Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Image
Topics: Health, Food and Drink
William Morgan
Regularly eating the wrong types of food could be as damaging to your long-term health as lighting up a cigarette, according to associate professor at University College London, Dr Chris Van Tulleken.
We have long known about the serious damage that smoking does to your body, from cosmetic issues like nicotine-stained fingers and receding gums to heart disease, lung cancer, and COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease).
But now with fewer than one in 10 Americans smoking, down from roughly half the population in the 1960s, the impact of having a poor diet that contains certain harmful foodstuffs has become a more damaging issue to public health.
Dr Van Tulleken has said that all of our diets are being changed by 'a pandemic of diet-related disease' that is causing people across the world to die prematurely.
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That is because of the ubiquity of ultra-processed foods (UPFs), which a growing body of evidence suggests could be contributing to rising prevalences of potentially life-limiting diseases like type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast, the public health expert said that UPFs had now 'overtaken tobacco as the leading cause of early death on planet Earth', with these food products containing a number of substances that can be harmful if a regular part of your diet.
Studies support the doctor's argument, with a 2024 meta-analysis finding: "High UPF consumption is associated with an increased risk of a variety of chronic diseases and mental health disorders.
"At present, not a single study reported an association between UPF intake and a beneficial health outcome. These findings suggest that dietary patterns with low consumption of UPFs may render broad public health benefits."
A UPF can be any consumable item that is reinforced with chemical additives, colorings, preservatives, and any other industrial chemicals that you probably wouldn't find in a domestic kitchen.
They are often intentionally rich in calories, with sugar, fat, and salt used to lengthen shelf life.
Common examples of UPFs can be found in most cupboards and fridges, with the worst culprits often cited as being:
Dr Van Tulleken said that these products should be reclassified as 'industrially processed edible substances' rather than food due to their impact on colorectal cancer rates, obesity, and heart issues.
He said: "There is a decade of evidence now that is extremely clear that it is ultra-processed food that is responsible, not just for pandemic weight gain and obesity, but also for a long list of other health problems, including early death."
The health expert said that he had come to this realization due to the physical changes he had experienced himself, before noticing a common factor in his diet.
He added: "I'm always on the brink of weight gain and I recognised in myself that I lived with an addiction to ultra-processed foods."
Because of this, he argued that society should be 'treating [UPFs] as an addictive substance may be really useful for some people,' in the same way that smoking has been.
He advised that anyone struggling to remove UPFs from their diet should try to read the product's ingredients list and 'wallow in it.'
The doctor explained: "You'll realise all the food has the same flavour profile. It's equally salty and sugary and sweet. It's all acidic. And you will gradually become disgusted."