Here’s Why You’re Addicted to Ultra-Processed Food | Chris van Tulleken | TEDxNewcastle

Ultra-Processed Food (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 find in your kitchen, it’s almost certainly a UPF.
UPFs now make up a staggering 60% of the average diet in the UK and USA with each of us ingesting 8kg of food additives per year. UPFs are now the leading cause of early death globally and the number one cause of environmental destruction.
Award-winning broadcaster, practicing NHS doctor and leading academic Chris van Tulleken marshals the latest evidence to reveal what UPFs are really doing to our bodies and the planet. Chris explores the invention of UPF and its impact on our health and weight - from altering metabolism and appetite, to an increased risk of serious health problems like cardiovascular disease and dementia. He shows that almost all our staple foods are ultra-processed - bread, cereal, biscuits, desserts, dairy products and condiments; explains why exercise and willpower cannot prevent obesity and ill health due to UPF; and provides solutions for individuals, policy makers and the food industry.
Chris’ ultimate recommendation is that Big Food needs to be regulated increasingly along the lines of how we have successfully regulated Big Tobacco. Chris van Tulleken has a medical degree from Oxford and a PhD in molecular virology from UCL. He is a practicing infectious diseases doctor in the NHS and an associate professor at University College London, where his research focuses on how corporations affect human health, especially in the context of nutrition.
He works closely with UNICEF and the World Health Organisation on infant nutrition. As one of the UK’s leading science broadcasters, Chris has won two BAFTAs for his long-running CBBC series Operation Ouch, co-presented with his twin brother Xand. Following his BBC One documentary ‘What Are We Feeding Our Kids?’ and the chart-topping podcast ‘A Thorough Examination - Addicted to Food’, Chris has become the UK’s go-to expert on ultra processed foods.
Chris’ 2023 book, Ultra-Processed People, became the no 1 Sunday Times bestseller with recommendations coming from the FT, Daily Mail, Guardian & New York Times among many others. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

Пікірлер: 47

  • @user-sj7re7ij8z
    @user-sj7re7ij8z2 ай бұрын

    Have just finished reading his book, I thought I ate a healthy diet, I had no idea a lot of what I consumed was ultra processed. It’s completely changed what I feed my children and family. The work he and others are doing to educate in a way that allows us to realise it’s not our fault is so important to not create a blame culture but just awareness to make informed decisions.

  • @zaratheexplorer8290

    @zaratheexplorer8290

    2 ай бұрын

    Easy. But things out of a package. Fruits veggies ... And even meat chicken..

  • @mrjonnydz
    @mrjonnydz4 ай бұрын

    Love how Chris is talking about this topic. Something I have heard him say which i can relate to is essentially: become disgusted by this food, then its easier to stop. I walk past things in the supermarket now with a disgust, thinking about how these few companies are screwing us all over. Power to you Chris - keep shouting.

  • @sarahRA86

    @sarahRA86

    3 ай бұрын

    Yes! It’s how I quit Diet Coke. For years I tried and would never last more than a week. After watching his talks, I started calling it chemical juice and now no longer want it and don’t feel deprived!

  • @mrjonnydz

    @mrjonnydz

    3 ай бұрын

    @@sarahRA86 Nice going. That's the way. I havnt had a coke for years. On the wall In the waiting room of my dentist, there are bottles of various drinks - from water, flavoured water, kids fruit shoot, lucozade, redbull and coke.... And each one has a plastic bag hanging underneath filled with the sugar content of each. Water being empty obviously. That always refills my disgust levels when I go....

  • @elmeradams8781

    @elmeradams8781

    Ай бұрын

    How do you deal with interacting with people? I'll see people eat stuff at work, and I can know they can tell I'm disgusted. If they offer me a doughnut (I know they mean well), but I can't help but react negativity toward the food. I do just say no thanks, but I know they see it in my body language.

  • @mrjonnydz

    @mrjonnydz

    Ай бұрын

    @@elmeradams8781 I usually just say no thanks. If they say nothing, then it just passes over, but if they respond with a why or need more information on how I could possibly say no to this fantastic food, Then i will engage and we can debate from there. Some people literally think that diet coke is ok because it says diet on it. People don't generally like you preaching to them about this stuff, but if they want more info on my disgust, then i will join in no problem.

  • @callicordova4066
    @callicordova40662 ай бұрын

    A supermarket I used to go to had the store bakery right by the processed meat section (lunch meat, bacon, sausage, frozen chicken tenders, etc.) I thought of it as "death row." Most of the aisles in grocery stores are "death rows."

