What is slowly killing you?

On a long drive recently (542km) I listened to a bunch of podcasts. One of them was,"why you can't stop eating ultra-processed foods*" on Dr Rangan Chatterjee's podcast. It was very interesting to me as it highlighted that it could just be the foods that you are eating that are slowly killing you. I did eat an ice-block and chocolate bought at a servo while listening to it- the irony!.

So, what is so interesting about ultra-processed food, or UPF's for short?

1. They are 'foods' made by multi-national companies (MNC) that are solely focused on making profit. Anything that cares mostly about money is clearly not going to care about people's health, they just care about you opening their wallet to them.

2. The MNC such as Cola and Nestle need to make food taste good in order for you to keep buying it. They do this by adding fat and sugar- this is what makes food so addictive. But also so bad for your health, creating lifestyle diseases that could otherwise be avoided.

3. UPF is cheaper then real natural food that needs to be prepared in a kitchen. This is unethical, as the target market of most UPF are people living with hardships- low socioeconomic groups of society.

An important point that was made by both Dr Rangan and Dr Chris Van Tulleken was that it is not the individual who is purchasing and eating the UPF who is to be, for a better word, 'blamed'. Similar to the argument that it is not the individual who is addicted to their phone who is to be held responsible for their lack of attention. The responsibility is on the MNC's who have many highly educated, highly paid, highly resourced groups in the company who's sole purpose is to find a way to advertise these UPF to the population and who make the UPF taste so good.

From the sound of a chip packet rustling to the the snap of a coke can opening, everything is designed to make these UPFs so appealing. UPF has become a social justice issue because while these companies are turning a profit and keeping the economy growing, it is also having a devastating impact on the health of individuals, family systems, and the environment.

So, what do we do about UPFs?

The number one thing that you could do is to educate yourself on the dangers of these items. These items have been so processed that they have very little nutrition in them and are more likely harming you from the inside, are they even food?. The second thing to do would be to make your own conscious choice about them. It's up to you, the main thing is to bring your subconscious addictions and habits into the mental foreground so you can decide what to do. For me, that means avoiding all UPFs. UPFs does not align with my values. For me personally, social justice, the environment, and physical and mental health are extremely important; these values will guide my decision to avoid UPFs. Now, I'm not saying that I will avoid them completely, as that is difficult to do and creates a fixed deficit mindset. I will just practice as much as I can filling my plate with home made foods to avoid succumbing to the convenient and addictive nature of UPFs.

*Some example of ultra-processed foods include: bread bought in a supermarket, cereals sold in boxes and advertised as breakfast foods, sportsdrink marketed as necessary for recovery.

What do you think about UPFs and the MNCs that promote them? Please let me know.

Find the podcast here: https://drchatterjee.com/why-you-cant-stop-eating-ultra-processed-foods-dr-chris-van-tulleken/

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