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Your diet may be doing more damage than the scale reveals. A new MRI-based study found that people who eat more ultra-processed foods have significantly more fat infiltrating their thigh muscles — a change that could weaken knee support and raise the risk of osteoarthritis. The link held even after accounting for total calories, physical activity, and body weight.
A new study published in Radiology found that people who eat more ultra-processed foods — think frozen pizzas, packaged snacks, and sugary drinks — tend to have significantly more fat embedded within their thigh muscles, a condition visible on MRI scans. Crucially, this association held even after researchers controlled for total calorie intake, physical activity, BMI, and other lifestyle factors.
The study analyzed MRI data from 615 adults enrolled in the NIH-sponsored Osteoarthritis Initiative, all of whom were at risk for knee osteoarthritis but showed no imaging signs of it yet. On average, about 41% of participants' diets consisted of ultra-processed foods. The more ultra-processed food someone ate, the more intramuscular fat was detected — regardless of how much they weighed or how many calories they consumed overall.
By the Numbers:
Why it matters: Thigh muscles play a critical role in stabilizing the knee joint. Fat infiltration weakens that support, potentially accelerating osteoarthritis — one of the costliest non-cancer health conditions globally. This research suggests that what you eat, not just how much, deserves a central place in osteoarthritis prevention and treatment strategies.
