Ultra-Processed People: Chapter 2

Disclaimer: This series is a review and summary of Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken. Unless otherwise noted, all research discussed comes from the author's presentation of the evidence. I have not independently reviewed the original scientific studies referenced in the book. My commentary reflects my interpretation of the book and should not be taken as an independent evaluation of the underlying research.

Chapter 2 - “I’d rather have five bowls of Coco Pops: The discovery of UPF”

At the beginning of the chapter, Chris explains he started off his UPF diet by eating a bowl of Coco Pops (the UK version of what we would know as Cocoa Krispies). His 3-year-old daughter was drawn to the cereal since the box had the Coco Pops Monkey on it, yet she had never tasted it in her young life. Also on the box were claims of nutritional information such as “50% of your daily vitamin D, 30% less sugar” to help the consumer feel great about their breakfast of choice (Van Tulleken 30).

Chris suggests that the cartoon monkey on the box indicates that the cereal is not only safe for kids but intended for them. His daughter, after her tantrum, defied his orders by grabbing the cereal and beginning to eat it anyway (I also have a 3-year-old daughter…this behavior is all too familiar). Chris notes that Coco Pops can be classified as UPF due to the glucose syrup, the cocoa mass, and flavorings that are contained in the ingredients list. He noticed his daughter’s enjoyment of the cereal, listening to the crackling as she chewed, going for handful after handful. He also noticed that she didn’t seem fully in control. Chris explains that the serving size for an adult of Coco Pops is 30g, which is about the size of a handful, and far less than what his daughter had already consumed without stopping (Van Tulleken 31).

This leads Chris down a rabbit hole of explanations, noting two studies, one by Kevin Hall, whose experiment was published in the journal “Cell Metabolism”. In the experiment, “volunteers were fed either an ultra-processed diet or a diet that was identical in terms of fat, salt, sugar, and fiber, but without any UPF. After two weeks, both groups then switched to receive the other diet. Both groups were encouraged to eat as much or as little as they liked. On the ultra-processed diet, participants ate more and gained more weight, whereas on the unprocessed diet they actually lost weight, despite having access to as much food as they wanted” (Van Tulleken 34).

Here is where Chris describes how his own experiment started. He, along with Rachel Batterham, a professor of obesity, diabetes and endocrinology, would undergo the journey of Chris eating a diet of 80% UPF for a month after going a month without UPF. He makes a distinction: this is not a “Super Size Me” scenario, he would eat when he felt like it, not as much as he can (Van Tulleken 35-36).

The first step was for him to go non-UPF. He kept a food diary and found that, typically, he was getting about 30% of his calories from UPF. He notes that quitting entirely was surprisingly hard. As he began to scrutinize labels, he found that he couldn’t buy a sandwich due to the emulsifiers in the bread and the maltodextrin and preservatives in most of the spreads. So, he had to resort to making his own sandwiches with cheese, butter, and sourdough bread from a local bakery. He explains that he started to really look forward to his UPF diet and that the foods that he wasn’t supposed to eat became “hugely desirable”. He was especially tempted by the local McDonald’s and KFC. The day before his diet started, he was measured, blood tested and monitored for insulin response. He was also given questionnaires for his mood and appetite. Finally, he went in for an MRI to show how the different parts of his brain were connected to each other (Van Tulleken 36-37).

Chris recalls back to the Coco Pops and his daughter’s fascination. He alludes the behavior to an addict of any sort. Someone who keeps trying to replicate that first taste. He notes that the cereal wasn’t crisp and crackling like at the beginning, rather it became a mass of brown sludge in the bowl, yet he and his daughter both kept trying to get that feeling (Van Tulleken 37).

In his analysis of the Coco Pops, Chris first looks at the salt content, which states that Coco Pops are 0.65% salt. He deduces, due to this figure, that “this cereal contains 20% more salt per gram than a microwave lasagna”. His question is…why isn’t there a salt warning on the box? Well, Van Tulleken reasons that an adult serving size is, once again, 30g, which is 4 large spoonfuls. As an adult, that’s not that much salt (Van Tulleken 39).

We all know kids can eat cereal for what seems like an eternity without getting full. Far more than 4 large spoonfuls worth. Is the Coco Pops Monkey or the Cocoa Krispies trio concerned about the amount of salt children are consuming?

There are all kinds of ways to try to define foods as “healthy” or “unhealthy”, but none are perfect and never simple. Chris explains that all of those types of “health scores, data tables, designations, all seem to represent a delusion about the way people choose and eat food. The delusion is that we can eat according to numbers rather than appetite”. Does UPF disrupt the normal regulation of appetite so that we keep eating? (Van Tulleken 41)

Chris then notes Carlos Monteiro, a Brazilian, whose data unlocked a paradox stemming from the development of Brazil during the late 20th century. Monteiro found that as Brazilians became more developed, there was a push towards a “healthier” diet, which at that time meant a diet based on carbs like cereals, bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, fruit, and vegetables. Oils, fats, salt and refined sugar should only be consumed sparingly. Monteiro found that from the mid-eighties to the 2010s, Brazil’s obesity rates skyrocketed, contrary to the advice that was given. “Healthy” food was being purchased, as was evident, and “unhealthy” oils and sugar purchases decreased. Carlos and his team then focused on the overall dietary pattern to identify what foods were causing the problems and see what they all had in common. He identified two common eating patterns: one that was comprised of traditional foods like rice and beans, and the other that consisted mainly of foods like soft drinks, cookies, prepared desserts, instant noodles, and cereals. Those that were eating the second diet were eating foods that were “all made from deconstructed, modified ingredients that were mixed with additives and frequently aggressively marked.” What Monteiro’s team deduced was that the traditional cooking families that were purchasing the oils and sugars were “healthier” not because the oil and sugar was healthy, but that it indicated they were still cooking meals at home. (Van Tulleken 42-44).

Van Tulleken then makes an important note here: “Any discussion of food descends quickly into a quagmire of snobbery because, typically, people with more money to spend on food eat different types of food and a wider variety of foods from people with less disposable income…overall, people with less money have higher rates of obesity”. (Van Tulleken 45).

Another thing to note: trying to divide food into “processed” and “unprocessed” is nearly impossible. “Hacking a chunk of meat off a mammoth carcass? That’s food processing. Cooking with fire? Also processing. Genetically modifying crops and animals by breeding them selectively, a method that predates writing? Processing”. (Van Tulleken 46).

David Jacobs and Linda Tapsell wrote an article titled “Food, not nutrients, is the fundamental unit in nutrition”, and Chris explains that in their paper, “a number of good studies had identified foods, such as whole grains, nuts, olives, and oily fish, that seemed to reduce chronic disease risk, but that the benefit of the relevant nutrient - beta-carotene, fish oil, vitamin B, etc - vanished as soon as they were extracted from the food and taken as a supplement.” According to Van Tulleken, “there is no supplement, vitamin or antioxidant that decreases risk of death, or even of disease of any kind in healhty people”. (Van Tulleken 47).

In final reference to the Coco Pops breakfast, Chris explains that after his daughter was finished, he refilled her bowl and did the appropriate measurements. She had consumed two adult servings along with whole milk. Chris himself had 5 servings. (Van Tulleken 48).