Gente ultraprocessada: por que comemos coisas que não são comida, e por que não conseguimos parar de comê-las

by Chris van Tulleken, Érika Nogueira Vieira (Translator)

Este livro nasce de um truco. O autor, Chris van Tulleken, duvidou da hipótese formulada pelo brasileiro Carlos Monteiro. O médico britânico entendia ser inviável que um grupo específico de produtos alimentícios — os ultraprocessados — pudesse ser responsabilizado pela explosão global dos índices de doenças crônicas não transmissíveis. Gente ultraprocessada é, então, a história de um fracasso pessoal que Van Tulleken compartilha conosco, com transparência e sem mágoa. Professor na University College de Londres e especialista em doenças infecciosas, ele se dispôs a entender por que havia um enorme zumzumzum no mundo da alimentação, provocado pelo trabalho de Monteiro. Começa então uma jornada na qual Van Tulleken coloca os próprios hábitos à prova. E o próprio numa espécie de Super Size Me do século 21, o autor radicaliza a dieta para, durante algumas semanas, alimentar-se basicamente de ultraprocessados. A hipótese aventada por ele e por outras pessoas da área da saúde é de que nada em especial aconteceria. Mas, assim como no início, ele estava errado. Gente ultraprocessada não é um amontoado de curiosidades e apostas. É um olhar criativo e original de uma história que precisava ser contada em como Carlos Monteiro e sua equipe lançaram uma contribuição singular para entender um fenômeno que tem abismado a humanidade de forma crescente e quase sem exceções.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Science, Food, Audiobook, Nutrition, Self Help

432 pages, Paperback

First published April 27, 2023

About the author

Chris van Tulleken

Christoffer Rodolphe van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken, known as Dr. Chris, is a British physician, associate professor at University College London, practicing infectious diseases doctor with a PhD in molecular virology, television presenter, BAFTA-winning broadcaster and identical twin brother of Alexander "Xand" van Hoogenhouck-Tulleken.

Van Tulleken became well known for his two-part television special for BBC One entitled The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs (2018). He is the author of Ultra-Processed People (2023). The van Tulleken brothers have jointly presented several television programmes, including the children's series Operation Ouch! (2013).

Reviews

[Annie 2manybeautifulBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

▪️

4.5 upgraded to 5 stars

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.
VERNEL OW - WHEY POWDER (MILK); WHEY PROTEIN CONCENTRATE (MILK); CALCIUM CASEINATE (MILK); SALT; ACIDITY REGULATOR, TRISODIUM CITRATE: ARTIFICIAL ANILLA FLAVOUR; EMULSIFIER, MONO- AND DIGLYCERIDES (E471)L *PRODUCED FROM GENETICALLY MODIFIED SUGAR BEETS, CORN, AND SOYA BEANS".


Above is the utterly shocking, and frankly disgusting, ingredient list for what was one of my reasonably regular indulgent treats; perhaps once or twice a week I would eat this Reese’s Nutrageous bar, usually because my preferred Cadbury’s Starbar was unfathomably unavailable, AGAIN, in Sainsburys! I will be checking its ingredients list when I can get one.

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 -

“It's not food. It's an industrially produced edible substance.”

It’s not often I purchase a new release hardback edition book because I can usually patiently wait for the paperback but I had an uncomfortable premonition that I needed to read this book.

This wasn’t a wonderful novel to escape into,
it wasn’t a memoir of a fabulous life to experience through words
- this was a book providing knowledge, and a message, for me, and for many other ultra-processed people out there who possibly have no idea of what they are eating and what it could be doing to their body.

Having hit the big 50 earlier this year I want to stay healthy to hike as many hills as possible and read as many books as possible , so this timely book will hopefully kickstart some better decisions by me about the amount of processed and ultra-processed stuff I eat.



“ UPF has 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 usually find in a standard home kitchen, its UPF.”

“Some ultra-processed foods may activate the brain reward system in a way that is similar to what happens when people use drugs like alcohol, or even nicotine or morphine.”

Highly recommend reading for everyone.
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[Liong · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author calls these unhealthy foods "Ultra-Processed" (UPF) because they are more like chemical creations than real food.

They are grouped with things like artificial flavours, sugars, and fats, and our bodies get tricked into wanting more and more.

It is not just our fault that eating too much UPF leads to bad stuff like obesity, diabetes, and even mental health issues.

The book also points out how food companies make UPF super appealing and cheap, making it hard to choose healthy options.

This book gives you tips on how to spot UPF and make better choices.

We are living in a fast-food world, but this book gives you a map to find the fresh fruit and vegetable garden in the middle.

Sometimes I want to grab a burger at fast food, but I know I can choose to resist! 😅

I am feeling a bit sad after reading about UPF foods, such as soda, cookies, frozen dinners, and processed meats, but ready to discover amazing new healthy options.

[Here for the reviews · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I agree with the main thesis of the book, the book itself was winding and self indulgent. Also, I went and read up some of the studies mentioned and the conclusion derived by Chris seemed to be a bit of a stretch. Too much of the book focuses on Chris, his daughter and his brother - these parts were boring and lacked serious introspection.

Also, the whole "processed food guys were literally Nazis!" part was just silly. I mean - the United Fruit company got the CIA to overthrow a whole country, doesn't mean I stop eating fruit.

Strongly suggest you read the main study behind the book. The study is both more interesting and more convincing.

https://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/...

[Jennifer]

Hi, my name is Jennifer, and my ultra-processed food (henceforth UPF) addictions are to: crunchy salty things (CST on the weekly grocery list, e.g. chips, crackers, various extruded potato/vegetable things), boba (it has a tenuous relationship at best with its cassava precursor), and electrolyte and calorie-filled convenience drinks/bars for fieldwork. There might be more; as Chris van Tulleken writes, if you have to wonder if it's UPF, it probably is.

