Chris van Tulleken

A manifesto to change how you eat and how you think about the human body. It’s not you, it’s the food. We have entered a new age of eating. For the first time in human history, most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food. There’s 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 UPF. These products are specifically engineered to behave as addictive substances, driving excess consumption. They are now linked to the leading cause of early death globally and the number one cause of environmental destruction. Yet almost all our staple foods are ultra-processed. UPF is our food culture and for many people it is the only available and affordable food. In this book, Chris van Tulleken, father, scientist, doctor, and award-winning BBC broadcaster, marshals the latest evidence to show how governments, scientists, and doctors have allowed transnational food companies to create a pandemic of diet-related disease. The solutions don’t lie in willpower, personal responsibility, or exercise. You’ll find no diet plan in this book―but join Chris as he undertakes a powerful self-experiment that made headlines around the world: under the supervision of colleagues at University College London he spent a month eating a diet of 80 percent UPF, typical for many children and adults in the United States. While his body became the subject of scientific scrutiny, he spoke to the world’s leading experts from academia, agriculture, and―most important―the food industry itself. But more than teaching him about the experience of the food, the diet switched off Chris’s own addiction to UPF. In a fast-paced and eye-opening narrative he explores the origins, science, and economics of UPF to reveal its catastrophic impact on our bodies and the planet. And he proposes real solutions for doctors, for policy makers, and for all of us who have to eat. A book that won’t only upend the way you shop and eat, Ultra-Processed People will open your eyes to the need for action on a global scale.

An eye-opening investigation into the science, economics, history and production of ultra-processed food. It's not you, it's the food. We have entered a new 'age of eating' where most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food, food which is industrially processed and designed and marketed to be addictive. But do we really know what it's doing to our bodies? Join Chris in his travels through the world of food science and a UPF diet to discover what's really going on. Find out why exercise and willpower can't save us, and what UPF is really doing to our bodies, our health, our weight, and the planet (hint: nothing good). For too long we've been told we just need to make different choices, when really we're living in a food environment that makes it nigh-on impossible. So this is a book about our rights. The right to know what we eat and what it does to our bodies and the right to good, affordable food.

THE NUMBER ONE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERONE OF THE FINANCIAL TIMES' BEST SUMMER BOOKS OF 2023 AND SUNDAY TIMES' BEST BOOKS TO READ THIS SUMMER'If you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one' Bee Wilson'A devastating, witty and scholarly destruction of the shit food we eat and why' Adam Rutherford---An eye-opening investigation into the science, economics, history and production of ultra-processed food.It's not you, it's the food.We have entered a new 'age of eating' where most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food, food which is industrially processed and designed and marketed to be addictive. But do we really know what it's doing to our bodies?Join Chris in his travels through the world of food science and a UPF diet to discover what's really going on. Find out why exercise and willpower can't save us, and what UPF is really doing to our bodies, our health, our weight, and the planet ( nothing good).For too long we've been told we just need to make different choices, when really we're living in a food environment that makes it nigh-on impossible. So this is a book about our rights. The right to know what we eat and what it does to our bodies and the right to good, affordable food.

It's not you, it's the food. We have entered a new 'age of eating' where most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food, food which is industrially processed and designed and marketed to be addictive. But do we really know what it's doing to our bodies? Join Chris in his travels through the world of food science and a UPF diet to discover what's really going on. Find out why exercise and willpower can't save us, and what UPF is really doing to our bodies, our health, our weight, and the planet ( nothing good). For too long we've been told we just need to make different choices, when really we're living in a food environment that makes it nigh-on impossible. So this is a book about our rights. The right to know what we eat and what it does to our bodies and the right to good, affordable food.

THE #1 INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTION • The bestselling and eye-opening investigation into the science, economics, history and impact of ultra-processed food.With a new Afterword by the author.Named a Best Book of the Year by NPR • The Economist • The Times • The New Yorker • Smithsonian • Daily Mail • The Guardian • Financial Times • and more!It's not you, it's the food.How much of our daily caloric intake comes from ingesting substances that, technically speaking, do not meet traditional definitions of “food”? Chances are, if you’re eating something that came wrapped in plastic and contains a funky ingredient you don’t have in your kitchen, it's most likely—almost definitely—ultra-processed food, or UPF. More than the principal obstacle to “eating right,” UPF has been linked to metabolic disease, depression, inflammation, anxiety, and cancer, while the production, distribution, and disposal of UPF and related products globally is known to cause devastating environmental damage. At the same time, UPF represents the dominant, nigh-unavoidable food culture for millions upon millions of eaters.Medical doctor and broadcaster Chris van Tulleken has spent his career trying to reframe the conversation around eating right, balancing the hard (and sometimes shocking) facts about what we're putting into our bodies with empathy for the natural desire to keep eating what we like, have time for, and can afford. As he argues in this book, we are all participants in an experiment we didn't consent to, one to determine how to get us to buy as much ultra-processed food as possible. It’s not as simple as stumbling across the right diet trend, finding time to meal plan, or avoiding over-indulging in sugar, fat, or carbs or any other culprit. Nor is it a matter of individual will. It’s about learning to live in “the third age of eating”—defined by the overwhelming abundance of ultra-processed eating options—and arming yourself with the simple and not-so-simple facts that will help you make the choices that are right for you.

