Posted on Jun 27, 2023
How ultra-processed food has changed our minds, bodies, and culture
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Sometimes, there’s just a kind of junk food that we just can’t put down.
Maybe it’s salty snacks like Pringles, creamy treats like Twinkies, or even legendary late-night Taco Bell. Their commercials hint at how strong the food’s siren call can be with catchy jingles that say things like “Once you pop, you can’t stop.”
Approximately 73 percent of the U.S. food supply is ultra-processed, according to Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute. These chemically-engineered foods are low-cost and convenient, but our appetite for them can feel insatiable.
These foods have also been linked to a host of health issues, including cancer, heart attacks, and even death. But ultra-processed food has become part of our food culture. What does that mean for our health and our food systems?
Chris Van Tulleken went to find that out. He’s an infectious disease doctor and academic who studies food systems at University College London Hospitals. He’s also the author of the new book “Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food”
Maybe it’s salty snacks like Pringles, creamy treats like Twinkies, or even legendary late-night Taco Bell. Their commercials hint at how strong the food’s siren call can be with catchy jingles that say things like “Once you pop, you can’t stop.”
Approximately 73 percent of the U.S. food supply is ultra-processed, according to Northeastern University’s Network Science Institute. These chemically-engineered foods are low-cost and convenient, but our appetite for them can feel insatiable.
These foods have also been linked to a host of health issues, including cancer, heart attacks, and even death. But ultra-processed food has become part of our food culture. What does that mean for our health and our food systems?
Chris Van Tulleken went to find that out. He’s an infectious disease doctor and academic who studies food systems at University College London Hospitals. He’s also the author of the new book “Ultra-Processed People: The Science Behind Food That Isn’t Food”
How ultra-processed food has changed our minds, bodies, and culture
Posted from the1a.org
Food/Chow
Health
Culture
London
Science
Posted >1 y ago
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But remember marketing for wonderbread? What we didn’t know then has already done the damage and there’s no going back. Farmers and ranchers have used chemicals as pesticides and crop enhancement for years. My craving late at night is lightly salted chips. How many gallons of koolaid did you drink? When I was young, we would go to a secluded mountain top for fresh spring water and often ate venison from the same area. Grew tomatoes, green beans, peas, carrots, horseradish rhubarb, and went to a local butcher for beef and a poultry farm for eggs, the milk man delivered to the door,
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One has to ask where are the medical communities and the protections agencies to counter balance these actions. Furthere where is any education to teach good ways to eat healthy food and warn about the dangers of these manipulated harmful foods.
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