Van Tulleken defines UPF most simply as anything that comes wrapped in plastic and has at least one ingredient that you wouldn't find in a domestic kitchen, for example: lecithin, xanthan gum, carrageenan, dextrose, sucralose, etc. Good luck finding many packaged things at the supermarket that don't meet this definition.

I'm not sure how to rate Ultra-Processed People, as I find some parts of it very persuasive but don't have the background to truly assess any of his arguments (any registered dieticians want to chime in?). His basic hypothesis is that UPF is actively designed to be addictive, causes obesity beyond what might be expected based on its fat/sugar and total caloric breakdown, alters metabolism, damages the microbiome, and contributes to climate change.

The evidence is solid for addictiveness (food industries have panels to test palatability, and they never, ever send the one that people eat less of to market). I am really intrigued by the obesity claim, which is based partially on correlative studies that look at how obesity skyrockets in developing nations once UPF is introduced, and partly on a study in which people ate one of two diets - one UPF, the other minimally processed, each designed to have similar fat/sugar/fiber profiles - and found that the UPF group ate way more of the available food and rapidly gained weight. Chris van Tulleken goes on his own UPF diet for a month and is shocked at changes to his weight, his brain MRI scan, and his levels of hunger and satiation hormones.

The additives / microbiome sections seem a little weaker to me in terms of evidence, though it skeeves me out that there's a huge loophole for the regulation of additives (self determination: company asserts it's safe, FDA is OK with that, it goes on the market). I didn't know xanthan gum was a polysaccharide made of bacterial slime, but the evidence that it messes with your gut microbiome seems tenuous (a bacterial species is present in billions of people who eat it, but absent in remote hunter-gatherer people - well, we're exposed to a a lot more stuff than just xanthan gum). Several of the studies van Tulleken cites are in mice, which are not a perfect analogue to humans, though I see the ethical problems in subjecting a human test group to huge amounts of a chemical.

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.

Overall, I'd be surprised if Ultra-Processed People didn't persuade you to reduce your intake of UPF even if you, too, are unwilling to give up absolutely all of it. I was hoping to be more engaged than I was with the book, though this might be because I already make a lot, say 70-80%, of my food from scratch, down to the basics like bread (grocery bread after artisan sourdough? never!) and yogurt. The main difficulty with quitting UPF is that you, or someone else in your household, will probably have to spend a lot more time in the kitchen. And so, van Tulleken offers some tips for giving up UPF but spends considerably more time emphasizing how governments need to step in, because the food industry will never mend its wicked - but profitable ways - until it has to.

Lots of food for thought here. And with that, I'm off to go start my next batch of yogurt, courtesy of a bequeathed Instant Pot.

[Heather Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Potentially, the horror book of the year

[Jenna ❤ ❀ ❤ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Most UPF is not food... it’s an industrially produced edible substance."

You know that slimy stuff that builds up in water bowls or under the dish drainer, or anywhere that water sets if you don't clean it every day?

That, my friends, is bacteria poop, aka xanthan gum. If you ever look at ingredients lists, you've no doubt seen it listed. It's in a heck of a lot of "food" - sauces, dairy products, meat products, beverages, pastries, etc.

It's in the ultra-processed ones, not the food you make at home. What's worse is that xanthan gum is perhaps one of the least disgusting additives I learned about in this book.

And disgusting is the least of the problems with UPF (ultra-processed foods).

Two ways to tell if your food is ultra-processed:
1. "If it’s wrapped in plastic and has at least one ingredient that you wouldn’t usually find in a standard home kitchen, it’s UPF."

2. "Almost every food that comes with a health claim on the packet is a UPF." When was the last time you saw a head of broccoli or stalk of celery with a colorful label touting its health benefits? Truly healthy foods rarely say they are, they just are.

The average American and British person gets 60% of their calories from UPF, and many get at least 80%. The author of this book makes the case (through many studies, including an informal one on himself) that UPF is responsible for the obesity epidemic, type-2 diabetes, intestinal problems, and many, many other diseases.

It was a real eye opener and made me glad I mostly eat whole foods. And the small amount of UPF I eat? Gone.

Of course, I am fortunate that I can afford whole foods and have the time to prepare them. Many people do not have this luxury and many do not even have whole foods available where they live.

I made 56 highlights while reading this book and had planned to share some of them. However, I can't narrow it down to just a few. Instead, I recommend you read this book if you care about what you're eating and the effect it has on your body.

Those of us who are skinny might think that this junk isn't harming us, but we have an even higher chance of developing things like dementia from eating UPF than someone with overweight or obesity.

(I love that the author insists these are things people have, not what/who they are. It's not someone's laziness or lack of willpower that causes obesity and I am glad he showed exactly why that is because I will admit to sometimes being a bit judgmental, which I hate about myself. Obesity is a disease and we wouldn't say someone has cancer or arthritis because they're lazy or have no will power.)

There are so many reasons to read this book. Not only is it full of interesting and important information, it's very well written. The author cites scientific studies to back up everything he says. I like that he also points out studies with contradictory results - which all end up being tied to the UPF industry, either funded by corporations like Nestle or Coca-Cola or have their employees sitting on the panel, and thus the results are biased in their favor.

I hope a lot of people will read this book and that as we become educated about what this shit is doing to us, we will demand our governments intervene. Corporations are never going to start making it healthier on their own - they have money to make and they make money by using the cheapest possible "ingredients" and by making the stuff highly addictive and bypassing our body's natural system of telling us when we're full. They want us to eat their products and eat a lot of it.

