On Friday night, I went to a thought-provoking talk by Dr. Chris van Tulleken about the detrimental effects of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) on our health and society.

A UPF is basically something with at least one ingredient you wouldn't normally keep in your kitchen, and it’s usually packaged in plastic. Ironically, products with health claims like "high in fibre," "rich in vitamin D," or "packed with protein" are usually UPFs.

It was a good reminder that the food industry doesn’t exist to keep us healthy or provide us with good nutrition – its primary goal is to make a profit.
Multinational food conglomerates invest heavily in consumer research to measure how fast and how much we eat different foods. The products are then meticulously designed to encourage overconsumption. Supermarket bread is a great example. It’s made softer, sweeter and saltier to encourage us eat faster and consume more before we start to feel full.

Dr. Chris highlighted studies that show that obesity is not simply due to a lack of willpower or exercise. Instead, it’s driven by the fact that ultra-processed foods are far easier, cheaper and more convenient to consume than whole foods.

He's not suggesting we completely cut out all UPFs from our diet - he and his family still enjoy them. Instead, he's encouraging people to become more conscious and knowledgeable about different foods.

So I’ve started reading his book, "Ultra-Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … and Why Can’t We Stop?" and I’m really enjoying part one, “Wait, I’m eating what?”.

I'm also planning on doing a lot more cooking from scratch this week!

Have you read the book? What do you think of it?

P.S. My teenagers were mildly impressed that I’d seen Dr Chris from Operation Ouch! They both loved the Cbeebies programme when they were little.