{"id":607062,"date":"2026-04-16T02:50:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/607062\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T02:50:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T02:50:09","slug":"study-links-ultra-processed-food-intake-to-poorer-thigh-muscle-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/607062\/","title":{"rendered":"Study links ultra-processed food intake to poorer thigh muscle quality"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new MRI study suggests that diets high in ultra-processed foods may be linked to fattier, poorer-quality thigh muscles in adults at risk for knee osteoarthritis, adding fresh concern about how modern eating patterns could affect mobility and aging.<\/p>\n

\"Study:<\/a><\/p>\n

Study: Ultra-processed Foods and Muscle Fat Infiltration at Thigh MRI: Data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative<\/a>. Image Credit: Atiketta Sangasaeng \/ Shutterstock<\/p>\n

A recent study published in the journal\u00a0Radiology<\/a> links consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPF) to greater fat infiltration in thigh muscles on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a marker of poorer muscle quality, among individuals at risk of knee osteoarthritis.<\/p>\n

Analysis of\u00a0MRI data from 615 participants showed that higher UPF intake was associated with greater fat infiltration in thigh muscles, even after accounting for body mass index (BMI), with stronger associations after accounting for abdominal circumference (AC).<\/p>\n

These findings suggest that diet quality and fat distribution may be linked to poorer thigh muscle composition, regardless of sex, particularly in aging populations at risk of functional decline.<\/p>\n

UPFs, a hallmark of modern Western diets, contribute significantly to the rising obesity rate. These products, high in salt, sugar, fat, and additives, often displace nutrient-dense foods, resulting in poorer diet quality and inadequate intake of protein and key micronutrients essential for muscle health.<\/p>\n

Obesity is a key risk factor for knee osteoarthritis (KOA), a disabling condition affecting multiple joint tissues, including muscles and fat.<\/p>\n

Emerging evidence links higher\u00a0UPF intake to worse knee outcomes, reduced physical performance, lower muscle mass, and higher body fat; however, its impact on skeletal muscle integrity remains underexplored, particularly in individuals at risk of KOA.<\/p>\n

UPF and Knee Osteoarthritis MRI Study Design<\/p>\n

In the present study, researchers examined the association between\u00a0UPF intake and thigh muscle fat infiltration (MFI) among 2004\u20132015 Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) study participants.<\/p>\n

These individuals were prone to\u00a0KOA but had no radiographic osteoarthritis (grade 1 or lower on the Kellgren-Lawrence scale) and reported no joint pain, stiffness, or major comorbidities (inflammatory arthritis, diabetes, stroke, or cancer).<\/p>\n

The team assessed dietary intake using validated food frequency questionnaires (FFQs), including the Block Brief 2000 FFQ, capturing food consumption over the previous year. They classified foods using the NOVA system to estimate UPF intake.<\/p>\n

To evaluate muscle quality, the investigators analyzed axial MRI slices. They graded MFI using the Goutallier classification. The grades ranged from 0 (cases without fat infiltration) to 4 (cases with over 50% fat infiltration). Two experienced readers independently scored 10 bilateral thigh muscles, generating summed scores for flexors, extensors, adductors, and total thigh\u00a0MFI.<\/p>\n

The researchers used two regression models, one adjusted for BMI and the other for AC. Both models additionally adjusted for age, race, ethnicity, education, income, physical activity, total energy intake, depression, and smoking status.<\/p>\n

Further, the team conducted sex-stratified and sensitivity analyses by adjusting for total dietary fat and comparing participants without radiographic\u00a0KOA (grade 0) to those with doubtful KOA (grade 1). To ensure reliability, both readers rescored a subset of 100 participants six weeks later to assess reproducibility.<\/p>\n

Higher UPF Intake and Muscle Quality Findings<\/p>\n

The study population comprised predominantly women (n=340) of older age (mean age, 60 years), and non-Hispanic ethnicity (98%). Most of them were overweight, with a mean\u00a0BMI of 27, and over half reported no smoking history. Abdominal obesity was common, affecting 43% of men and 81% of women (mean AC, 99 cm). The mean energy intake was 1,381 kcal\/day, with UPFs accounting for approximately 41% of daily intake.<\/p>\n

After adjusting for body mass index, higher UPF intake was significantly associated with greater thigh MFI in all thigh muscles and in bilateral flexors and adductors. These associations were stronger in models adjusted for abdominal circumference than in those adjusted for BMI.<\/p>\n

The findings suggest that central fat distribution may help explain this relationship, while\u00a0UPF intake may also be associated with muscle fat accumulation.<\/p>\n

Together, these support an association between poorer diet quality and greater intramuscular fat in this at-risk population, although the study did not directly test underlying mechanisms.<\/p>\n

The relationship between UPF consumption and MFI was linear and consistent across sexes. Among muscle groups, flexors exhibited the highest MFI, extensors the lowest, and adductors demonstrated the strongest association with UPF intake. Reproducibility analyses showed good inter- and intra-observer agreement for Goutallier grading.<\/p>\n

Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of the findings, with results unchanged after adjusting for total dietary fat and stronger associations in individuals with doubtful\u00a0KOA than in those without radiographic disease. However, as a cross-sectional study, the findings do not establish causality.<\/p>\n

\"Representative<\/p>\n

Representative axial T1-weighted spin-echo thigh MRI scans in\u00a0(A)\u00a0a 61-year-old female participant and\u00a0(B)\u00a0a 62-year-old female participant. Both participants were of similar age and body mass index (BMI, calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared). Both had Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly scores above the mean score in the study. According to the World Health Organization definition, the participant in\u00a0B\u00a0qualified as having abdominal obesity (abdominal circumference \u2265 88 cm). Abdominal circumference is a measure of central obesity that captures fat distribution and serves as an indicator of cardiometabolic health. Compared with the participant in\u00a0A, the participant in\u00a0B\u00a0had a higher proportion of ultra-processed food (UPF) in their diet (87.1% vs 29.5%) and exhibited fattier thigh muscles bilaterally, with Goutallier grade (GG) for all thigh muscles summing to 25 for the participant in\u00a0A\u00a0and 38 for the participant in\u00a0B. Image: Credit Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)<\/p>\n

Diet Quality and Musculoskeletal Health Implications<\/p>\n

The study identifies ultra-processed food intake as being associated with poorer muscle quality, reflected by greater fat infiltration in thigh muscles among individuals at risk of knee osteoarthritis, independent of sex.<\/p>\n

Stronger associations in abdominal circumference-adjusted models highlight the possible combined influence of diet quality and fat distribution on musculoskeletal health.<\/p>\n

The findings support further research into whether dietary patterns may influence muscle quality and functional decline with aging, while future longitudinal studies will be needed to clarify causal pathways and determine whether dietary interventions can mitigate muscle deterioration and slow KOA progression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new MRI study suggests that diets high in ultra-processed foods may be linked to fattier, poorer-quality thigh…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":607063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[128,18999,49,48,2771,2998,84,11246,61343,65305,422,11484,1229,103302,3182,7430,56337,3378,25794,31589],"class_list":{"0":"post-607062","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-aging","9":"tag-body-mass-index","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-diet","13":"tag-food","14":"tag-health","15":"tag-imaging","16":"tag-knee","17":"tag-magnetic-resonance-imaging","18":"tag-muscle","19":"tag-musculoskeletal","20":"tag-obesity","21":"tag-osteoarthritis","22":"tag-physical-activity","23":"tag-protein","24":"tag-radiology","25":"tag-smoking","26":"tag-ultra-processed-food","27":"tag-ultra-processed-foods"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=607062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/607063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=607062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=607062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=607062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}