If bacteria poop isn't something you want to be eating, you need to read this book.

[Nikola · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5/5
Jestem pod wrażeniem jak dobrze słuchało mi się tej książki. Owszem, zakładałam, że podtytuł miał mnie tylko omamić, a okazało się, że dostałam dokładnie to czego oczekiwałam.
Regulacje prawne dotyczące żywności w UE są nieco inne, ale wciąż ultraprzetworzona żywność otacza nas w 100%

[Hannah Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you’ve read much on this topic, nothing van Tulleken presents is new, and his argument didn’t entirely convince me. While I like the premise of describing UPF in a way that makes it unappealing, and whatever a turkey Twizzler is sounds truly disgusting, I found myself craving Cheez its and cheap chocolate pretty consistently anyway while reading.

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.

I’ve been reading about the research done by Hall and Monteiro for years, so I was eager to read more in depth about it. But the description of Hall’s experiment actually made me question the validity of the experiment in the first place. I figured the UPF meals and unprocessed meals would look somewhat similar, but in reality it was pitting Spam sandwiches against fish and vegetables. I’m still glad the study was done and think the results do favor eating actual food rather than processed foods, but it seemed less rigorous than I had previously understood.

The most convincing parts of the book were about the behaviors of food industry giants, which, no matter how much lip service they give to being environmentally friendly and interested in their consumers’ health, must entice us to eat more and more or risk losing profits and angering shareholders. The descriptions of how Nestle infiltrated the Amazon rainforest via the river (and then convinced local farmers to slash and burn and plant soy rather than native crops), and the hidden costs of baby formula were especially troubling. I agree that the government needs to step in more, but this book is not a manual to help citizens figure out how to do that.

The writing was tedious at times. I didn’t mind the anecdotes about Chris, his brother, and their families. They were nice personal touches that most people could relate to when it comes to family eating habits. I did wonder, however, why he spends several pages introducing a colleague who he has lunch with who apparently doesn’t feel tempted to eat cookies. It’s a bland anecdote that doesn’t convince me one way or the other about the possibly addictive nature of UPF.

Finally, it’s frustrating to get through the entire book, be advised that the best way to eat is to avoid all UPF, and then be provided with basically no information on how to do that. For most folks, culturally and practically, it’s nearly impossible to skip out on UPF entirely. Although van Tulleken is careful to say he doesn’t intend to make people feel guilty for eating UPF, it’s hard not to feel a little inadequate that I don’t have the time or culinary skill to abstain entirely.

If you’re interested in eating for health and longevity, I highly recommend Michael Greger’s “How not to Die” and “ How not to Diet.” He provides a lot of evidence to back up his arguments and encourages people to eat in a way that maximizes their intake of the healthiest stuff, even if that means taking in small amounts of UPF for palatability. Dean Ornish is another prolific author I recommend who has spent years researching diets most likely to protect cardiovascular health. Finally, if you need advice on how to follow a relatively healthy diet that allows for a lot of flexibility and avoiding the judgments and isolation that strict dieting can cause, you can’t go wrong with Mark Bittman’s VB6 flexitarian plan.

[Dez the Bookworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I consider this a must read book, and although I’m adding to my list, there aren’t many on it.

This book is full of knowledge, well researched and well written. We learn about ultra-processed food (UPF) and what it’s doing to our bodies, our society and the environment.

If you’re on a health journey, health curious, trying to find a connection for possible ailments you have and eat processed food, this book will enlighten you.

Connections about disease and earlier deaths are linked to UPF and it’s astounding this stuff is regulated for consumption by our govt. I highly encourage everyone to read this just to understand what they are putting into their bodies and how it affects us on both the daily and long term.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a perfect book, but as a result of reading it I've eliminated ultra-processed food, and that feels great and is worth all the stars.

rtc

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I became interested in this book after reading my Goodreads friend, Liong’s review. His review is here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I have been on a healthy eating journey for quite some time, especially as I have been addressing how easily it is to become addicted to sugar. So, when I read Liong’s review, I thought this book would be another teaching tool for me in my fight against sugar addiction.

And yes, the first thing to do, was to acknowledge that it was a battle to overcome.

For any one of us who struggle with sugar addictions, this book was enlightening.

The author shares in his introduction…

“…over the past 150 years food has become…not food. It’s not food. It’s an industrially produced edible substance.”

We have become a society in a hurry, some on restricted budgets, and thus, prone to eat ultra-processed foods (UPF). It is marketed to us as healthy, without additive chemicals, and yet, that is exactly what it is not. The author states…

“UPF is a collection of substances through which these deeper societal problems harm the body.”

And once we understand this, we may find our way to solving our own specific interest in foods not good for us. To a point, that we may even become disgusted (as the author did) with the reality of what they are and how they don’t serve our body.

The author makes us contemplate whether this will be enough to convince us to choose to not eat them at all.

According to the author, we need to understand UPF and its impact, and what to look for.

Which sometimes can be as simple as reading the nutritional labels on the processed foods that we purchase. And, attempting to look up what those ingredients are. I know, it sounds like a lot of extra work and time, for which we may be limited in having. But, isn’t this our body we are trying to protect?

Let me explain why this has become so important to me. (And I hope you will forgive me this long review.)

A few years ago, I learned that I had nightshades. For those not familiar, nightshades create an allergic reaction to certain plants and vegetables that are typically toxic because they contain glycoalkaloids (a chemical compound found in a family of plants that creates health concerns for those showing sensitivity to those plants). Once I knew which plants and vegetables were in the nightshades family, I eliminated them from my diet.

