Ultra-Processed People

You’ve got to get this book in your life … Completely compelling … Read a page and think about it for the rest of the week – Chris EvansA devastating, witty and scholarly destruction of the shit food we eat and why – Adam RutherfordIf you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one. It will not only change the way you eat but the way you think about food. And it does all this without a hint of finger-wagging or body shaming. I came away feeling so much better informed about every aspect of ultra-processed food, from the way it affects the microbes in our gut to why it is so profitable to produce to why it’s so hard to eat only a single bowl of Coco Pops to why any food that is marketed as ‘better for you’ is almost certainly not. – Bee WilsonA wonderful and fascinating exposé of ultra-processed food, edible substances with strange sounding ingredients which are manufactured by some of the wealthiest companies on the planet and which, worryingly, form an increasing part of our diet. As Chris shows, not only have these foods been formulated to ensure that we eat them constantly and without thought, but they hijack our ability to regulate what we eat, primarily by affecting our brains. And he backs up his claims with a powerful self-experiment, along with lots of rigorous and often shocking research. Reading this book will make you question what you eat and how it was produced – Dr. Michael Mosley * BBC presenter and bestselling author of The Fast Diet *Packed with “I never knew that” moments, Ultra-Processed People is a wonderfully playful book that changed forever how I think about what I eat and why – Hannah Fry

Chris van Tulleken 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 Organisation on this area. As one of the BBC’s leading broadcasters for children and adults his work has won two BAFTAs. He lives in London with his wife and two children.