Ultra-Processed People

This was a good read, though it was mostly things I didn't want to hear.

Before reading this, and as quite a data driven (I like to think) logical, person the concept of calories-in-calories-out made sense to me. The idea that actually food is just molecules and the fashion it's cooked or prepared doesn't matter so much appealed to part of my brain.

To read this contrasting, more holistic view that actually we've evolved as a complex organism and that you can't completely detach those years of evolution and diet from what we are now seems obvious.

It seems impossible to avoid processed food in the modern world, but there's a solid argument for reducing your consumption and eating more "naturally".

The reminder that if someone is marketing something to you, and makes money the more you eat of something, the more you should question whether their product is going to have your best interests at heart.

I liked that this book wasn't overly preachy or demand that you make a load of major lifestyle changes. It genuinely came across as someone just wanting to share their experience and knowledge.

Recorrido por los alimentos ultraprocesados: qué son, por qué son diferentes de otro tipo de comidas, qué efectos tienen en nuestro organismo, la cadena de suministro, escrito por un médico y presentador de televisión británico.

A pesar de que me tenía por bien informado sobre el tema, he aprendido unas cuantas cosas: que los ultraprocesados son veneno ya lo sabía, pero que el aceite de girasol (el que se vende en España al menos) se obtiene mediante disolventes, nada de moler las semillas en plan bucólico; o la relación entre nuestros sentidos y el metabolismo que hace que nuestro cuerpo interprete el sabor dulce del edulcorante como que estamos ingiriendo mucha comida, soltemos insulina, baje el azúcar en sangre y nos entre un hambre atroz, entre muchas otras cosas.

Está razonablemente bien escrito y se hace ameno, aunque el truco narrativo de “viajé hasta X para hablar con Jim, granjero de vacas, que me contó tal cosa” está ya un poco visto y le sobran un par de sermones, pero es bastante digno para lo que viene a ser el nivel de los best-sellers de no ficción. Como última reflexión, considerémonos afortunados de no vivir en Anglosajonia.

A good read is of course not why you're here, but that's what you get anyway. I cannot say much about the science or legitimacy of the author's claims, but they seem very plausible to me.

The basic premise is that there are a bunch of "Ultra-processed foods" which are behind the rise in obesity levels (along with other health complications). These foods are not only addictive but mess with the body's appetite mechanism, there by shutting down the message that we have eaten enough.

There isn't really a discussion of how exactly these foods do this. Though the argument is partly based on trials, and partly a discussion of Darwinian evolution of foods. In order to survive in the gladitorial supermarket shelves a foodstuff must sell, and sell often. This evolutionary struggle has driven companies to optimise foods, not only for cost, shelf-life, but also for addictiveness. Part of being addictive is cancelling the body's natural system to signal satiety.

On the one hand, this all sounds quite plausible, on the other hand society has been through cycles of 'bad food', before, health alerts over fats, sugars, carbohydrates etc. have all pointed the blame for increasing obesity at different targets. This book argues that ironically those health drives may have made the problem worse by incentivising food companies to work around those natural food stuffs with more synthetic or processed alternatives, such as synthetic sweeteners.

Again, I'm not in a position to judge the claims of the book well, but I can tell you that the information is presented in a very accessible and enjoyable to read manner.