But I soon learned that sometimes they might be hidden in other products. As an example, after applying mustard to my hamburger bun a few months back, I didn’t understand why several hours later I was itching and breaking out in a rash. As it turns out, this particular mustard had paprika in it. And paprika is in the nightshade family.

I have found that reading labels gives me better insight into what is contained in any food item that is being produced and packaged.

Why mention this, besides my own issue sharing of nightshades?

Because the author reminds us that it is sometimes easier to be oblivious to those ingredients. We want to believe that what is manufactured and/or marketed is truly meant for our well-being. And, unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.

As an example, I learned long ago that anything that has high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) in it was not healthy. In fact, if you eat something with this ingredient, you will still think you are hungry, because HFCS is sweet. And this sweet manufactured sugar has a way of affecting our body chemistry, to think that we still are hungry, even after eating a full meal with dessert.

So, the author guides us to read the labels and become vigilant in recognizing the ultra-processed ingredients that could affect us.

And a lot of what the author shares, in Part I specifically, is about artificial sweeteners. Something manufacturers have included in their processed products, because it sells.

As an example, the author has us consider the following….

How many of us grew up on Coco Pops? Who doesn’t love chocolate in the morning?

“Coco Pops meets the definition of UPF because of the glucose syrup, the cocoa mass and the flavorings. They are a spectacular triumph of engineering.”

Bottom line, the author is warning us that modified foods are affecting us. It has already been shown to contribute to heart disease, diabetes, obesity, fatty liver disease and an abnormal level of cholesterol and other fats in the blood.

So, what can we do with this knowledge?

The author, a doctor, scientist and a journalist, has trustworthy credentials. Thus, for me, his book is a wake-up call, a warning to humans about how UPF is sickening us. He believes they are unnatural for our bodies to handle.

He shows us how UPF translate as junk food: packaged snacks, soda, sugary cereals, energy drinks and/or candy bars.

With UPF, manufacturers gain profits. For people who eat them, we gain weight and unhealthy dis-ease of our body.

In fact, the author truly believes that the rapid increase in obesity since the 1980’s is “the correspondingly rapid increase in production and consumption of UPF food and drink products.” He concludes that obesity is not caused by the usual suspects – sugar, salt, fat or lack of exercise – but by the synthetics, chemicals and stabilizers in UPF.

The question then becomes…

Do we eat more when food is cheap, or do we eat more cheap food because the processing tricks us into eating more? (Remember what I shared about the addictive nature of HFCS?)

Which leads any reader of this book to be scared straight. And perhaps that is what is needed in order for us to appreciate what it will take for us to re-evaluate what we choose to put in our bodies.

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this book was okay! Some interesting information about ultra-processed foods, and I’m glad that Chris Van Tulleken acknowledged the impact of class and social inequity in people’s food choices. He did a nice job of touching on the science behind UPF and how it can stimulate addiction, without judging or blaming people for their weight.

That said, I didn’t find much of the information in this book super novel. I found his recommendations related to UPF alright; while I appreciated his idea about separating corporations from research and such, his recommendation that folks try the 80% UPF approach wasn’t super convincing to me. I also thought the writing, while definitely readable, didn’t amaze me. So, a solid three-star read.

[Liana Rodier · Rating 1 out of 5]

Some of the points in this book are true and important:
- capitalism in food tends to hurt people (as does capitalism in most industries)
- government regulatory bodies are underfunded
- supplements and many products with overblown nutritional claims take advantage of consumers
- eating a balanced diet with homemade food, fruits, veggies is good for you
Etc

but it was full of hypocritical cherry picking of research (ex; a rat study is vital when it shows that an evil additive causes cancer, but when one is used to demonstrate safety of a novel food it can’t be trusted because rats are too different from humans to be relevant and also animal cruelty- the poor rats!!), cast an unfathomably wide net of blame (UPF is to blame for all obesity, pollution, antibiotic resistance, and anything else that the author thinks is generally bad), and contains many blatantly incorrect statements passed off as fact (ex; diacylglycerols don’t occur in nature- false, they’re present in natural fats, just in lower quantities than triglycerides. Palm oil is added to peanut butter because it’s cheap to bulk it up - false, it provides structure to prevent separation of the peanut oil), and wild and incongruous fear mongering (ex; xanthan gum is terrifying bacterial slime, but somehow he considers lactic acid to be a safe natural preservative? Lactic acid is created by bacteria during fermentation, the same process used to make xanthan. He considers any oil that has gone through refining bleaching and deodorizing to be ultra processed and therefore dangerous, but this process makes the oil safer by removing harmful free fatty acids, more palatable by taking away off flavors, and more stable for storage.). He is persuasive, but needs a fact checker. If you read this book, please do some of your own research too.

And come on, a whole story about DuPont dumping “an emulsifier” into a community’s water supply and the terrible effects it had on the community to generate fear about all emulsifiers when the material that was dumped was a non-food grade, toxic chemical that the company knew could not be consumed and was not intending to sell as a food product? Yes this is a story of an unethical company, but it’s also misleading and fear mongering as hell. Stooping to this level really destroys credibility.

Overall, a painful read.

[donna backshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ultra-processed foods: it's not a conspiracy, is it?

Of course not, they say. It's capitalism, and effective business practices.

Tomato, tomahto. Potato, dehydrated, additive-laden, fried, engineered-for-highly-addictive-taste potahto. (I'm looking at you, Pringles)

We all know junk food is bad for us. Chris van Tulleken explains, in his not-so-humble opinion, that this definition has been way too narrow for way too long, and then spends almost 400 pages showing us why broadening this "junk" definition is so important. Since the early 1900s, mass production of processed foods has changed us, and certainly not for the better.

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.

