Throughout the month of November, bloggers Liz, Frances, Heather,  Rebekah and Deb invite you to celebrate Nonfiction November with us.

Week 4 (11/18-11/22) Mind Openers: One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is the way it can open your eyes to the world around you—no plane ticket required. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Is there one book that made you rethink everything? Is there a book that, if everyone read it, you think the world would be a better place? (Rebekah)

Ultra Processed People: Why Do We All Eat Stuff That Isn’t Food … And Why Can’t We Stop? by Chris van Tulleken, who has impressed me on numerous TV programmes on diet and nutrition.

About the Author: ‘He is an infectious diseases doctor at the Hospital for Tropical Diseases in London. He trained at Oxford and has a PhD in molecular virology from University College London where he is an Associate Professor. His research focuses on how corporations affect human health, especially in the context of child nutrition, and he works with UNICEF and the World Health Organization in this area. As one of the BBC’s leading broadcasters, his work has won two BAFTAs. He lives in London with his wife and two children.’

I kept hearing about ultra processed food (UPF), but had little idea what exactly it is, so when I saw this book I thought it would be ideal – and it is! It is absolutely fascinating, a real eye opener, and it has changed what I think about what I eat! For a long time I have checked the labels on food packaging without actually realising what all those additives are, nor how the food has been processed. For example it has definitely put me off eating crisps and Pringles. It is shocking!

But it’s not easy to give a simple definition of what UPF is! A very short definition is that ‘if it’s wrapped in plastic and has at least one ingredient that you wouldn’t usually find in a standard home kitchen, it’s UPF.’ (page 5) It’s the processing that is the problem and the additives that are used - such as emulsifiers, flavour enhancers and sweeteners – and it is addictive.

Description from Amazon: 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.

There are chapters on such subjects as why we can’t control what we eat, how our bodies really manage calories and about will power, how UPF hacks our brains, destroys traditional diets and how it is addictive.

I highlighted so much in this book and I think the simplest way of writing about it is to post some of those passages to give you an idea what is in the book that convinced me to cut out eating ultra-processed food (UPF) as much as possible. It’s not easy as so much is now ultra-processed!

Page 5: UPF now (2023) makes up as much as 60% of the average diet in the UK and the USA.

Page 6: a vast body of data has emerged in support of the hypothesis that UPF damages the human body and increases rates of cancer, metabolic disease and mental illness, that it damages human societies by displacing food cultures and driving inequality, poverty and early death, and that it damages the planet.

Page 153 – 154: most UPF is reconstructed from whole food that has been reduced to its basic molecular constituents which are then modified and re-assembled into food-like shapes and textures and then heavily salted, sweetened, coloured and flavoured. … without additives these base industrial ingredients would probably not be recognisable as food by your tongue and brain: ‘It would be almost like eating dirt’.

Page 189: the basic construction materials of UPF are industrially modified carbs, fats and proteins, and the processes they are put through remove all the chemical complexity. The intensity of ultra-processing means that vitamins are destroyed (or deliberately removed in the case of bleaching), fibre is reduced, and there’s a loss of functional molecules like polyphenols. The result is lots of calories but very little other nutrition. … we may be eating more food to compensate for becoming increasingly deficient in micronutrients. … modern diets lead to malnutrition even as they cause obesity.

I could go on and on, but read this book and see for yourself if it makes you think about what you are actually eating. It is a brilliant book!