Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn't Food

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Supermarket bread contains emulsifiers, and gluten or protein isolates,” the doctor said this morning. “That’s a UPF. We are sure now, as a category of food, this is driving up diet-related disease. Diet-related disease has replaced tobacco as the leading cause of death on planet Earth. This book was a great read and certainly eye opening! I was curious about UPF and the effects on the human body. The author starts with the history of food and the many trials/studies that have been done to understand obesity and what may be causing it. It explains how a lot of these studies and trials are flawed as they are funded by the food industry themselves. A lot of the scientists as a result have completed these trials without declaring a conflict of interest which inevitably gives results which favour the companies sponsoring them! You get an understanding of what UPF is, how it's made, its impact on the environment and the effects it has on us! It's scary to think that we put this stuff in our body without a second thought. Mainstream media does nothing to make people aware of UPF and what they are eating. I hear you say how do you identify UPF? Basically if you read the ingredients on anything and it has ingredients you wouldn't find at home (such as E numbers, gums like xantham gum, modified starch etc etc) then it's UPF. In this book, Chris van Tulleken, father, scientist, doctor, and award-winning BBC broadcaster, marshals the latest evidence to show how governments, scientists, and doctors have allowed transnational food companies to create a pandemic of diet-related disease. The solutions don’t lie in willpower, personal responsibility, or exercise. You’ll find no diet plan in this book—but join Chris as he undertakes a powerful self-experiment that made headlines around the world: under the supervision of colleagues at University College London he spent a month eating a diet of 80 percent UPF, typical for many children and adults in the United States. While his body became the subject of scientific scrutiny, he spoke to the world’s leading experts from academia, agriculture, and—most important—the food industry itself. But more than teaching him about the experience of the food, the diet switched off Chris’s own addiction to UPF. A scathing takedown . . . This impassioned polemic will make readers think twice about what they eat Publishers Weekly But I don't think I had really considered the sociological ramifications associated with UPFs. Dr van Tulleken writes about how the spread of cheap ultra-processed food around the world has displaced much of the world's food culture and explains how it drives inequality, poverty and early death and damages the planet.

In the book, Chris takes you on a wild ride through the ups and downs of our modern food dilemma, proving it's not our fault (at least not completely)...I mean, I've always been someone who sees overweight people and just assumes it's laziness. And I've completely changed my view, realising the grip that the food industry has on us, often with messages from 'trusted' people like our own governments. And it's all from the profit hungry machine, that makes us feel like we're hungry all the time! In a fast-paced and eye-opening narrative he explores the origins, science, and economics of UPF to reveal its catastrophic impact on our bodies and the planet. And he proposes real solutions for doctors, for policy makers, and for all of us who have to eat. A book that won't only upend the way you shop and eat, Ultra-Processed People will open your eyes to the need for action on a global scale.A] compelling examination of ultra-processed food—or UPF—as a public health issue. . . . [van Tulleken] details how UPF companies are destroying traditional diets and critiques industrial food arguments around inefficiency. . . . [H]is advice is matter-of-fact . . . [his] scope and approach . . . unique.”— Civil Eats We have entered a new 'age of eating' where most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food, food which is industrially processed and designed and marketed to be addictive. But do we really know what it's doing to our bodies?

A manifesto to change how you eat and how you think about the human body.It’s not you, it’s the food.We have entered a new age of eating. For the first time in human history, most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food. There’s a long, formal scientific definition, but it can be boiled down to this: if it’s wrapped in plastic and has at least one ingredient that you wouldn’t find in your kitchen, it’s UPF.These products are specifically engineered to behave as addictive substances, driving excess consumption. They are now linked to the leading cause of early death globally and the number one cause of environmental destruction. Yet almost all our staple foods are ultra-processed. UPF is our food culture and for many people it is the only available and affordable food.In this book, Chris van Tulleken, father, scientist, doctor, and award-winning BBC broadcaster, marshals the latest evidence to show how governments, scientists, and doctors have allowed transnational food companies to create a pandemic of diet-related disease. The solutions don’t lie in willpower, personal responsibility, or exercise. You’ll find no diet plan in this book-but join Chris as he undertakes a powerful self-experiment that made headlines around the world: under the supervision of colleagues at University College London he spent a month eating a diet of 80 percent UPF, typical for many children and adults in the United States. While his body became the subject of scientific scrutiny, he spoke to the world’s leading experts from academia, agriculture, and-most important-the food industry itself. But more than teaching him about the experience of the food, the diet switched off Chris’s own addiction to UPF.In a fast-paced and eye-opening narrative he explores the origins, science, and economics of UPF to reveal its catastrophic impact on our bodies and the planet. And he proposes real solutions for doctors, for policy makers, and for all of us who have to eat. A book that won’t only upend the way you shop and eat, Ultra-Processed People will open your eyes to the need for action on a global scale. Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind the Food That Isn’t Food by Chris van Tulleken – eBook Details The additives / microbiome sections seem a little weaker to me in terms of evidence, though it skeeves me out that there's a huge loophole for the regulation of additives (self determination: company asserts it's safe, FDA is OK with that, it goes on the market). I didn't know xanthan gum was a polysaccharide made of bacterial slime, but the evidence that it messes with your gut microbiome seems tenuous (a bacterial species is present in billions of people who eat it, but absent in remote hunter-gatherer people - well, we're exposed to a a lot more stuff than just xanthan gum). Several of the studies van Tulleken cites are in mice, which are not a perfect analogue to humans, though I see the ethical problems in subjecting a human test group to huge amounts of a chemical. The past 10 years has seen an inflection point in human history, where more people in the world are now dying of eating too much, than of eating too little. This urgent and captivating read digs deep into one of the huge reasons, the rise and rise of ultra-processed food' Giles Yeo Ever felt like food is controlling you? In this book Chris dives into the drama of Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) uncovering a massive conspiracy in our kitchen cabinets!A tour of how the science of processing has allowed companies to produce goods that are no longer even faint echoes of the real food of which they are copies, and of what the evidence shows about the biology and psychology of eating in today's world. Van Tulleken is at his best when using his own scientific expertise to help readers through otherwise unnavigable science, data and history, explaining with precision what we are actually eating Jacob E. Gersen, New York Times I recently consulted a dietitian, who recommended that I switch out my fat-free coffee creamer with milk. I was resistant to the idea until I read the ingredient list on the creamer this morning. Now I'm having difficulty enjoying my morning coffee. I was somewhat relieved to see that my preferred spaghetti sauce (for those days when I'm not willing to cook) has only two additives, but I was dismayed by the contents of my favourite cottage cheese. We all have to decide how much and how many UPF we are willing to consume. It's a definite advantage to be interested in cooking. I have to confess that, as a gluten free eater, I was horrified at what van Tulleken wrote about xanthan gum, a key component of GF baked goods. I have a jar of it in my baking cupboard. Microbial slime is not really something I want in my muffins! I think I must get tested for celiac disease to see if I can reintegrate wheat products into my diet. and Formerly Known As Food: How the Industrial Food System Is Changing Our Minds, Bodies, and Culture. Having done a bit of research to help with finding better food, I can also recommend a couple of great sources. Chris van Tulleken is an infectious diseases doctor at UCLH, and one of the BBC’s leading science presenters having worked on many flagship Health & Science programmes. His research focuses on how corporations affect human health especially in the context of child nutrition and he works with UNICEF and The World Health Organisation on this area. Chris co-presents CBBC’s Operation Ouch! alongside his twin brother Xand van Tulleken. Chris’ recently released book Ultra-Processed People explores the world of ultra-processed food and the affect it’s having on the health of the public.