The UPF diet is incredibly calorie dense and the very intensive physical processing means that it's soft. Most ultra processed food you can eat quicker than your hormone system that tells you to stop eating can catch up. Then we've got all the additives, some of which affect our mental health. The emulsifiers seem to really, really interrupt our microbiome, the bugs inside us that keep us healthy.
Sliced supermarket bread, ham, cheese, crisps, a fruit-flavoured yoghurt and a fizzy drink. If this sounds like a standard lunch, you’re not alone. The average person in the UK gets more than 50% of their calories from ultra-processed foods – otherwise known as ‘industrially produced edible substances’. Madeleine Finlay speaks to Dr Chris van Tulleken about what ultra-processed foods are really made of, how they have become a major part of our diets, and the impact they are having on our health. Help support our independent journalism at
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