Spoiler: Unprocessed foods can help us get our collective groove back.

Whole Foods, and so many food co-ops around the world, ban hundreds of food additives and make it clear where they stand on processed foods vs. farm fresh items. According to Chris van Tulleken's research and experience, they should all go much, much further and we, as consumers, should demand it.

[Numidica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an important book about food, and how food has become something other than food in the last fifty years. Chris van Tulleken has executed a deep dive into the additives and processing methods of industrial food, and what his research reveals is eye-opening. My son has long criticized my occasional foray to McDonalds for "The Big Breakfast", telling me, "Dad, you know that's not real food, right?" Turns out he was right. One of the Italian scientists the author talked to corrected him when he used the term "ultra-processed food"; no Chris, she said, those are not foods, they are manufactured edible substances. Van Tulleken has interviewed dozens of scientists, regulators, activists, and food industry officials to get a picture of the current state of food safety, and it's not pretty.

Anyone who has read the ingredients list of almost any packaged food will notice items like xanthum gum, maltodextrin, and various emulsifiers, or three to four letters acronyms for other chemicals like flavorings. Van Tulleken looks at what these additives do, and why we should be worried about them, and in the process he examines the food regulatory process, or, more properly, the lack of a food regulatory process, especially in the US, UK, and Canada. As to what the additives do, they have three primary functions: make the food item shelf stable at a wide range of temperatures, make it more appealing to the customer by making it soft and easy to consume, and crucially, reduce the cost of manufacturing and transport of the food so as to maximize profit. It's no secret that companies, including food companies, are in business to make money, but governments should be in the business of insuring that food is safe for their citizens. Unfortunately, the structure of regulation, especially in the US and UK means that the regulators are always a step behind the corporations. The onus is on the regulator to prove that an additive does harm, rather than it being the responsibility of the company to prove the additive does no harm before it can be used. In the US, there are approximately 10,000 additives in use, and that number is a guess, because no one, including the FDA keeps a comprehensive list. There are multiple studies that show that UPF "foods" are more appealing, and that people will eat more of a UPF meal than of an exactly equivalent non-UPF food. There are several theories about why this is so, but the evidence is there that it is so.

There is a lot of additional research that should be done on UPF additives, and it has started, but at a low level, and with no real impetus from governments. Also, the amount of money available to Nestle or other food companies to lobby governments or market their products simply dwarfs the resources of all governmental food regulatory agencies worldwide, and the food companies have no interest in changing the way they do business. There is a strong correlation between the explosion of obesity in the US, UK, Brazil, Mexico and other countries, and the introduction of UPF foods to those countries. There have also been preliminary, but persuasive studies linking many additives to behavioral issues in children, which is quite scary to me as a grandfather.

One interesting side note that has caused me to re-think another book I read recently (Outlive) is the effort by Peter Attia and his partner to pin the blame for the obesity epidemic on sugar. Attia and Taube founded an organization called NuSI to study how sugar in food drives obesity, and, to give them credit, they had a strict scientific methodology in their studies. The problem is that studies showed no difference between calories obtained from fat or carbohydrate or protein in terms of obesity outcomes. What does make a difference is whether the food has high UPF content. Attia, in his book, pushes a high protein diet but says he now believes nutrition is far less important than exercise in controlling weight. I think this new stance comes from being burned (and losing millions of dollars) in his NuSI initiative, so I now have other questions about Attia's assertions in his book. But I digress.

On a personal level, van Tulleken says that the revelations of his research made both he and his twin brother extremely vigilant consumers of food, and as a result, van Tulleken's twin lost about 45 pounds (20kg). Since reading this book I have been diligently reading ingredient labels on various food packaging labels, and I've been moving toward a more whole food diet, which is, admittedly, more expensive and more trouble to prepare, but I'm persuaded of the benefits. A side effect of moving toward whole foods is that one simply eats less because, to me at least, the food seems more filling, and the corollary of this is I'm not eating UPF foods which have been designed to make one want more.

My only complaint in this otherwise wonderfully informative book is that I think van Tulleken could have better organized and shortened the book. That said, this is a book that could change the way you think about food and what you eat. It has for me.

August 2024 update: I have upgraded my rating to five stars because I keep thinking about things I learned in this book, which is a sign of a very good book.

[Wanda Pedersen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is another one of those books that make you think about what you buy at the grocery store. Ultra processed foods (UPF) have become ubiquitous in our food stores. What is a UPF you ask? It is a food that generally comes in a lot of plastic packaging and it has an ingredient list that includes things that you don't have in your kitchen (and you may not even have any idea what they are). One researcher refers to them as “industrially produced edible substances.” Another calls them “pre-chewed" as they slip down our throats so fast and easily.

The author actually encourages you to keep eating UPF while you read the book, but it becomes increasingly difficult to do as you proceed. I found myself heading for the fruit bowl for a juicy peach and reveling in the natural flavour. That's not always my go to snack, however. I don't have a sweet tooth, but I lurve salty snacks—chips, cheezies, popcorn, crackers, rice cakes, pretzels. Carbohydrates and salt. Even better if there's some fat involved, butter on popcorn or dip for the chips. But now that I have multiple health issues, I make sure I eat enough healthy food before I head to the grocery store and I avoid the junk food aisle. You can't eat it if you don't buy it.

”The basic construction materials of UPF are industrially modified carbs, fats, and proteins, and the processes they are put through remove almost all of the chemical complexity. The intensity of ultra-processing means that vitamins are destroyed, fibre is reduced, and there's a loss of functional molecules like polyphenols. The result is lots of calories but very little other nutrition. …Those thousands of chemicals [lost] bring health benefits, but they also bring flavour. And so, when they're stripped out, flavouring must be added back in. But this added flavour won't contain any of the lost nutrients that it should signal.”

