Dr Chris Van Tulleken: Why We Crave Junk Food and How to Stop
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 17. 07. 2024
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Renowned doctor, researcher and advocate, Chris Van Tulleken joins Jake and Damian for a candid conversation on the impact of ultra-processed foods on our mental and physical health.
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He shares his insights on how certain foods not only harm our bodies but also mess with our minds, leading to anxiety, depression, and a lack of control. He explains his own 30-day junk food experiment and its effects and describes the physical and mental toll of such diets, highlighting their effects on sleep, mood, and digestion.
Chris expresses the urgent need for systemic changes, such as warning labels on food and removing financial ties between the food industry and government committees. He shares how his book âUltra-Processed Peopleâ aims to empower readers and spark a grassroots movement for better food policies.
He offers practical advice for families looking to make healthier choices now, without waiting for policy changes. This episode encourages us to channel our frustration with the food system into activism and policy change to create a healthier future for everyone.
0:00 Introduction
1:02 What Is High Performance?
3:55 UPF Could Increase Depression
8:35 đš Eight Sleep
9:27 Junk Food Addiction
20:27 Mental Health & Diet Links
25:53 80% UPF Diet
28:47 đš Manual
29:49 Sweet Treat Stigmas
33:22 Food Warnings
39:54 Food Industry Corruption
47:27 Links Between Tobacco & Food
51:20 Was This Made By Someone Who Loves You?
52:51 Quick-Fire Questions
#HighPerformance #ChrisVanTulleken #UPF #diet - ZĂĄbava
What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? đ§
Dr van Tulleken is a superb science communicator. He deserves a much wider audience.
Knowledgeable without being patronising , a rare skill.
As I listen to this, I'm making my daughter and her kids a lasagna. She is getting over covid. From start to finish I'm looking at many hours before it's ready. It's totally understandable why time-poor people opt for the same meal in a box.
But you can put veg in yours grated and itâs healthier.
Totally. Absolutely it's understandable, this is why we have to make systemic change. The idea that we all have free choice about our food when the poorest and busiest people have so much less time and money than the richest and least busy is just silly.
food doesn't have to take a long time or be expensive. But the person cooking it does have to have some knowledge of food. I learnt from my mother and school also taught us how to prepare useful dishes not the thing's they do now. Also it's not only the poor who eat ultra processed food, I take issue with that!
I love this guy a lot, every time I wanna go eat ultraprocessed food, I watch him again and it made me stop to eat
Good idea. I'm actually good do this now. I love when I make a quiche or something healthy from scratch đ
Chris is doing gods work. What he is saying will be seen as some of the most important research and work around public health in our lifetimes. Keep doing what youâre doing Chris and thank you
I like Chris Van T, he speak s a lot of sense. Excellent interview, thank you.
Dr Chris van Tulleken is my hero! Such a clear and eloquent speaker. Another great interview. Thank you đ
Chris ,you are hope personified. legend !
I live in Australia where we also have a health / obesity crisis. I recall spending a month in Rome with extended family many years ago.
The entire time, everybody had smaller portions than what I was used to. Nobody snacked between meals. They ate their food slowly, putting their fork down between bites savouring their meals with the occasional glass of wine. My cousins children did not eat any ultra processed food. I saw âoneâ boiled lolly being eaten by a 5 year old. She asked for another one and her mother said âBastaââŠ.(enough in Italian) I was shocked. They are all thin. Many go for slow walks after dinner. I also saw ice-cream being eaten once. It wasnât in their freezer. They had to go and buy it. Everybody had 2 scoops. Not a large bowl full of icecream as I see being eaten here in Australia. They eat real food, Period. Where have we gone wrong?
It probably has to do something with how settler colony countries don't have a lot of history/culture. I feel like in countries like Italy where the culture and history goes back for many millennia, they already have grandfathered in food culture and are unwilling to let the food industry wreck that.
That was many years ago. I was in Rome (and other places in Italy) last year, and many Italians are now obese. So are the children. It was so bad that I remember feeling somewhat shocked.
Thank you excellent interview , I could listen to this guy all day , so interesting. We all need to wake up đą
Power to Dr. Chris. I've listened to him speak on this issue on a few videos. I personally love hearing about the inside of the food industry: such as Coke funding certain things, or when he read out the email from McDonalds etc... (sounds like they want to pay him so they can use it against him in the future).
He's so right about the financial aspect of these issues.
I always think about those top food scientists who put all their efforts into this manipulated bad food for a pay check. We all have to make a living i suppose, but id love to know how those guys really feel about their work (and what their kids eat).
Keep shouting your message Dr. Chris.
The interview was kind of all over the place but I've read his book and it is fantastic! He does such a good job of explaining UPFs and how they've become part of every meal. He does a wonderful job at exposing what drives food companies.
I love listening to Dr. van Tulleken, thank you for this incredibly informative interview.
When I see Chris van Tulleken, I like, comment and subscribe!
Interested to know what the Huel behind the hosts have in them?
Ha I wondered the same, thought there was an irony to it.
Eating healthy shouldnât be difficult, but for some it is and it infuriates me that the food industry is so keen and ready to exploit that âŠjust for profit!
