I gained a lot of weight,” he explained to BBC presenters Nikki Bedi and Peter Curran. “If I had continued all year [on this diet], I would have doubled my body weight and I was not forcing this food in. My hunger hormones were still sky-high after a meal, too.” Chris van Tulleken is an infectious diseases doctor at UCLH, and one of the BBC’s leading science presenters having worked on many flagship Health & Science programmes. His research focuses on how corporations affect human health especially in the context of child nutrition and he works with UNICEF and The World Health Organisation on this area. Chris co-presents CBBC’s Operation Ouch! alongside his twin brother Xand van Tulleken. Chris’ recently released book Ultra-Processed People explores the world of ultra-processed food and the affect it’s having on the health of the public. For too long we've been told we just need to make different choices, when really we're living in a food environment that makes it nigh-on impossible. So this is a book about our rights. The right to know what we eat and what it does to our bodies and the right to good, affordable food. An event publication that promises to change how we eat, saving ourselves and the planet at the same time. Of course you can’t design national food policy without speaking to industry,” he adds. “But you can make sure that none of the people who write and develop the policy take money from the industry they seek to regulate. The relationship cannot be one of partnership.”

We have entered a new age of eating. For the first time in human history, most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food. There's a long, formal scientific definition, but it can be boiled down to this: if it's wrapped in plastic and has at least one ingredient that you wouldn't find in your kitchen, it's UPF. Chris van Tulleken bravely turns himself into a guinea pig to explore the ins and outs of ultra-processed food. . . . His account of what happens to our food during its trip to our gut, and the connection that bad food has to the epidemics of obesity and diabetes . . . is persuasive and scary.” —Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker Firstly OpenFoodFacts have a database of food products from all over, and the key thing is they show the NOVA score for most stuff. I laughed out loud at one part in which van Tulleken is describing the squirrely rules used by the British government to determine what foods are luxury items that VAT is charged on (gingerbread men = necessity; gingerbread men with more than a couple chocolate decorations = luxury). It made me feel slightly less bad about the incompetence / deliberate corruption of my own country's rules. But it also made me kinda miss British UPF that's hard to get in the States - Greggs vegan sausage rolls, jaffa cakes, chocolate digestives - and that was not the point at all.It'll change what you eat . . . an unsettling examination of the food we eat and the industrial system that makes it Ben Spencer, The Times But the best bits are the explanations of the science. From the development of margarine made from coal (that was ‘tested’ in Nazi concentration camps), to the Pringle’s “almost exact congruence with the tongue’s tastebud-laden curves”, he tells a damn good yarn, cutting through the complex terminology with consummate ease. Not an exact science In this book, Chris van Tulleken, father, scientist, doctor, and award-winning BBC broadcaster, marshals the latest evidence to show how governments, scientists, and doctors have allowed transnational food companies to create a pandemic of diet-related disease. The solutions don’t lie in willpower, personal responsibility, or exercise. You’ll find no diet plan in this book―but join Chris as he undertakes a powerful self-experiment that made headlines around the world: under the supervision of colleagues at University College London he spent a month eating a diet of 80 percent UPF, typical for many children and adults in the United States. While his body became the subject of scientific scrutiny, he spoke to the world’s leading experts from academia, agriculture, and―most important―the food industry itself. But more than teaching him about the experience of the food, the diet switched off Chris’s own addiction to UPF.

