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

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Renowned doctor, researcher and advocate, Chris Van Tulleken joins Jake and Damian for a candid conversation on the impact of ultra-processed foods on our mental and physical health.
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He shares his insights on how certain foods not only harm our bodies but also mess with our minds, leading to anxiety, depression, and a lack of control. He explains his own 30-day junk food experiment and its effects and describes the physical and mental toll of such diets, highlighting their effects on sleep, mood, and digestion.
Chris expresses the urgent need for systemic changes, such as warning labels on food and removing financial ties between the food industry and government committees. He shares how his book ‘Ultra-Processed People’ aims to empower readers and spark a grassroots movement for better food policies.
He offers practical advice for families looking to make healthier choices now, without waiting for policy changes. This episode encourages us to channel our frustration with the food system into activism and policy change to create a healthier future for everyone.
#HighPerformance #ChrisVanTulleken #UPF #diet

[@HighPerformancePodcast]

What's your biggest takeaway from the episode? 🧠

[@CAEO416]

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?

[@Shelleysnail]

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

[@markg6953]

Chris ,you are hope personified. legend !

[@amalyakurnia7323]

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

[@clarakirby8699]

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

[@smith2229]

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.

[@rickeyshah9802]

Great interview. Really like Chris, need more guys like him 😊

[@lynneward8845]

I love listening to Dr. van Tulleken, thank you for this incredibly informative interview.

[@elsh332]

When I'm sick and don't have an appetite, yet I am hungry, there are certain UPFs that I turn to. Outside of this one circumstance, I am quite grossed out by UPF substances. I ate some chocolate the other day, and it tasted like plastic - I usually only eat 70% or higher cocoa dark chocolate. I used to love junk as a child, teen, and 20-something young adult. I would eat them like an addict. But now I'm older, they taste like synthetic chemicals and have weird textures that make me sick.... You can absolutely train your taste out of junk and into enjoying real foods. Especially if you fall in love with the other benefits of eating real foods.

[@jonnycarlile2544]

Corporation's & greed has caused all problems ❗ When the people owned the shop's before the Corporation's monopolised everything this wasn't a problem...wake up ❗

[@reimaravalk7679]

dear Dr. Chris, if it is any consolation, you don't have to be an esteemed academic to make a significant clinical meaning ful impact on an individual's life and society. you have made a wonderful positive impact with your book and podcast. thank you so much for your contributions to individual and public health. Best wishes, Reimara Valk

[@whitevoodooman7276]

good stuff . do more clips this was good

[@zeideerskine3462]

Von Tulleken's story makes it patently if not painfully obvious. At the heart of just about everything is social equality or more exactly supportive stability with parents who do not have more children than they can love and remember the names of preferably in a stabile society where the do not have to move until they go to university or vocational school.

[@ziggy2255]

Interested to know what the Huel behind the hosts have in them?

[@MrJaiimez]

Ha I wondered the same, thought there was an irony to it.

[@deborahhoward8043]

I always focus on eating real whole food made from scratch and hardly ever dine out. If out, I’ll order salads and or streamed veg with no oil or dressing, maybe a Greek or goats cheese salad. If there’s nothing suitable when out with others, I’ll just not eat. On holidays I’ll buy super market foods like salad, cheese, Greek yogurt, berries, boiled eggs, nuts and eat in my hotel room our picnic outside. I focus on plenty of protein. I don’t consume seed oils. I’m totally uncompromising and frankly don’t care what others think. It’s basically like, eat real food like your life depends on it. I also walk a lot, have a treadmill desk, lift heavy weights, meditate, use sauna, and ensure I get good sleep. Also also ditched all alcohol (used to drink dry red wine), after watching Andrew H podcast. I feel amazing at 53. I’ve actually never been overweight, I’m approx 8 1/2 stone and I’ve been a strict vegetarian since age 14, but reckon animal protein is good (it’s just my personal choice). I’m deeply cynical about big food and big pharma.

[@MrAmitdaswani]

I admire your discipline.