  • @shahidshabbir8
    @shahidshabbir82 ай бұрын

    dr chris van tulleken.. is an actual superhero... a real one! 🛡️

  • @dopeymark
    @dopeymark2 ай бұрын

    My brand new primary care doctor that I met with just this past Friday recommended that I read this book.

  • @user-vv2xn1xb2k
    @user-vv2xn1xb2k4 ай бұрын

    Great talk, I really hope we start seeing tighter regulations on what is included in food and how it is marketed, especially here in the US. My dentist recently remarked that the only way to avoid certain issues with my teeth was to avoid processed sugar, but that that's basically impossible these days.

  • @bobadams7654

    @bobadams7654

    4 ай бұрын

    Unfortunately artificial sweeteners are often substitude for sugar - thus allowing misleading health claims, and leading to serious health issues. The only positive is they don't cause tooth decay. But that is not a good reason to consume them.

  • @edwarddjan8319

    @edwarddjan8319

    3 ай бұрын

    I guess, in a way, as a lot of food (that is not natural), contains processed sugar.

  • @compulsiverambler1352

    @compulsiverambler1352

    2 ай бұрын

    It's only impossible if you're supporting the ultra processed food villains creating this slop. Buy all your own fresh ingredients, organic as much as possible, learn to use herbs and spices, buy bread from bakers that bake it on the premises on the same day you buy it, and "process" everything into a meal in your own kitchen from scratch instead of letting factories concoct it with chemicals that shouldn't be anywhere near the human body. It's amazing, everything tastes better but is easy to stop eating when you're full, win-win.

  • @edwarddjan8319

    @edwarddjan8319

    2 ай бұрын

    @@compulsiverambler1352 I guess.

  • @karenlin-mahar3403
    @karenlin-mahar34033 ай бұрын

    So important and relevant! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 have been following Chris’ and Tim’s (Spector ) work for some time. So critical to improving our knowledge on health, UPF and research in understanding nutrition.

  • @janetarrant
    @janetarrant4 ай бұрын

    Loved talking alongside you Chris and therefore getting to watch you live. You set the bar for something people haven't thought enough about. Keep up the great work!

  • @bobadams7654
    @bobadams76544 ай бұрын

    Chris on the money - as always. Keep up the great work!

  • @Wailinix
    @Wailinix3 ай бұрын

    Best intro yet Chris! Keep up the good fight.

  • @roseb7490
    @roseb74904 ай бұрын

    Fantastic talk, he ends with an alternative definition of UPF "industrially produced edible food substances"😮

  • @MarcoSilesio
    @MarcoSilesio3 ай бұрын

    wonderful video. Great thinker

  • @edwarddjan8319
    @edwarddjan83193 ай бұрын

    It was a nice TED session.

  • @AudreyCormier
    @AudreyCormierАй бұрын

    Not long ago, I had a medical treatment that affected my tastebuds for a few weeks. The more highly processed a food item was, the worse the taste, for me. But I could eat fresh fruits and veggies no problem. It's no surprise to me, there are so many chemicals that are in processed foods. We hardly know yet how they impact our health.

  • @koosfockens1707
    @koosfockens1707Ай бұрын

    excellent presentation! I've got the book. Great read!

  • @JadaXie
    @JadaXie3 ай бұрын

    More people should see this. Upvoted and commented. :)

  • @aliceosborne3866
    @aliceosborne38662 ай бұрын

    Brilliant…

  • @slomotrainwreck
    @slomotrainwreck3 ай бұрын

    Are you trying to tell me that the whole box of cereal is NOT a single serving!

  • @emmacassidy8482

    @emmacassidy8482

    2 ай бұрын

    Half a box is a serving!

  • @kezsovreign
    @kezsovreignАй бұрын

    "The Coolade Man" hahaha brilliant 😂

  • @GlorifiedTruth
    @GlorifiedTruthАй бұрын

    Lucky Charms are magically delicious? More like TRAGICALLY delicious, amirite?

  • @debbiemoore2747
    @debbiemoore27474 ай бұрын

    Reading the book now. I have always had an interest in mood and food, as i was determined to help my depression and anxiety without big pharma help. Its took a long time but my mood is way improved. If i eat a pizza i notice the difference and the last time i ate a McDonalds the bread was way too sweet. I cannot get out of my head that Xantham gum is noted to be like slime in a dishwasher as in the book 🤢 horrified.

  • @loot6

    @loot6

    Ай бұрын

    Isn't xantham gum the one he said is the slime that insects produce to stick to walls? I told that to my gf and she avoids anything with that in like the plague now.

  • @nickseccombe1357
    @nickseccombe135729 күн бұрын

    Is Nestle watching this? Time to change...