I 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.

As disturbing as I found this book, I'm glad that I read it. If you find this book useful, I would recommend The Dorito Effect: The Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor. It also deals largely with processed food as well as the connections between flavour and nutrition. If you're particularly interested in the care and feeding of your microbiome, I would suggest Fiber Fueled: The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome as well. Don't beat yourself up if you continue to consume UPF but , like me, you may hear Fernanda Rauber whispering in the back of your mind, “It's not food, it's an industrially produced edible substance.”

[K.J. Charles]

Extremely powerful book that's going to make you eat differently, like it or not (though the author bends over backwards to be giving information not instructions, and this is explicitly not a lose weight book).

It's hugely researched and very well written, jammed with quotable stuff in an 'oh Jesus listen to this'' way, and mostly it makes me want to throw up quite a lot of the shit I've eaten over the years. I suspect this will be in the exclusive ranks of life-changing non-fiction books, along with the bastard that made me cut down on caffeine.

Indispensable reading, the more so if your diet is high in ultra processed food, because I regret to say it is doing you no good at all. I'm now doing a no-UPF month, to see. I may be baking a lot.

[Vanessa M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Van Tulleken researches the global rise of ultra-processed foods (UPF) and accesses how they affect the human body negatively (mainly in leading to obesity and metabolic diseases like type II diabetes). He undergoes a 30-day UPF diet himself, to measure how it affects his body (spoiler alert, not well). The politics and economic gains that big companies receive in producing and selling these products is also discussed. Many scientific studies are mentioned and cited for the reader to research. I appreciated this very much.

I like that van Tulleken convinces the reader to lessen or avoid UPF foods with a non-judgmental approach. He hopes that by describing (in great detail) what chemical ingredients are in UPF and how they are transformed into food-like substances that the reader will make changes to more real-food cooking/eating for better overall health and well-being.

The only downside about the book that I wanted to mention was the extensive footnotes on nearly every page. I think they would have been better done if included in the main text or in the reference section following the text. Apart from that, I can recommend the book.

[Akankshya (catching up) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book teeters between interesting and tired. It is covered with copious highlights and notes by me, an uninformed individual who learnt much about UPF by the end. At the same time, it is very pop sciency—cherrypicking claims that are based on firsthand accounts and conversations rather than research.

Chris Van Tulleken proposes that the industrial food industry is engaged in an arms race against consumers to extract as much money as possible from them, using ultra-processed food substances. He highlights the endocrine systems that guide the intuitive eating that humans have evolved to do over centuries, and argues that UPF games these systems, leading to over-consumption addiction, and thus is the cause of most lifestyle and fatal diseases. Ultimately, a colleague tells him, and he tells us—"most UPF is not food. It’s an industrially produced edible substance."

It's an interesting thesis, and he adds some research to substantiate it throughout the book, as well as some valid theories. But a lot of the book is anecdotes about himself, his daughter and his brother. It's conversations with nutritionists and scientists, and references to obscure, decade-old journals. There's yet another radical explanation as to why—the scientific community is funded so completely by the food industry perpetuating the UPF that most papers have a conflict of interest. I am intrigued, yet not fully convinced. Ultimately, I did learn this:

"UPF has 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 usually find in a standard home kitchen, it’s UPF."

Such revelations may or may not have you stranded in the middle of grocery aisles trying to read a laundry list of ingredients fastidiously. I know my grocery shopping has gotten more time-consuming now. So is the book worth reading? If you know absolutely nothing about this topic, sure, but with a grain of salt. It was like watching a YouTube video on something I know needs a full-length documentary series. A solid 3.5

[zed · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a lot to digest (sorry) in this extremely informative audio as told by the author himself, Chris Van Tulleken. To quote one source who the author interviewed (whose name escapes me, the drawback of audio I suppose) they used the term “manufactured edible substances” for many foods that we consume. What it means is that there are some substances we modern humans eat that are just not part of our many thousands of years of eating via evolutionary process and that some of these substances are not even digested, they go through the mouth and then out the other end. Some substances can have other effects that may not be of assistance to us or our general wellbeing.

I have no intention of writing a detailed account of this must-read book/audio. See these links to GR friends who have written fantastic reviews.
Donna https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Numidica https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Last but not least a big think you to J.C who recommended this book to me via her her must read review.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
To quote J.C “I can’t rate Chris van Tulleken’s book highly enough, for its comprehensive, well-researched and simply explained approach and the incredible amount of detailed examination of ultra-processed ‘food’ (“UPF”) and what it does to us.”

What I did think was about the subject of eating in general and how my wife and I eat. Actually a lot better than I realised. We are fresh fruit and veg people. We might be in that small percentage of eaters that are not prone to have highly processed food eating habits. However, I have been looking at the packaging of a fair bit of stuff in the cupboard.
Out go the processed breakfast cereals that we occasionally have, stick to the fruit that we eat most days.
Out go the weekend only lunchtime wraps.
Out go…………………. you get the picture.


I have realised that as a couple we are not that fond of the likes of fried chicken, never have Pringles (and other snack foods) in the house, and in general don’t have a lot of red meat because we just don't really like it. On the other hand, I was given some Kensington pride / Bowen Mangos while listening to this audio by a client. We are eating them with salads and to say that we prefer these to grease ridden chicken from a vat, burger in surgery sweet shining bun would be an understatement. On the odd occasion we have been to friends and relatives’ kids’ birthday parties and have had this presented as the food, we have not really enjoyed it at all.

Enough of my non review……Just listen to / read this book. It may surprise you.

