07 | 22.6 ± 2.5 | 18.1 ± 1.9 | 0.15 | 37.0 ± 3.8 | 34.5 ± 6.7 | 0.72 | <0.001 | 0.007 |
| Depression prevalence | 0 | 6 | 0.01 | 0 | 5 | 0.01 | 0 | 1 | 0.43 | 0.89 | 0.19 |
| Anxiety prevalence | 4 | 8 | 0.01 | 3 | 6 | 0.02 | 1 | 2 | 0.53 | 0.36 | 0.14 |
| Energy intake (kcal) | 2444 ± 50 | 3685 ± 97 | <0.001 | 2372 ± 61 | 3608 ± 107 | <0.001 | 2629 ± 83 | 3844 ± 195 | <0.001 | 0.02 | 0.25 |
| Energy from UPFs (%) | 10.1 ± 0.5 | 22.8 ± 1.1 | <0.001 | 8.7 ± 0.4 | 21.5 ± 1.3 | <0.001 | 12.1 ± 0.8 | 26.3 ± 2.0 | <0.001 | 0.002 | 0.06 |
| Adherence to MD | 8.0 ± 0.1 | 6.0 ± 0.1 | <0.001 | 7.0 ± 0.2 | 6.0 ± 0.2 | <0.001 | 7.0 ± 0.2 | 6.0 ± 0.3 | 0.006 | 0.77 | 0.78 |
| BMI baseline (kg/m2) | 29.2 ± 0.4 | 30.9 ± 0.4 | 0.02 | 29.5 ± 0.5 | 30.5 ± 0.6 | 0.19 | 29.5 ± 0.6 | 31.6 ± 0.6 | 0.02 | 0.99 | 0.25 |
| Weight (kg) | 81.1 ± 1.2 | 87.1 ± 1.5 | 0.002 | 77.5 ± 1.3 | 82.0 ± 1.7 | 0.04 | 90.6 ± 2.2 | 97.6 ± 2.2 | 0.03 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Waist circumference (cm) | 96 ± 1 | 101 ± 1 | 0.02 | 94 ± 1 | 97 ± 2 | 0.14 | 102 ± 2 | 108 ± 2 | 0.07 | 0.01 | 0.002 |
| Hip circumference (cm) | 108 ± 1 | 111 ± 1 | 0.01 | 108 ± 1 | 112 ± 1 | 0.03 | 106 ± 1 | 108 ± 1 | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.05 |
| SBP (mmHg) | 126 ± 1 | 125 ± 2 | 0.71 | 122 ± 2 | 120 ± 2 | 0.33 | 135 ± 3 | 136 ± 3 | 0.81 | 0.001 | <0.001 |
| DBP (mmHg) | 78 ± 1 | 78 ± 1 | 0.86 | 76 ± 1 | 76 ± 1 | 0.91 | 84 ± 2 | 82 ± 2 | 0.44 | <0.001 | 0.002 |
| Fat mass (kg) | 28.6 ± 1.3 | 33.8 ± 1.4 | 0.01 | 29.2 ± 1.6 | 34.1 ± 1.9 | 0.05 | 27.2 ± 2.3 | 33.2 ± 2.0 | 0.06 | 0.51 | 0.75 |
| Visceral fat mass (kg) | 1.2 ± 0.08 | 1.3 ± 0.09 | 0.22 | 0.9 ± 0.06 | 1.0 ± 0.08 | 0.45 | 1.9 ± 0.2 | 2.1 ± 0.1 | 0.58 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| Glucose (mg/dL) | 95 ± 1 | 94 ± 1 | 0.74 | 94 ± 2 | 92 ± 1 | 0.49 | 97 ± 2 | 98 ± 2 | 0.71 | 0.22 | 0.006 |
| Total cholesterol (mg/dL) | 211 ± 2 | 215 ± 4 | 0.44 | 211 ± 4 | 213 ± 5 | 0.77 | 210 ± 6 | 218 ± 6 | 0.34 | 0.89 | 0.51 |
| HDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) | 59 ± 1 | 55 ± 1 | 0.04 | 61 ± 1 | 59 ± 2 | 0.41 | 52 ± 1 | 46 ± 1 | 0.01 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| LDL-cholesterol (mg/dL) | 64 ± 3 | 57 ± 4 | 0.22 | 63 ± 4 | 57 ± 5 | 0.37 | 67 ± 7 | 58 ± 6 | 0.35 | 0.59 | 0.92 |
| Triglycerides (mg/dL) | 86 ± 3 | 105 ± 6 | 0.004 | 84 ± 4 | 92 ± 5 | 0.23 | 92 ± 7 | 130 ± 12 | 0.006 | 0.29 | 0.001 |
| ALT (U/L) | 22 ± 1 | 23 ± 1 | 0.44 | 20 ± 1 | 19 ± 1 | 0.59 | 26 ± 2 | 31 ± 2 | 0.04 | 0.04 | <0.001 |
| AST (U/L) | 22 ± 1 | 21 ± 1 | 0.57 | 21 ± 1 | 20 ± 1 | 0.33 | 24 ± 1 | 24 ± 1 | 0.72 | 0.14 | <0.001 |
