A medical professional has sounded an alert regarding a particular category of food that you might want to avoid if you aim to maintain good health.
Dr. Chris van Tulleken recently expressed his concerns on the Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett, advising listeners to be cautious about consuming certain foods, which unfortunately can include items like bread, dairy, and sweets.
Dr. van Tulleken highlights that ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are laden with ‘industrially manufactured substances’ that can cause inflammation in the body, leading to adverse health effects.
“Poor diet has overtaken tobacco as the leading cause of early death on planet Earth,” he stated.
By ‘poor diet’, van Tulleken refers to a diet high in UPFs.
These foods are prevalent in supermarket shelves and can include items such as industrially processed bread, breakfast cereals, cookies, dairy products, and ready-made sauces.
Dr. van Tulleken expressed concern as he noted that one-fifth of the population’s diet consists of 80 percent UPFs, which can lead to a host of health complications.
“If it comes in plastic packaging and contains at least one ingredient that you wouldn’t typically use in your own cooking, it’s considered a UPF,” he explained.
“In the UK, 80 percent of calories for one in five people come from ultra-processed foods,” he added, noting that UPFs can reduce children’s height by nine centimeters compared to other countries.
Eating UPFs can also have implications for mental health by disrupting hormonal responses to meals.
These foods can interfere with brain connectivity related to habits and rewards.
However, Dr. van Tulleken suggests that reducing or eliminating ultra-processed foods from your diet can significantly decrease the risk of developing chronic diseases associated with poor diet, such as cardiovascular problems and dementia, by up to 60 percent.
According to the health specialist, the consumption of UPFs is less about individual choices and more about economic disparities.
“I have almost no interest in personal responsibility. This is about social justice,” he remarked.
“People without money are forced to eat bad food. If you got rid of poverty, you would get rid of around 60 percent of the problem of diet-related disease,” he further explained.
Dr. van Tulleken advises adding more fruits, vegetables, legumes, grains, and nuts to your diet, taking cues from dietary habits in places like East Asia, South Asia, and the Arctic, as well as the Mediterranean, where olive oil is favored over other oils and fats.