We’ve apparently found the culprit for the obesity epidemic, and it’s “ultra-processed foods”. They’re the plastic-wrapped, industrially-produced foods with long lists of ingredients that apparently make up 60% of the average UK diet.

In this episode of The Studies Show, Tom and Stuart tuck in to some “hyper-palatable” research on nutrition and health, discuss the main randomised trial in this area, and try (and immediately fail) to read out the whole definition of “ultra-processed foods” in one breath.

The Studies Show is brought to you by the i, the UK’s best daily newspaper. You can find the latest deals for subscriptions—including a 50% off deal for digital subscriptions—at this link. Thanks to the i for their support!

If you’re enjoying The Studies Show, then please consider becoming a subscriber. You can join as a free subscriber and get an email whenever we release an episode. If you join as a paid subscriber, you’ll be able to access some features like ask-me-anything chats with Tom and Stuart, and (soon) paid-only episodes. Either way, you can subscribe by typing your email address below:

Show Notes

* Chris van Tulleken’s Guardian article with a summary of the case against UPFs

* The UN document giving all the details on the NOVA classification

* Study rating people’s agreement on which foods are in which NOVA category

* Stuart’s article on UPFs

* Systematic review & meta-analysis on the UPF correlation with premature death

* The NIH randomised controlled trial of UPFs versus unprocessed foods

* Photos of the meals given in the experiment, from the study’s Appendix

* Interesting Twitter discussion with the RCT’s lead author

* Page with details on Stephan Guyenet’s book, The Hungry Brain

Credits

The Studies Show is produced by Julian Mayers at Yada Yada Productions.

This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.thestudiesshowpod.com/subscribe

Episode 38 - Self Starters Part 2