  • @ParadoxalDream
    @ParadoxalDream4 ай бұрын

    Sugar IS addictive, claiming the contrary is antiscience.

  • @bhaldurgumbo1256

    @bhaldurgumbo1256

    19 күн бұрын

    He's also trying to bring light to the fact that all the other additives are more addictive than sugar by itself alone

  • @hq3607
    @hq36073 ай бұрын

    Good talk! He doesn't really address the issue of food insecurity and how one of the reasons people turn to these products is not only because they are everywhere, but also because in a lot of cases these are the only things people can afford to eat.

  • @compulsiverambler1352

    @compulsiverambler1352

    2 ай бұрын

    Binge-eaters who are also poor, can become food-insecure because they binge on so much of what they buy, that they find they have much less food left some days than other days, and worry about it because they think they will starve if they don't eat for a few days (fasting is actually good for you for several days even if you are a healthy weight, let alone if you are overweight, but it feels like torment if your system is dysregulated by the NOVA 3 and 4 products the video is about). If they didn't binge, they wouldn't be food insecure, but they only binge because these substances are DESIGNED to make people do that, and binge eaters are the unlucky ones especially genetically vulnerable to the metabolic and other abnormalities that ultra-processed "food" causes, which makes them experience the cravings and emotional disturbances much more. The "food" causes them to be poorer because they compulsively eat and spend an obscene amount of money on food, compared to what is actually needed. They also have a warped sense of how much food they need, because the toxic fake food makes them feel ravenous after just half a day without calories, and because they have been raised in families where this tragedy has gone on for generations and they don't know any different, they don't know how little food you can buy and feel full on if it is real food. This is also true of most poor people who don't technically binge but consistently eat too much, i.e. most obese people. Overeating, due to this criminal mass poisoning of society with addictive substances we were not informed about, and were lied to about, causes poverty in this way, like other addictions do, but of course it's not the only cause.

  • @pennyk1943

    @pennyk1943

    2 ай бұрын

    TOTALLY DISAGREE! I will give you my family’s example. My parents were immigrants to a Western country, they got paid very little so we grew up poor. There was no EBT card to buy groceries. They always took the food they could get and cook it at home and made it delicious and enough to feed all of us. Dad passed away at 86 years old and had never tasted McDonalds or any other fast food. They grew up during the war where they would take a malnourished chicken and feed twenty one mouths. It’s all how we choose to live. Everything was made at home by mom & dad. Of course, us kids got an education and had money etc and started eating out etc. now we have to cut this habit of eating addictive junk and take our parents example. We have to make conscious choices and show our kids before it’s too late ❤️

  • @danielgolarz674
    @danielgolarz6742 ай бұрын

    Ted I'm the author of EIGHT DAYS IN AN INNER CITY SCHOOL please talk about the out of control OCCUPATIONAL LICENSING for k-12 teachers that's why we have teacher shortages

  • @robpage9025
    @robpage90253 ай бұрын

    Disadvantaged people in the U.K. are not forced to eat UPF. Many vegetarians in the developing world are poor and eat health non UPF food. The issue is an inability or wiil to cook wholesome food because they are too busy on socal media or other less important issues and they like UPF more than lentils!

  • @nancym687

    @nancym687

    2 ай бұрын

    Look up urban food deserts. It isn’t always lack of will or skill. It is many times lack of availability.

  • @loot6

    @loot6

    Ай бұрын

    It's not just that it's all the advertisements everywhere and particularly how they are marketed to kids. Very hard to avoid. You can barely walk anywhere without either seeing UPF or adverts for it. It's also all ready to eat directly without any effort and whether people can afford it or not, the fact is it's cheaper.

  • @capablanc

    @capablanc

    Күн бұрын

    Blaming social media, typical boomer mentality. Many poverty stricken parents are some of the hardest workers you'll ever meet. They work LONG gruelling hours doing tough, soul crushing jobs and then when they get home you expect them to stand in the kitchen for hours preparing and cooking fresh food for a big family, and then blame social media. This isn't the 1950s where women stay home all day doing house chores and cooking for everyone, often both parents rarely get a moment to themselves nowadays. You're a joke and clearly overly privileged. I'd wager you're over 50 and completely out of touch.

  • @rcisneros310
    @rcisneros310Ай бұрын

    It's the food AND it's you.

  • @user-oj9tb9gp1n
    @user-oj9tb9gp1n2 ай бұрын

    Sugar is not addictive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS

  • @loot6

    @loot6

    Ай бұрын

    Which type of sugar are you addicted to - brown or white? And which brand of sugar?

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