| Insulin (mU/L) | 7.3 ± 0.4 | 8.0 ± 0.4 | 0.36 | 7.5 ± 0.5 | 7.4 ± 0.5 | 0.93 | 7.0 ± 0.7 | 9.0 ± 1 | 0.09 | 0.59 | 0.13 |
| Adiponectin (µg/mL) | 12.3 ± 0.4 | 11.5 ± 0.4 | 0.21 | 13.7 ± 0.5 | 12.9 ± 0.5 | 0.35 | 8.9 ± 0.5 | 8.6 ± 0.5 | 0.67 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| TNF (pg/mL) | 0.8 ± 0.02 | 0.9 ± 0.03 | 0.16 | 0.8 ± 0.03 | 0.8 ± 0.04 | 0.95 | 0.8 ± 0.02 | 1.0 ± 0.06 | 0.009 | 0.99 | 0.01 |
| Leptin (ng/mL) | 32.3 ± 2.2 | 35.1 ± 2.8 | 0.44 | 39.9 ± 2.6 | 45.3 ± 3.6 | 0.22 | 12.6 ± 1.6 | 14.1 ± 1.7 | 0.52 | <0.001 | <0.001 |
| HOMA-IR | 1.8 ± 0.1 | 1.8 ± 0.1 | 0.69 | 1.8 ± 0.2 | 1.7 ± 0.1 | 0.61 | 1.7 ± 0.2 | 2.2 ± 0.2 | 0.15 | 0.75 | 0.06 |
| CRP (µg/mL) | 2.4 ± 0.3 | 2.8 ± 0.3 | 0.31 | 2.6 ± 0.3 | 3.1 ± 0.4 | 0.41 | 1.8 ± 0.4 | 2.3 ± 0.3 | 0.41 | 0.21 | 0.24 |
Variables are expressed as mean ± SE for quantitative variables and as numbers of cases for qualitative variables. Differences between groups were assessed by t-test or Mann–Whitney test (METs, glucose, adiponectin, ALT, AST, TNFa, HOMA-IR and CRP) according to the distribution of data and quantitative values variables were assessed by Chi-squared. Serv/day: servings per day. ALT: alanine aminotransferase, AST: aspartate aminotransferase, BMI: body mass index, CRP: C-reactive protein, DBP: diastolic blood pressure, HDL-c: hihg density lipoprotein cholesterol, HOMA-IR: homeostatic model assessment for insulin resistance index, LDL-c: low density lipoprotein cholesterol, MD: Mediterranean diet, MET: metabolic equivalent of tasks, SBP: systolic blood pressure, Serv/d: servings per day, TNF: tumor necrosis factor alpha, TSH: thyroid-stimulating hormone, UPF: ultra-processed food. Each variable was analyzed using total UPFs consumption adjusted for BMI, age and energy intake, except differences in age, BMI, weight, energy form UPFs and total energy. p values were obtained using t-test or Mann-Whitney test (according to the normality of the data) for quantitative variables and chi square for qualitative variables. 1 p value of the comparison between subjects who consumed less than 3 servings per day of UPF and more than 5 in whole population. 2 p value of the comparison between women who consumed less than 3 servings per day of UPF and more than 5. 3 p value of the comparison between men who consumed less than 3 servings per day of UPF and more than 5. 4 p value of the comparison between women and men who consumed less than 3 servings per day of UPF. 5 p value of the comparison between women and men who consumed more than 5 servings per day of UPF. Significant values are in bold type.