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3 simple steps to transform your metabolism | Shawn Stevenson and Prof. Tim Spector
ZOE Science & Nutrition
The Eating Evolution: Ultra-Processed Foods and Our Future
This chapter explores the detrimental effects of ultra-processed foods on our eating behaviors and metabolic responses. It highlights how these foods can disrupt natural satiety signals, contribute to overeating, and even affect physical health through changes in jaw structure.
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Speaker 3
We know there are a number of potential mechanisms. Do disagree with me if you think, Sean, but I don't think we know which ones of them are the most important. We really haven't done enough study on ultra-processed foods. It's like being a taboo subject, mainly because big food has managed to lobby government to make sure that in the US and the UK, we're not doing enough research on this because we can't touch cheap food. That's for the masses. That's political. You know, we can't go there. But there are a number of possible mechanisms. One is the speed of which you eat is much different with ultra-processed food. So it might bypass some of these evolutionary mechanisms for feeling full. So that's one that all our ancestors would have taken much longer to eat that food, therefore feeling full, those signals would have come in, which they don't come now. Then you've got the softness of the food, which means it's like baby food we're eating. So your jaw doesn't get the same workout. And there's evidence that the jaws of children now are receding. But if you've seen this, that dentists are very worried that every 10 years, our jaws are getting smaller because they're just not used to actually eating real food. So, you know. That's
Speaker 2
crazy. You're basically saying that they don't eat. It's sort of like you're not working out your jaw muscle enough and your jaw is actually not growing.
Speaker 3
Yeah. Many people actually spend their whole life eating baby food now. This is phenomenon.
Speaker 1
It's called vanishing caloric density, right? So we have these foods like a Cheeto, for example, and it's like so robust when you first bite into it, then it disappears, right? And it gives us illusion of crunch and density. And so also we'll continue to eat a lot of it and overeat it. And it's designed to be that way because the way that we evolved, we have certain senses and receptors that are very sensitive to flavor and like an overabundance of flavor. And so it's them having the right, designing the right amount of intense flavor, but then to be able to back off with other compounds and just put it at this right level. And also if we're eating a, quote, real food, right? There's a certain amount of chicken that you might eat. And you're just like, I'm done with this chicken. Like I can't eat another bite. Or the same thing would hold true, you know, with eating an avocado per se. Like as we're eating a real food, our bodies start to rebel against it. Like that's enough. I've had enough. It doesn't happen like that. The ad is literally, I bet you can't eat just one. That's the Frito-Lay mantra. All right. They're literally saying, you can't just eat one of these chips. You're going to eat the bag and you got to fight yourself to stop eating it. It's designed to be that way. It's brilliant, but it's also kind of like a Dr. Evil level of brilliance.
Speaker 2
Sort of terrifying, isn't it? The way he describes it, we've carefully designed this, so you're going to be unable to stop eating it. We're going to beat your
Speaker 3
genes.
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