Dr Chris Van Tulleken: Why We Crave Junk Food and How to Stop

What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? 🧠

I love this guy a lot, every time I wanna go eat ultraprocessed food, I watch him again and it made me stop to eat

Knowledgeable without being patronising , a rare skill.

Chris is doing gods work. What he is saying will be seen as some of the most important research and work around public health in our lifetimes. Keep doing what you’re doing Chris and thank you

Dr van Tulleken is a superb science communicator. He deserves a much wider audience.

I like Chris Van T, he speak s a lot of sense. Excellent interview, thank you.

As I listen to this, I'm making my daughter and her kids a lasagna. She is getting over covid. From start to finish I'm looking at many hours before it's ready. It's totally understandable why time-poor people opt for the same meal in a box.

This time last year I weighed 173kg and had full blown type 2 diabetes. Saw a health coach/dietician who started educating me about UPF, then soon after the algorithm figured it out and started showing me Dr VT. Went through my cupboards and fridge and tossed everything ultraprocessed - full scorched earth elimination. In the last year I've shed 47kg, resumed training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu 3x a week and started running 3x a week. The diabetes is now in remission and I no longer need to take any meds to regulate blood sugar levels. Chris is doing the Lord's work, along with the likes of Tim Spector and Rob Lustig. Their messaging has been absolutely instrumental in turning my situation around and keeping me out of an early grave. Still need to drop another 20-30kg but I'm on the right track now.

Dr Chris has made more sense to me about my weight struggles, than 40 years of yo yo dieting, always looking for the next healthy eating plan that is going to work, long term. Since January I have lost over 80lbs and will not be going back to my old habits or UPF's, I have my health back inc my mental health and feel better in my fifties than I ever have.❤.

I’m glad this guy acknowledges how a lot of his accomplishments are due to luck in his circumstances. That’s an enormously difficult thing to keep in mind for people considered successful and those feeling useless.

Chris ,you are hope personified. legend !

I live in Australia where we also have a health / obesity crisis. I recall spending a month in Rome with extended family many years ago. The entire time, everybody had smaller portions than what I was used to. Nobody snacked between meals. They ate their food slowly, putting their fork down between bites savouring their meals with the occasional glass of wine. My cousins children did not eat any ultra processed food. I saw “one” boiled lolly being eaten by a 5 year old. She asked for another one and her mother said “Basta”….(enough in Italian) I was shocked. They are all thin. Many go for slow walks after dinner. I also saw ice-cream being eaten once. It wasn’t in their freezer. They had to go and buy it. Everybody had 2 scoops. Not a large bowl full of icecream as I see being eaten here in Australia. They eat real food, Period. Where have we gone wrong?

The part where they talked about being laughed at and ridiculed for talking about this really resonates with me. I have stopped trying to tell my family that the food they are eating is bad for them because they treat me like I'm a conspiracy theory nut. It's extremely frustrating because I have 5 grandchildren under 8 years old, from 3 daughters, who are being fed these substances and I can't do anything to stop it. I just hope things change before it's too late for them.

Dr Chris van Tulleken is my hero! Such a clear and eloquent speaker. Another great interview. Thank you 😊

Chris, please keep going with your campaign. Recently stopped drinking, gone low carb, and trying to eat only real food. We need to win this battle!

Great interview! I would urge anyone who hasn't read Chris' book, "Ultra-Processed People' to rush out and get it! Be warned - it's life-changing! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Power to Dr. Chris. I've listened to him speak on this issue on a few videos. I personally love hearing about the inside of the food industry: such as Coke funding certain things, or when he read out the email from McDonalds etc... (sounds like they want to pay him so they can use it against him in the future). He's so right about the financial aspect of these issues. I always think about those top food scientists who put all their efforts into this manipulated bad food for a pay check. We all have to make a living i suppose, but id love to know how those guys really feel about their work (and what their kids eat). Keep shouting your message Dr. Chris.

I'm currently in Mexico on vacation. I am astonished at the rates of obesity and metabolic syndrome here...over 90% by my estimate. Supermarkets are full of non-food i.e. highly processed rubbish that doesn't even look like food to me. Everything is cooked in vegetable seed oils.

The interview was kind of all over the place but I've read his book and it is fantastic! He does such a good job of explaining UPFs and how they've become part of every meal. He does a wonderful job at exposing what drives food companies.

Thank you excellent interview , I could listen to this guy all day , so interesting. We all need to wake up 😢