I also think you've got a bit of a blueprint on the way forward. At least, I think there's one for me. I'll let you know how I get on. We're being manipulated into overeating and then overspending on more tastiness to overeat, so a few big "food" companies can roll around in their trillions. We have forgotten what real food tastes like and what we feel like when we eat it. In this book, Chris van Tulleken, father, scientist, doctor, and award-winning BBC broadcaster, marshals the latest evidence to show how governments, scientists, and doctors have allowed transnational food companies to create a pandemic of diet-related disease. The solutions don’t lie in willpower, personal responsibility, or exercise. You’ll find no diet plan in this book—but join Chris as he undertakes a powerful self-experiment that made headlines around the world: under the supervision of colleagues at University College London he spent a month eating a diet of 80 percent UPF, typical for many children and adults in the United States. While his body became the subject of scientific scrutiny, he spoke to the world’s leading experts from academia, agriculture, and—most important—the food industry itself. But more than teaching him about the experience of the food, the diet switched off Chris’s own addiction to UPF. Unsettling and deeply important. . . . [ Ultra-Processed People] integrate[s] concepts of detailed food science and global market forces, showing how these affect individual humans. Tulleken weaves these threads together in a way that is evidence-based, compelling and humane. . . . A tremendously important book that will help readers choose less processed, better food.” —Vincent Lam, Toronto Star In this book, Chris van Tulleken, father, scientist, doctor, and award-winning BBC broadcaster, marshals the latest evidence to show how governments, scientists, and doctors have allowed transnational food companies to create a pandemic of diet-related disease. The solutions don't lie in willpower, personal responsibility, or exercise. You'll find no diet plan in this book-but join Chris as he undertakes a powerful self-experiment that made headlines around the world: under the supervision of colleagues at University College London he spent a month eating a diet of 80 percent UPF, typical for many children and adults in the United States. While his body became the subject of scientific scrutiny, he spoke to the world's leading experts from academia, agriculture, and-most important-the food industry itself. But more than teaching him about the experience of the food, the diet switched off Chris's own addiction to UPF.Fascinating, but frankly horrifying investigation into our industrialised food system Ben Spencer, The Times After reading up on it, I've found myself reading the ingredients on pretty much everything I buy. I mean, a 30 minute shopping trip is taking me well over an hour now! In a fast-paced and eye-opening narrative he explores the origins, science, and economics of UPF to reveal its catastrophic impact on our bodies and the planet. And he proposes real solutions for doctors, for policy makers, and for all of us who have to eat. A book that won't only upend the way you shop and eat, Ultra-Processed People will open your eyes to the need for action on a global scale.

But I don't think I had really considered the sociological ramifications associated with UPFs. Dr van Tulleken writes about how the spread of cheap ultra-processed food around the world has displaced much of the world's food culture and explains how it drives inequality, poverty and early death and damages the planet. INGREDIENTS: MILK CHOCOLATE FLAVOUR COATING (40%) [SUGAR*; COCOA BUTTER: COCOA MASS, VEGETABLE OIL (PALM OIL: SHEA OIL; SUNFLOWER OIL; PALM KERNEL OIL; AND/OR SAFFLOWER OIL); SKIMMED MiLK POWDER; LACTOSE (MILK) MILK FAT, WHEY POWDER (MILK; EMULSIFIERS, SOVA LECITHIN (E322), POLYGL/CEROL POLYRICINOLEATE (E476); ARTIFICIAL FLAVOUR, VANILLIN]; PEANUTS (269); PEANUT BUTTER (17%) (PEANUTS; SUGAR": DEXTROSE, SALT: CORN SYRUP*: ANTIOXIDANT, TBHQ (6319); CARAMEL (179) (HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, HIGH MALTOSE CORN SYRUP»: SWEETENER, SORBITOL (ES201; SUGAR", PALM. A] compelling examination of ultra-processed food—or UPF—as a public health issue. . . . [van Tulleken] details how UPF companies are destroying traditional diets and critiques industrial food arguments around inefficiency. . . . [H]is advice is matter-of-fact . . . [his] scope and approach . . . unique.”— Civil EatsI recently consulted a dietitian, who recommended that I switch out my fat-free coffee creamer with milk. I was resistant to the idea until I read the ingredient list on the creamer this morning. Now I'm having difficulty enjoying my morning coffee. I was somewhat relieved to see that my preferred spaghetti sauce (for those days when I'm not willing to cook) has only two additives, but I was dismayed by the contents of my favourite cottage cheese. We all have to decide how much and how many UPF we are willing to consume. It's a definite advantage to be interested in cooking. I have to confess that, as a gluten free eater, I was horrified at what van Tulleken wrote about xanthan gum, a key component of GF baked goods. I have a jar of it in my baking cupboard. Microbial slime is not really something I want in my muffins! I think I must get tested for celiac disease to see if I can reintegrate wheat products into my diet. Due to how widespread these foods are in Britain, it means roughly 60 percent of our diet is made up of UPFs, according to Dr van Tulleken. A core element of that is the typical supermarket meal deal lunches that thousands of workers consume every day. humans are evolved to carefully regulate our own energy expenditure. doing 500 calories of exercise doesn't necessarily mean we can eat 