Comment by PeterStuer

My gut instinct and observations are that the root is not "ultraprocessed" but the level of what I would call "calory accessibility". They do overlap but are not the same. Take the same steak, eaten raw or artisanally minced into a sausage. Neither would be called "ultraprocessed". However, the "predigestion" process in the latter means our metabolism will have a far easier time extracting the energy from that same meat. Look at the foods obese people gravitate towards: it is not just high sugary salty fats. Yes, it is those, but on top of that those under easy release forms.