[Gabby Humphreys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fear not, I am not about to go on a white man self-improvement reading route. This is for research and even has some of my cool cat colleagues in it, but also, it is stupidly well done.

Educational and evidence based without any shaming, fatphobia, or preaching. Lots of focus on marketing and policy rather than the individual.

[Val · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish. The author seems like the kinda guy at college who asked questions in class that he already knew the answer to. Just to hear himself speak.

[James Scholz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.4 stars

enjoyed the book, easy to digest but the writing style wasn't quite my cup of tea. still highly recommended—inspired a paradigm shift in how I approach my diet

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was almost tempted to reread this book because I'd actually read it a month ago but had it electronically snatched out of my hands when the library countdown ran out.

There's not much for me to say. This is all data I already knew, reconstituted into a pretty good book. For people newly looking to up their nutrition game, this is easy to read/easy to understand. For people who've been learning and practicing (or trying to practice) clean eating for a while, there's probably lots of good reminders and maybe even some new takes.

Bottom line is that most of the food most people eat in the US is processed at best, which is really not any better than ultra processed. Processed food modifies food from their natural state, whereas ultra processed food undergo extensive industrial processing with a lot of added ingredients like sugars, fats, artificial/chemical ingredients (basically with things you wouldn't have in your kitchen). In both cases, they are awful and damaging to your body to eat.

However, it's not quite practical to say we should stop cold turkey. I'd love to live that way, and I've gotten a lot closer to that during these few weeks I've been living in India where everything on our table (in this house) is organic by default. But my goddaughter loves her ultra processed packaged ramen and chips. In the US, I had a pantry and freezer full of ultra processed food (though most of it was expired, because as long as my stock was full, I didn't crave them). What I've found here, though, is that because all my meals are prepared for me, and because it's all cooked fresh, I have stopped craving anything more than that. When I nibble on one of my goddaughter's chips, I taste the artificial sugars, which are a big turnoff for me.

Being healthy is hard. Our brains have been wired to reach for the easiest thing. Exercising takes a lot of effort and sometimes, a lot of money, depending on your interests/needs. Getting enough sleep and destressing is nearly impossible to do with all the pressures of work and family demands. Corporations in the US have hired food scientists and lobbyists to work against what's best for us; health insurance is a fraud against the people; government does as little as possible to help its citizens and these days, actively works against us; and food prices are higher than ever. It can feel helpless. But we should still do the best we can, if long and healthy living is important to us. It won't be for everyone. For some people, making it to the next day is hard enough. But for those of us who can afford it and want to live as long as they can with vitality, we should keep on trying. As my mother used to tell me when I was young - only I can do it for myself.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has sat on my shelf for 11 months and I've avoided reading it because I thought it would be a slog and a real bore. Wrong. Once I started, I was hooked.

There's so much in here and the author writes about very complex but interesting subjects in a way that's very accessible.

These are a few of the highlights for me.

It was eye opening (and shocking to be honest) how many research studies have been funded and not declared as a conflict of interest by Coca Cola and how little media attention that got when uncovered in 2015. It is taking me a minute to get my head around that how I feel about my body is a direct result of the narrative Coca Cola pumps outs via 'scientific research'.

Never say never but right now I'm not sure I'll be eating ice cream or Pringles again. That deep dive is a lot to stomach. As many experts have said, it's not food, it's an industrially produced edible substance.

The fact the many of the same gums that are in my deodorant and toothpaste are in my Philadelphia cheese makes me want to vomit.

How unregulated the UPF industries is and the many examples of these 'ingredients', a term I use loosely, avoid an FDA approval process and are self-certified as GRAS (Generally Recognised As Safe).

And many more. This book is packed with information on all the big brands that stock our kitchen cupboards.

I love how the author acknowledges that governments need to do more. It's no surprise that the more money you have, the better food options you have available to you.

Will reading this change my eating habits? Yes, I think once you see it, you can't unsee it however realistically I don't envision I'll be able to remove entirely but if I can remove 80% of UPF from my diet, I'll take it.

Five stars.

[Henk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not many books change behaviour in the real world but this has me checking all the labels of my food and makes me rethink convenience in takeaway meals. In an accessible manner van Tulleken shows all the ways corporate greed leads to ever worse health outcomes
But the main reason that I don’t think we can reformulate UPF to make it better for us is that it is designed to be purchased and consumed in the largest possible quantities. And a food that is consumed less will never sell as well as a food that’s consumed more.

More thoughts to follow but I am now the annoying person at work who tells people about ultra processed foods.
Eye-opening!

[Krysia o książkach · Rating 1 out of 5]

nawet nie to, że się nie zgadzam z tym co autor usiłuje przedstawić, ale maniera z jaką ta książka jest napisana, jest absolutnie irytująco nieznośna, w dupie mam co robi cała rodzina autora, co robi jego córka, zięć, teść, nie interesują mnie dowody anegdotyczne, nie chcę durnych boomerskich żartów, chcę fakty skoro to jest książka popularnonaukowa nawet jeśli większy nacisk jest położony na popularno, przestaje to czytać bo mnie doprowadza do szału, dnf w połowie

[Laura Noggle · Rating 5 out of 5]

“It’s not food. It’s an industrially produced edible substance.”

Terrifying, disgusting, and depressing—highly recommend.

[Graeme Newell · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is one of those reads that leaves you in a whirlwind of emotion. On one hand, it's a treasure trove of insights about the processed food industry. On the other, it's a rollercoaster ride of dramatics and fear mongering that left me both enlightened and frustrated.

This book was this weird combination of fascination, solid science, wild speculation, groundbreaking insights, cheap theatrics, and fear. But despite its flaws, I found it to be one of the most scintillating reads I’ve encountered this year.

