The Change in Food Environment and the Rise of Ultra Processed Food

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The food environment changed significantly in the 1970s leading to a rise in weight gain across demographics. This change was primarily driven by the invention of ultra-processed foods due to the industrialization of the food supply. Factors like a growing population post-war and the convenience these products offered played a crucial role in their widespread adoption. The financialization of the food industry has also contributed to this shift, with financial indicators dictating the actions of food companies rather than public health concerns. Currently, a small number of companies dominate the food market globally, with about 15 to 20 companies producing the majority of processed foods in the UK. This consolidation has led to a reduction in the variety of foods consumed, with a significant portion of global calories coming from just six companies and most meats coming from a few animal sources. This commercial efficiency has narrowed down the human diet to a few food products controlled by companies seeking to generate intellectual property.

What if what you were eating wasn’t really food but an industrially produced edible substance, and your diet was worse for you than smoking?

In this new episode Steven sits down with doctor and New York Times bestselling author, Chris van Tulleken.

Dr. Chris van Tulleken is an infectious diseases doctor and one of the BBC’s leading science presenters, appearing on shows such as, ‘The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs’, ‘Trust Me, I’m A Doctor’ and ‘Operation Ouch!’. He is the author of the Sunday Times bestselling book, ‘Ultra-Processed People’.

In this conversation Dr. Chris and Steven discuss topics, such as:

What is ‘Ultra-Processed Food’
Why 80% of the average diet is not real food
The ways that ultra-processed food can impact your health
How there is a pandemic of junk food
Dr Chris’s experiment of living of ultra-processed food
The ways that junk food is causing a public health emergency
The ways that your diet can be deadlier than smoking
The lies we’ve been told about 'health' food
Why ‘health’ food isn’t actually healthy
The ways that food guidelines are actually nonsense
How half the world’s population is predicted to become obese in 12 years time
Why exercise can't burn off fat fast enough
How we are tackling obesity in the wrong way
The impact of a Ultra-Processed diet on intelligence
How you can inherit obesity
The ways that food companies have made their food addictive
How food companies are like the mafia
Ways that food companies target us with ultra-processed food
How ultra-processed food can be more addictive that nicotine
How the average diet is making people not just fatter but shorter
Why we need to start a food revolution

You can purchase Chris’ most recent book, ‘Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop?’, here: https://amzn.to/3sikpaZ

Follow Chris:

Instagram: https://bit.ly/491nqwz

Twitter: https://bit.ly/46Ryafc

Follow me:

https://beacons.ai/diaryofaceo