Blood and urine tests can show how much junk food you actually consume

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Blood and urine tests have been found to detect the amount of ultraprocessed foods (UPFs) a person eats, according to new research.

Using machine learning, scientists at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) identified hundreds of metabolites (molecules produced during metabolism) that correlated with processed food intake.

The team developed a "biomarker score" that predicts ultraprocessed food intake based on metabolite measurements in blood and urine, according to Erikka Loftfield, Ph.D., M.P.H., of the National Cancer Institute in Maryland.

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The researchers drew baseline data from 718 older adults who provided urine and blood samples and reported their dietary habits over a 12-month period, as detaile