Doctor eats ‘insane’ ultra-processed food diet for 30 days and the results on his body and brain are leaving people ‘horrified’

Mustering up the energy to cook at home can be difficult at times, especially now that we're a bit older with busy work and social schedules.

Having once cooked every single night, I've found myself stuck in a bit of a rut and the effort involved in standing over a hob for the best part of an hour can often be a challenge.

To show just the effects of consuming high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar, Dr Chris Van Tulleken decided to adopt an 80 percent ultra-processed food diet for 30 days.

“It sounds extreme, but it’s the diet one in five people in the UK eats,” he noted.

Despite the timeframe only being a month, the results of his food program on his body and brain were stark.

The experiment

Dr Van Tulleken, who specializes in infectious diseases, teamed up with the UK-based corporation the BBC to develop a documentary called What Are We Feeding Our Kids?, released back in 2021.

The rules of his experiment were simple - he had to eat anytime he felt hungry, which he explained that is what he does anyway, but that for him previously meant eating three meals a day with 'the occasional snack'.

However, on the ultra-processed food diet he found himself 'craving food much more'.

Dr Chris Van Tulleken's ultra-processed food diet saw him gain 14 pounds in just 30 days (BBC)

Results of ultra-processed diet on body

When the experiment was concluded the results on his physical appearance were as you'd probably have imagined it - he gained 14 pounds in just 30 days, his body mass index went up by 2.0 which took him into the 'overweight' category, while his body fat increased by 6.6 pounds.

"If the wait gain continued at that rate, I'd gain six stone [84 pounds]," Dr Van Tulleken explained.

Professor Rachel Batterham, who leads the Centre for Obesity Research at University College London, carried out the tests on the 46-year-old.

"What we found is that the hunger hormone in your blood went up by 30 percent once you'd been on the diet," she told him.

Dr Van Tulleken responded: "So that's why I felt hungrier. And what about the hormone that makes me feel full?"

Prof Batterham then replied: "We saw a decrease in the fullness hormone. So, you've got a double-whammy."

How an ultra-processed diet affects your brain

They then scanned the doctor's brain, which they did so at the start of the experiment, and the results left him in shock.

Pulling up the scan, Prof Batterham explained how the lines connecting to one another in blue detailed how his brain talked to itself before the diet while the red lines indicated the new functional connections in his brain that weren't there before the experiment.

The results of his MRI scan left Dr Van Tulleken shocked as it revealed a large number of new functional connections had occurred in his brain (BBC)

"Comparing these scans has revealed that my diet has linked up the reward centers of my brain with the areas that drive repetitive automatic behavior, so eating ultra-processed food has become something my brain simply tells me to do - without me even wanting it," Dr Van Tulleken said.

"Shockingly this is something you might see in a person with addiction."

He added: "I really, really didn't expect this when I came in this morning."

But the real worry for Dr Van Tulleken was how ultra-processed foods would be affecting behaviors in children.

"My concern is that children's brains are still developing and they're much more malleable than mine, which means the changes are likely to be even greater," he explained.

Social media users were quick to share their thoughts on the experiment, with one writing: "This is insane."

Another added: "This man sacrificed his body for science. Not gonna lie he's successfully horrified me into wanting to clean up my diet."

While someone else commented: "The MRI results were particularly fascinating. I had no idea that new neural pathways would be formed just by changing diet."

I'm not sure about you but I might get back behind the hob tonight.