What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?

I've been thinking about this a lot, especially after reading Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken. The book completely changed the way I look at a supermarket. The core insight is that UPFs aren't really food in any traditional sense. They're industrial formulations built from extracted substances and reassembled with additives, engineered for shelf-life and profit rather than human health.

The reason they're so hard to resist comes down to design. Scientists spend billions finding the exact ratio of salt, sugar, and fat that triggers a dopamine response in the brain, effectively overriding the signals your body uses to recognise fullness. Struggling to stop eating them is a very normal response to a product that was built to ensure exactly that. Some examples include things like sugary cereals and cereal bars, crisps, chocolate bars, protein bars/shakes, cakes and pastries, ready meals, instant noodles, fizzy drinks... etc.

Over time, a diet high in UPFs takes a real toll on the body, from blood sugar dysregulation and insulin resistance, to disruption of the gut microbiome, to low-grade inflammation that builds gradually over years.

Shifting away from them doesn't require perfection. It starts with small, consistent changes like prioritising whole, one-ingredient foods (beans, quinoa, all fruits and veg, etc), building meals around fibre and protein, reading labels, and defaulting to water over sugary drinks.

In my latest video, I go deeper into how UPFs are classified, why the food system is designed to keep us dependent on them, and the practical whole-food steps you can take today.

Watch the full video here: