Health3 min(s) read
Food 'worse than smoking' consumed daily by millions, doctor warns
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A practicing infectious disease doctor has revealed the common food that is 'worse than smoking'.
Dr Chris van Tulleken, who is an associate professor at University College London with a PhD in molecular virology, claimed that the majority of people are unaware of its effects.
He made a guest appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast, hosted by Steven Bartlett, explaining that many can become over-reliant on this type of food.
It's often an alternative used to save time, while acting as a cost-friendly option for working professionals.
Convenient ready-made meals have increased in popularity over the years, but Dr van Tulleken claimed that they are more hazardous to your health than you may think.
In fact, he has compared their long-term effects to smoking, revealing that foods under the 'ultra-processed' category (UPFs), can cause health issues, such as cancer.
Doctor explains how ultra-processed foods can harm health
According to past studies, several UPFS can heighten your risk of developing pancreatic, stomach, and colorectal cancer.
Dr van Tulleken, who is also known as the 'Junk Food Doctor', told Bartlett that while we call harmful foods 'junk food and processed food', which includes 'high fat, salt, and sugar food', there is no 'way of labeling food as a pandemic of disease taken over the world'.
The medical professional said that 'poor' diets often feature copious amounts of UPFs and that they have 'overtaken tobacco as the leading cause of early death'.
He added that the increased production of this type of food also leads to a spike in carbon emissions and plastic pollution.
The doctor added: "So about 12 years ago, the definition was developed to describe a western industrial American diet,
"And it was done by a team in Brazil, and much of the best work on this stuff has been done by teams in Central and South America."
He said that the main difference is the 'influx of, broadly, an American diet of industrial processed foods'.
"The definition was invented in 2009/2010, and we've had a decade of evidence now that is very 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," Dr van Tulleken stated.
Why people have gravitated towards UPFs
The problem is that UPFs are usually much cheaper than whole-food alternatives and come with the convenience of being ready-made, saving time.
These ready-to-eat meals are readily available at most supermarkets, and those who live busy, hectic lives will prefer the option to cooking something themselves, from scratch,
While you don't necessarily need to cut these foods out for good, being more aware of the risks could help you build a more balanced diet and become less reliant on UPFs.