Great interview. Really like Chris, need more guys like him
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It's so refreshing to see intelligent people at last speaking the truth with evidence.
It's a real struggle to be on whole cooked food 7 days a week if you haven't been to other places than the modern industrialised culture you are living in .
Unfortunately, the human connection between family life and healthy food is completely broken đ đź in these countries.
I'm currently in Mexico on vacation. I am astonished at the rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome here...over 90% by my estimate. Supermarkets are full of non-food i.e. highly processed rubbish that doesn't even look like food to me. Everything is cooked in vegetable seed oils.
He has a world of information and is a true humanitarian. Whenever I see him being interviewed, I always listen.
I don't know about the UK, but here in Canada you can also get his book - physical book, e-book and audiobook - at libraries. I wish he would mention that, to look in the library. I've got it out for a second time and am re-reading it, a fantastic book!
Von Tulleken's story makes it patently if not painfully obvious. At the heart of just about everything is social equality or more exactly supportive stability with parents who do not have more children than they can love and remember the names of preferably in a stabile society where the do not have to move until they go to university or vocational school.
good stuff . do more clips this was good
dear Dr. Chris, if it is any consolation, you don't have to be an esteemed academic to make a significant clinical meaning ful impact on an individual's life and society. you have made a wonderful positive impact with your book and podcast. thank you so much for your contributions to individual and public health. Best wishes, Reimara Valk
Corporation's & greed has caused all problems â
When the people owned the shop's before the Corporation's monopolised everything this wasn't a problem...wake up â
Love the fact there's three cans of Huel in the background for this.
I always focus on eating real whole food made from scratch and hardly ever dine out. If out, Iâll order salads and or streamed veg with no oil or dressing, maybe a Greek or goats cheese salad. If thereâs nothing suitable when out with others, Iâll just not eat. On holidays Iâll buy super market foods like salad, cheese, Greek yogurt, berries, boiled eggs, nuts and eat in my hotel room our picnic outside. I focus on plenty of protein. I donât consume seed oils. Iâm totally uncompromising and frankly donât care what others think. Itâs basically like, eat real food like your life depends on it. I also walk a lot, have a treadmill desk, lift heavy weights, meditate, use sauna, and ensure I get good sleep. Also also ditched all alcohol (used to drink dry red wine), after watching Andrew H podcast. I feel amazing at 53. Iâve actually never been overweight, Iâm approx 8 1/2 stone and Iâve been a strict vegetarian since age 14, but reckon animal protein is good (itâs just my personal choice). Iâm deeply cynical about big food and big pharma.
I admire your discipline.
When I'm sick and don't have an appetite, yet I am hungry, there are certain UPFs that I turn to.
Outside of this one circumstance, I am quite grossed out by UPF substances. I ate some chocolate the other day, and it tasted like plastic - I usually only eat 70% or higher cocoa dark chocolate.
I used to love junk as a child, teen, and 20-something young adult. I would eat them like an addict.
But now I'm older, they taste like synthetic chemicals and have weird textures that make me sick....
You can absolutely train your taste out of junk and into enjoying real foods. Especially if you fall in love with the other benefits of eating real foods.
I wonder if the new government could do something about this.
Great video and a shout-out to the world champion man-spreader in the blue shirt.
Do you think you can do a video on the carnivore diet?
Me again, I get the part about no stove top however there are hot plates and even most in studio flats / a room have a microwave. Takeaway and pre-prepared food is expensive. There is lots of nutrient dense, healthy cheap food (eggs, Aldi Greek yogurt, cheese, some fruit and veg etc) and eating these type of foods leads to satiety (feel full, for longer), so you can end up eating less, and perhaps have 2 main meals a day, also goes well with time restricted eating / intermittent fasting. What Chris is saying is much needed education and we need much more of this, such as the work of the Public Health Collaborative which promotes real food, low carb ways of eating. Keep up the great work.
Iâve heard on a few of the podcasts I watch that some of the food companies want to make some improvements (in relative terms to these shit food) however the shareholders are the blockers and also concerns about lack of regulation i.e. not a level playing field with other manufacturers. Itâs really just best avoided.
You seem to have a really sensible attitude to food and health... How come I'm not like that,Cuz?!!đ€
I cut the junk 10yrs ago, it was life changing for our whole family. Iâve since gone further and been carnivore for 4yrs now and I never knew it was possible to feel this good and be this healthy. Heâs doing some good, itâs a start but some of his advice is wrong about fat and salt, for example good quality grass fed meat and Celtic sea salt these are really good for you, we need saturated fat, we need a lot of sea salt. Seed/veg oils are highly processed and toxic and should be avoided. Also table salt avoid that too.
Certainly, the love of money makes this highly efficient. Ifyou have not found what's behind this evil adulteration , consider below enlightening motive...
The price for our eliberation out of this cursed bottomless pit / earth , has been paid with the Saving One's blood Yahshua .
Our rebelion and ignorance is cursed as per Psalm 69 : 22.
Which points the trap of welfare and our food.
Go.. read it
Are you aware that your very own podcast has intermittent ads for junk food?!? Ironic đ
i hope when he said the biggest piece of advice he ever received is for children to only drink milk & water he didn't mean cow's secretions
Dude couldn't resist a caramel slice at my work's cafe when he visited a few years ago
Thatâs exactly the point. Nobody can resist sugar/ fat/carb combinations. Itâs addictive and he like so many of us grew up with too much sugar in his diet. It takes will power to say no so he recognises that we all need help, information and legislation. Better to hear from a guy who understands the constant struggle
Sorry but this guy is all over the place and making outrageous claims. I've had to stop watching this at 19:06 as he's referring to people being addicted to breakfast cereals... or "substances" as he called them and how they're doing mental, psychological & social harm to people... bro it's just some crunchy nut cornflakes man. Calm the F down. Sorry but nobody is hiding in a closet at work with a bowl of cornflakes like the advert memed on. Yea it's garbage, but people aren't addicted to cereals and they're not causing "psychological" harm which I'm giggling at just writing that. Take a day off.
Now just speaking for myself, as a dreadful eater (I don't cook anything). Yea, I order multiple take-aways per week and 99% of the time I go for packaged food... but that's not because I'm addicted in any way to the actual physical item, or hooked in by any brand, in fact it's got absolutely nothing to do with addiction. 2 or 3 times per day I have to eat, that's not an addiction that's just how humans work. And I'm busy, so I choose the most convenient and time efficient option every time. If super healthy food came via Just Eat then I'd probably order it instead, but there's nothing more to it than that.
That's not to dispute or minimise people who do have huge eating disorders, but he isn't talking about those people, he's generalising quite literally everyone. Also not disputing the food is crap, but this just comes across like rage bait or a bunch of people looking for problems to be an activist for.
Moderation, that's what it's all about.
And no, as a human who eats junk I can confirm that I do get full and have a stopping point. So that point was also BS.
You're an AutoDesk expert not a food expert mate đ€·ââïž
So your argument is, just because somebody is actively campaigning for healthy life and against multi-billion dollar corporations that profit off your and your loved oneâs life expectancy, and is âeverywhereâ, that means they are not to be trusted? Why it is so difficult to understand that whatever you consume, you essentially âbecomeâ that food, your cells and all your bodily functions, your organs, metabolism depend on your diet. Have you read the book Ultraprocessed People? Have you seen hundreds of evidences and discussions presented there? Thing is, everything around this topic is very complex as well as new, and for decades, big food corporations funded scientists to find ways to get around, like what happened to tobacco companies in mid 20th century. The same playbook happening again. It used to be that cigarettes were pushed something to be enjoyed, there used to be news breaks when people advertised cigarettes claiming its benefits, just maybe less than 50 years ago.
You mentioned crunchy nut cornflakes. What I understood from your comment, is that you are not aware and havenât read about the techniques these companies are using (perfected with experience since WW2) to create food that feels great, made to look as much real food as possible, makes you get addicted to them, putting misleading health claims on them. But there are nuances, for example that only one portion of the cornflakes is in the range of healthy dietary guidelines, however literally no one is eating one recommended portion of them.
The problem is real. I sometimes donât have time either, because weâre getting more and more busier, we are just becoming more vulnerable to these terrible ultra processed foods. But I guess one of the best thing is to cook our foods at home, as much as possible. Or listening to food experts, impartial science that is not funded by PepsiCo, or Nestle.
There is nothing to giggle about in my opinion. Just because you are lucky and do not have a genetic predisposition for overconsumption of ultra processed food, or any other health complications, and can stop whenever you feel full, does not mean that these foods are not very harmful to our bodies, brain and creating havoc population-wide. There is no doubt about that. Many people are struggling with its effects, from obesity, from other diet related diseases, IBD, blood pressure, diabetes in record numbers. These problems were not this common couple of decades ago.
more lies being drip fed to you.. in association with the WHO 1:40
Some veg and most fruit can be eaten raw.
Youâve made a video about the evils of ultra processed food and youâre advertising Huel in the background which is ultra processed. Youâve lost all credibility there. You donât want to help people be healthy, you just want advertising money. Hypocrites
So much crap advertised. Pick better sponsors
He advises WHO? Bad move.
Bullshit.Eating some processed food won't do you any harm at all but smoking one cigarette a day is not good at all.
It will do you harm but keep going if you think that and good luck
Evidence?
Like Chris but interview way too long. He came from a very privileged background which makes life a lot easier
A nice try you troll
Youâre sad I am nearly stating a true fact. Check it out. I like the guy and he does speak wonderfully.
Yh but he understands his privilege, he knows not many ppl grow up lile him â@valduncan370
The ideal podcast should be 15 minutes or less. Cut out all the BS.
No, i dont agree. This issue is layered and complex and 15 minutes wouldn't do it justice. The current food environment is decades in the making and I certainly don't think a discussion on the origins of, and how to unwind, an entrenched system can be done properly in 15 mins. Thank you for the producers of this podcast, I genuinely think this info can save lives and alleviate so much physical, emotional and mental pain
There are many short videos out there, free for you to watch. I seek out longer videos because I want in depth information.