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

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An eye-opening investigation into the science, economics, history and production of ultra-processed food.** 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 It’s really not our fault that we struggle with our health, we have to look to the system around us and hold them accountable.” Van Tulleken undermines his own argument a couple of times. In his discussion about sugar, he states the reason sugar is bad is not because it’s ultra processed (HFCS obviously is, but as van Tulleken points out, our bodies don’t know the difference); sugar is bad because it causes people to overeat and rots teeth. This is a good argument against added sugars, but it’s not exactly on point with his thesis. He also notes in the last chapter that one of his friends who also chose to abstain from all UPF actually started to *gain* weight when he decided eat all the cheese and unprocessed bread he wanted. The point is glossed over, but clearly even without anything processed in one’s diet, certain healthy eating rules still apply.

and Formerly Known As Food: How the Industrial Food System Is Changing Our Minds, Bodies, and Culture. To test out his theory, Dr van Tulleken went on a diet consisting of 80 percent UPFs — which is the normal diet of a British teenager, he said. After 30 days, he gained weight, and measured his hormone levels. As I scan through that list again I could be forgiven for asking what have I actually ingested?! What have I eaten?! And the answer as this fabulous book informs me - This book is going to hurt, exposing the food industry’s underbelly in painstaking, gory, unanaesthetised detail 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.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. Chris van Tulleken bravely turns himself into a guinea pig to explore the ins and outs of ultra-processed food. . . . His account of what happens to our food during its trip to our gut, and the connection that bad food has to the epidemics of obesity and diabetes . . . is persuasive and scary.” —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker UPFs include foods we might even view as harmless. Forget fatty meat or microwave lasagnes, supermarket bread is ultra-processed, the book says. Unsettling and deeply important. . . . [ Ultra-Processed People] integrate[s] concepts of detailed food science and global market forces, showing how these affect individual humans. Tulleken weaves these threads together in a way that is evidence-based, compelling and humane. . . . A tremendously important book that will help readers choose less processed, better food.” —Vincent Lam, Toronto Star Ultra-Processed People] advocates for our right to understand the impact of what we eat and access affordable, healthy food in an environment that makes it nearly impossible. . . . A lucidly written, grimly fascinating and essential read.” —Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction jury citation

For too long we've been told we just need to make different choices, when really we're living in a food environment that makes it nigh-on impossible. So this is a book about our rights. The right to know what we eat and what it does to our bodies and the right to good, affordable food. Due to how widespread these foods are in Britain, it means roughly 60 percent of our diet is made up of UPFs, according to Dr van Tulleken. A core element of that is the typical supermarket meal deal lunches that thousands of workers consume every day.Therefore, this book was a great source of information and eye opener on the world of UPF, why it is produced (unnecessarily), how it is made, what different chemical substances are and can do (e.g. E numbers) what it may be doing to us, and how it is pushed by big corp with nation states deliberately turning a blind, and not so we can have a secure, abundant, wide variety of food, but purely for massive financial gain at our expense.

If you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one. It will not only change the way you eat but the way you think about food. And it does all this without a hint of finger-wagging or body shaming. I came away feeling so much better informed about every aspect of ultra-processed food, from the way it affects the microbes in our gut to why it is so profitable to produce to why it’s so hard to eat only a single bowl of Coco Pops to why any food that is marketed as ‘better for you’ is almost certainly not." - Bee Wilson, author of Consider the Fork and The Secret of Cooking 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. But the best bits are the explanations of the science. From the development of margarine made from coal (that was ‘tested’ in Nazi concentration camps), to the Pringle’s “almost exact congruence with the tongue’s tastebud-laden curves”, he tells a damn good yarn, cutting through the complex terminology with consummate ease. Not an exact science A devastating, witty and scholarly destruction of the shit food we eat and why.” —Adam Rutherford, bestselling author of A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever LivedI 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.