Van Tulleken does a remarkable job of unpacking the entire process behind processed food creation. The book lays bare the business strategy of manufacturing food that's not just profitable but almost insidiously addictive. It exposes how companies engineer products to maximize shelf life, resilience, and palatability, often at the cost of nutritional value. This aspect was an eye-opener for me, revealing the lengths to which food companies go to ensure their products are irresistibly tasty, to the point where we're consuming vast quantities before our brains can even register fullness.

The book excels in demystifying those enigmatic ingredients listed in tiny print on labels. Ever wondered what Xanthum gum and maltodextrin really are? Van Tulleken explains these and many other substances in a way that's both informative and accessible. It's an important education, particularly in an era where ingredient lists often read like a chemistry exam.

The book is also delightfully readable. I effortlessly finished it in just a couple of days. It’s conversational, straightforward and Van Tulleken has a wonderfully wry sense of humor.

But here's the rub: while the book is informative, it often veers into the territory of scare tactics. The message seems to be that anything natural is inherently good, and anything born out of modern food science is inherently bad. This dichotomy is overly simplistic and, frankly, a disservice to readers seeking a nuanced understanding of nutrition and food science.

The lack of definitive science on the long-term effects of many processed food ingredients is a huge concern. While Van Tulleken presents acres of rock solid science in this book, he sometimes follows the cheap tactic of presenting inconclusive studies as if they're the final word, which feels misleading. His approach often left me feeling more paranoid than educated, obsessively scrutinizing food labels with a sense of impending doom.

The most reprehensible trick of all is that he uses himself as a research project with one person. He dramatically eats a totally highly processed diet for one month, then describes all the grizzly feelings, the health decline and the nausea he experiences. While it's an effective narrative tool, it's hardly scientific, and it undermines the book's credibility. It's a classic example of anecdotal evidence masquerading as research.

So, I close the book with a mix of gratitude and irritation. Goodness, this book had a profound effect on me. Van Tulleken provides a fascinating deep dive into the world of artificial ingredients and industrial food production. That part of the book is genuinely revelatory. I will never read a food label in the same way again and I’m so glad I learned this stuff. After reading this book, I made some serious changes to my diet and I bring a whole new awareness to my weekly grocery shop.

But despite all this, Van Tulleken’s reliance on fearmongering and his frequent unscientific approach leaves a sour taste. It's a reminder that in the quest for healthier eating, there's a fine line between being informed and being scared into paralysis.

[Trish · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel sick now. *lol*

This book was amazing. Not necessarily because of the topics brought up but HOW the author talked about them. There was no shaming of any kind, just a scientific look on what "food" looks like nowadays, how it looked in the past - and the impact the change in our diets has triggered.
Some of what I read was not new, some is not widely accepted truth because we lack the right amount of studies. However, the studies we DO have all point in the same direction - except for the ones paid for by certain food-producing companies (*duh*).

We look at what "ultra-processed foods" means, scientifically. It's important to get a definition at the beginning as the basis for the rest. Then we learn of a self-experiment the author did (under surveillance) and how it even affected his family members. We go into detail on many food groups like fizzy drinks, but also "bread" (spoiler alert: most stuff you buy even in bakeries is not actually bread), all kinds of sauces (including mayonnaise and ketchup), and snacks.
While some groups were obvious (nobody can honestly say they expect chips/crisps to be food or OK to eat), I was honestly shocked and disgusted to read about other stuff that doesn't NEED to be processed in any sort of way but IS.

The author also goes into social status figuring into food choices and how many companies deliberately make UPFs (ultra-processed foods) way cheaper. Like the price of fizzy drinks vs. the price for water. I remember having had a very uncomfortable discussion a while ago during which a person stated that supposedly poor indiginous people (South-Americans in the discussion) can't be all that poor if they have enough money to buy so much food that they get obese. Utterly ridiculous AND discriminating, of course, and I was happy that this book nicely went into why the poorest are often the most obese. The odds are never in their favor no matter which way you look at it. But to think that people are actually starving while getting more and more obese was utterly scary!

Interestingly, we also critically looked into much of the research that has gone into this topic, for the book and in general, which was nothing short of mind-boggling. How any of this shit is legal, is beyond me. Personally, I was enraged. Yes, politicians lie and companies are about profit and nothing else. However, we - as a species - should be better at putting a stop to this!

It's obvious that the author did a ton of research and is very well-connected in the food industry so got a lot of first-hand insight, which is also reflected in the high-quality writing here. Another thing I highly appreciated was that the author, at no point, recommended a certain way of life. The mission of this book is to draw attention to the lies we're literally being fed, nothing more. What we do with the information is up to us (kinda).

And yes, I did go over all the stuff I buy and checked where I might be lied to. I'm happy to say that the only concern is a calorie-free iced tea I've grown fond of in summer (still better than the stuff with tons of sugar though) as well as the fact that my canned peas-and-carrots have some sugar added to the salt-water mix for whatever reason. So I might only keep the canned stuff for emergencies and switch to fresh or frozen (checking that ingredients list). *lol*
Luckily, I already live pretty healthily (I bake my own bread, ditto for dough when I eat pizza) and only rarely allow myself "bad food" (bought taco shells or burger buns) and some of that can actually be corrected.

So yeah, the book makes you think and rage and maybe even freak out. Most importantly, though, it makes you think HARD about what you just read/ate. Personally, I think we need this as a school topic and worldwide. In fact, I recommend this book so much, I'm gonna buy the paperback (I listened to the audiobook that was read by the author himself and included some podcast recordings) AND will buy it in German for my family.