Keittiöissämme tikittää aikapommi. Ruokavaliomme on mullistunut lyhyessä ajassa, ja saamme nykyään suuren osan ravinnostamme ultraprosessoidusta ruoasta. Hyllyt ovat täynnä teollisesti käsiteltyjä, koukuttaviksi suunniteltuja tuotteita, emmekä vielä hahmota, miten tuhoisasti ne vaikuttavat terveyteemme, yhteiskuntaamme ja planeettaamme. Lukijoita ympäri maailman tyrmistyttänyt tietokirja osoittaa, että ultraprosessoitu ruoka on keskeinen syy ylipainoon ja moniin sairauksiin, ja selittää, miksi terveellisempien valintojen tekeminen on usein mahdotonta. Se saa katsomaan ruokaa ja hyvinvointia uusin silmin ja muistuttaa, että meillä on oikeus tietää, mitä syömme.

Od żywności utraprzetworzonej nie sposób uciec: uginają się od niej sklepowe półki, jest ogólnodostępna, często tania. Powstaje w wyniku tak wielu procesów przemysłowych i ma tyle sztucznych dodatków, że zaczynamy się zastanawiać, czy można ją z czystym sumieniem nazywać jedzeniem. Na dodatek została zaprojektowana, wyprodukowana i zareklamowana tak, aby jak najbardziej uzależniać. Lekarz Chris van Tulleken zabiera nas w przerażającą i fascynującą podróż po świecie wysokoprzetworzonej żywności. Dowiadujemy się nie tylko, skąd się wzięła oraz dlaczego i w jaki sposób tak negatywnie wpływa na nasze zdrowie (od mikrobioty po układ hormonalny), ale także czemu tak trudno jest zjeść tylko jedną miskę słodkich płatków śniadaniowych. Pokazuje również, co produkcja UPF – od angielskiego ultra-processed food – robi z naszą planetą (spoiler: nic dobrego). Choć w dyskusji o zdrowiu i wadze często podkreśla się wagę mitycznej silnej woli oraz naszych wyborów (jak ograniczanie cukru czy podejmowanie regularnej aktywności fizycznej), van Tulleken pokazuje, że mamy na to dużo mniejszy wpływ, niż mogłoby się wydawać. A podejmowanie dobrych wyborów przy obecnym stanie rzeczy jest praktycznie niemożliwe. Autor, który przez cztery tygodnie testował dietę złożoną wyłącznie z produktów ultraprzetworzonych, porównuje swoją książkę do bestsellera Allena Carra Prosta metoda, jak skutecznie rzucić palenie. Chodziło w niej o to, by podczas czytania o szkodliwości papierosów czytelnik nadal oddawał się nałogowi. Po jakimś czasie papierosy mu zbrzydną. Podobną metodę van Tulleken zaleca swoim czytelnikom: "Pozwólcie sobie zatem doświadczyć pełni grozy UPF. Nie zachęcam was do objadania się czy przejadania. Po prostu nie opierajcie się pokusie jedzenia tego rodzaju produktów. Robiłem tak przez cztery tygodnie – jeśli chcecie pójść w moje ślady, jedzcie UPF, aż przeczytacie całą książkę. Zachęcanie was do tego jest wątpliwe etycznie, ale nie mam z tym problemu. Po pierwsze: i tak od rana do wieczora jesteście zachęcani do jedzenia UPF. Po drugie: jeśli jesteście przeciętną osobą, już teraz dostarczacie sobie 60 procent kalorii z UPF, a więc zwiększenie tego udziału do 80 procent prawdopodobnie nie zrobi wam większej różnicy". Jest to książka o zdrowiu i rzeczywistości, w której żyjemy, ale przede wszystkim o naszych prawach: prawie do wiedzy o tym, co jemy, i o tym, jaki wpływ wywiera to na nasz organizm. A przede wszystkim o prawie do dobrej żywności w przystępnej cenie.