Human being has a very close relationship with the food we eat, an activity everyone does on a daily basis. We all want to eat well but do we really know whether what we’re eating is good or even food?
This book aims to shine light on ultra-processed ingredients, something that are so commonplace in our food nowadays, and their real (negative) impact on our lives and healths. Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is defined more as ‘formulations of mostly cheap industrial sources of dietary energy and nutrients, plus additives, using a series of processes and containing minimal whole foods”. In short, it is more ‘an industrially produced edible substance’ rather than food.
As much as it makes things cheaper and more affordable for more people, there is also plenty of evidence that increased UPF consumption is strongly associated with an increased risk of death, cardiovascular disease (strokes and heart attacks), cancers, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, fatty liver disease, inflammatory bowel disease, depression, worse blood fat profile, frailty and dementia. Is the downsides worth the cheaper cost?
Some other memorable insights from this book:
- Some say one should exercise more to lose weight. Many studies show you don’t lose weight from exercise. Our body adjusts energy usage to neutralize the weight-losing impact.
- UPF hacks our brain and make us eat more than we should, to also compensate for UPF’s lack in micro nutrients
- Nutritionalism is highly incomplete. We can’t strip everything for nutrients and assume that’s enough.
- UPFs are more addictive than drugs (more people consuming UPFs become more obese than more people taking cocaine and become addicts). Should we not treat them as dangerously?
- We have less control of what we eat than we think. Eating is probably closer to breathing so not being able to control our eating is less of a willpower than nature.
- UPF companies have goals to maximize profit by making things cheaper, trasnport easier and more addictive. These companies have also provided plenty of funding on misleading science to counter any negative view of UPFs
- UPF has added destruction power: Global warming, antibiotic resistance and plastic pollution
This book is scary as hell and is in the running as my favourite book of the year. After reading this book, you should not look at Pringles, Coco Pops or other ultra-processed food the same way again. I now more diligently look at food ingredients for those ultra-processed ingredients and look to avoid items with too much of them. I hope more people will become aware of what we eat and live better lives as a result.