500 extra calories of food. rather, it means that we burn about 500 less calories throughout the day on other things. this may come in the form of deeper sleep, reduced hormonal activity, or reduced anxiety/stress. the way i see this affecting my life is i no longer want to use exercise as a means to lose weight, but rather as a way to become stronger, sleep better, and feel better. A manifesto to change how you eat and how you think about the human body.It’s not you, it’s the food.We have entered a new age of eating. For the first time in human history, most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food. There’s a long, formal scientific definition, but it can be boiled down to this: if it’s wrapped in plastic and has at least one ingredient that you wouldn’t find in your kitchen, it’s UPF.These products are specifically engineered to behave as addictive substances, driving excess consumption. They are now linked to the leading cause of early death globally and the number one cause of environmental destruction. Yet almost all our staple foods are ultra-processed. UPF is our food culture and for many people it is the only available and affordable food.In this book, Chris van Tulleken, father, scientist, doctor, and award-winning BBC broadcaster, marshals the latest evidence to show how governments, scientists, and doctors have allowed transnational food companies to create a pandemic of diet-related disease. The solutions don’t lie in willpower, personal responsibility, or exercise. You’ll find no diet plan in this book-but join Chris as he undertakes a powerful self-experiment that made headlines around the world: under the supervision of colleagues at University College London he spent a month eating a diet of 80 percent UPF, typical for many children and adults in the United States. While his body became the subject of scientific scrutiny, he spoke to the world’s leading experts from academia, agriculture, and-most important-the food industry itself. But more than teaching him about the experience of the food, the diet switched off Chris’s own addiction to UPF.In a fast-paced and eye-opening narrative he explores the origins, science, and economics of UPF to reveal its catastrophic impact on our bodies and the planet. And he proposes real solutions for doctors, for policy makers, and for all of us who have to eat. A book that won’t only upend the way you shop and eat, Ultra-Processed People will open your eyes to the need for action on a global scale. Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind the Food That Isn’t Food by Chris van Tulleken – eBook Details Chosen by the SUNDAY TIMES, GUARDIAN, FT and DAILY MAIL as one of their BEST SUMMER BOOKS OF 2023**

As I scan through that list again I could be forgiven for asking what have I actually ingested?! What have I eaten?! And the answer as this fabulous book informs me - A tour of how the science of processing has allowed companies to produce goods that are no longer even faint echoes of the real food of which they are copies, and of what the evidence shows about the biology and psychology of eating in today's world. Van Tulleken is at his best when using his own scientific expertise to help readers through otherwise unnavigable science, data and history, explaining with precision what we are actually eating Jacob E. Gersen, New York TimesDr van Tulleken also believes we should see excess weight as a disease - and say people 'have obesity', rather than 'are obese', as it frames the condition as a disease (Image: PA) Van Tulleken undermines his own argument a couple of times. In his discussion about sugar, he states the reason sugar is bad is not because it’s ultra processed (HFCS obviously is, but as van Tulleken points out, our bodies don’t know the difference); sugar is bad because it causes people to overeat and rots teeth. This is a good argument against added sugars, but it’s not exactly on point with his thesis. He also notes in the last chapter that one of his friends who also chose to abstain from all UPF actually started to *gain* weight when he decided eat all the cheese and unprocessed bread he wanted. The point is glossed over, but clearly even without anything processed in one’s diet, certain healthy eating rules still apply. This book was a great read and certainly eye opening! I was curious about UPF and the effects on the human body. The author starts with the history of food and the many trials/studies that have been done to understand obesity and what may be causing it. It explains how a lot of these studies and trials are flawed as they are funded by the food industry themselves. A lot of the scientists as a result have completed these trials without declaring a conflict of interest which inevitably gives results which favour the companies sponsoring them! You get an understanding of what UPF is, how it's made, its impact on the environment and the effects it has on us! It's scary to think that we put this stuff in our body without a second thought. Mainstream media does nothing to make people aware of UPF and what they are eating. I hear you say how do you identify UPF? Basically if you read the ingredients on anything and it has ingredients you wouldn't find at home (such as E numbers, gums like xantham gum, modified starch etc etc) then it's UPF. Highly readable . . . van Tulleken writes with the confidence of a doctor who has a reassuring bedside manner. . . . A scientist at heart, [he] isn’t afraid to take sides on some of the most controversial topics surrounding nutrition.. . . Charming. . . . You’ll never read a food label quite the same way again.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune A fearless investigation into how we have become hooked on ultra-processed food . . . will have you scurrying to your cupboards Anjana Ahuja, Financial Times