A British doctor eats processed foods for a month to warn of their dangers to the body and brain
According to some recent studies, children get two-thirds of their calories from ultra-processed foods, that is, they are industrially produced and purchased packaged. This reality worries doctors and researchers because of the impact it can have on human health.
the british doctor Chris van Tulleken He decided to investigate the matter and tried a diet that consisted of eating 80% ultra-processed foods for 30 days. The result? Diet not only negatively affected your body, but also your brain.
Chris Tukellen is one of the famous van Tukellen twins, both doctors. Together with his brother Xand, he produced several television programs in the UK and conducted experiments such as getting drunk to test the effects of alcohol or following diets high in fat and carbohydrates, respectively.
constipation and weight gain
Dr. Chris van Tulleken recorded this experiment called What are we feeding our children? in the form of a documentary for British public television BBC. He explained that while it may seem like binge eating at first, it’s the same diet consumed by one in five people in the UK.
The test began with a breakfast of fried chicken that contained a variety of additives, such as monosodium glutamate, a flavor enhancer widely used in processed foods. This means that the doctor spent an entire month eating very tasty foods, and although his taste buds liked it, it didn’t take long for his body to start feeling the consequences.
Within a few days, I started to feel hungry more often than before and also more cravings. Things didn’t go for the better and van Tulleken also suffered from constipation.
Why Junk Food Is Addictive
After 30 days of the experiment, van Tulleken found that he had gained 6.5 kg of weight, of which three were body fat. If he had maintained this rate for six months, he would have gained about 38 kg.
The doctor’s body mass index also increased two points that month, which brought him to the verge of overweight. In addition, he had a series of disturbing hormonal changes. For example, blood tests revealed a more than 30% increase in hunger hormones that drive the urge to eat, while satiety hormones that tell the brain not to eat were reduced.
The most marked changes took place in the brain. By comparing brain scans taken before and after the experiment, a team of doctors revealed that diet had caused the emergence of new functional connections between certain regions of the brain.
Van Tulleken said the diet links your brain’s reward centers to areas that generate repetitive, automatic behaviors. So eating ultra-processed foods became something your brain told you it would automatically do without meaning to. The same as a person addicted to tobacco or other drugs
What are ultra-processed foods
Ultra-processed foods are usually industrially produced and contain a large number of additives such as colorings and preservatives, as well as large amounts of salt, fat and sugar. Although we don’t fully know how these products have negative effects, another study revealed a few years ago that people who eat mostly ultra-processed foods can consume 500 kcal more per day than those who eat fresh foods, even when their diets are adjusted to have the same amounts of fat, salt and sugar.
Van Tulleken warned of the dangers of these ultra-processed foods for children. From his own experience, he thinks that children’s brains are still developing and are much more malleable than adults’, which means the changes are likely to be even bigger and worse.
REFERENCES
Trends in ultra-processed food consumption among young Americans ages 2 to 19, 1999-2018