[@deborahhoward8043]

Me again, I get the part about no stove top however there are hot plates and even most in studio flats / a room have a microwave. Takeaway and pre-prepared food is expensive. There is lots of nutrient dense, healthy cheap food (eggs, Aldi Greek yogurt, cheese, some fruit and veg etc) and eating these type of foods leads to satiety (feel full, for longer), so you can end up eating less, and perhaps have 2 main meals a day, also goes well with time restricted eating / intermittent fasting. What Chris is saying is much needed education and we need much more of this, such as the work of the Public Health Collaborative which promotes real food, low carb ways of eating. Keep up the great work.

[@smith2229]

Great video and a shout-out to the world champion man-spreader in the blue shirt.

[@incensejunkie7516]

He has a world of information and is a true humanitarian. Whenever I see him being interviewed, I always listen. I don't know about the UK, but here in Canada you can also get his book - physical book, e-book and audiobook - at libraries. I wish he would mention that, to look in the library. I've got it out for a second time and am re-reading it, a fantastic book!

[@r_unner_G]

Dude couldn't resist a caramel slice at my work's cafe when he visited a few years ago

[@jeanhorseman9364]

That’s exactly the point. Nobody can resist sugar/ fat/carb combinations. It’s addictive and he like so many of us grew up with too much sugar in his diet. It takes will power to say no so he recognises that we all need help, information and legislation. Better to hear from a guy who understands the constant struggle

[@deborahhoward8043]

I’ve heard on a few of the podcasts I watch that some of the food companies want to make some improvements (in relative terms to these shit food) however the shareholders are the blockers and also concerns about lack of regulation i.e. not a level playing field with other manufacturers. It’s really just best avoided.

[@ianhoward4246]

You seem to have a really sensible attitude to food and health... How come I'm not like that,Cuz?!!🤟

[@amygravett5287]

I cut the junk 10yrs ago, it was life changing for our whole family. I’ve since gone further and been carnivore for 4yrs now and I never knew it was possible to feel this good and be this healthy. He’s doing some good, it’s a start but some of his advice is wrong about fat and salt, for example good quality grass fed meat and Celtic sea salt these are really good for you, we need saturated fat, we need a lot of sea salt. Seed/veg oils are highly processed and toxic and should be avoided. Also table salt avoid that too.

[@jamesaston410]

Eating healthy shouldn’t be difficult, but for some it is and it infuriates me that the food industry is so keen and ready to exploit that …just for profit!

[@user-mi6uh1yp2l]

Are you aware that your very own podcast has intermittent ads for junk food?!? Ironic 😞

[@user-fk8rb8ue5h]

Bullshit.Eating some processed food won't do you any harm at all but smoking one cigarette a day is not good at all.

[@amygravett5287]

It will do you harm but keep going if you think that and good luck

[@lumiao1685]

Evidence?

[@JesusSaves827]

The ideal podcast should be 15 minutes or less. Cut out all the BS.

[@GoldRushd]

No, i dont agree. This issue is layered and complex and 15 minutes wouldn't do it justice. The current food environment is decades in the making and I certainly don't think a discussion on the origins of, and how to unwind, an entrenched system can be done properly in 15 mins. Thank you for the producers of this podcast, I genuinely think this info can save lives and alleviate so much physical, emotional and mental pain

[@matlepak9694]

So much crap advertised. Pick better sponsors

[@valduncan370]

Like Chris but interview way too long. He came from a very privileged background which makes life a lot easier

[@jezalb2710]

A nice try you troll

[@valduncan370]

You’re sad I am nearly stating a true fact. Check it out. I like the guy and he does speak wonderfully.

[@Neil3D]

Sorry but this guy is all over the place and making outrageous claims. I've had to stop watching this at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1146">19:06</a> as he's referring to people being addicted to breakfast cereals... or "substances" as he called them and how they're doing mental, psychological & social harm to people... bro it's just some crunchy nut cornflakes man. Calm the F down. Sorry but nobody is hiding in a closet at work with a bowl of cornflakes like the advert memed on. Yea it's garbage, but people aren't addicted to cereals and they're not causing "psychological" harm which I'm giggling at just writing that. Take a day off. Now just speaking for myself, as a dreadful eater (I don't cook anything). Yea, I order multiple take-aways per week and 99% of the time I go for packaged food... but that's not because I'm addicted in any way to the actual physical item, or hooked in by any brand, in fact it's got absolutely nothing to do with addiction. 2 or 3 times per day I have to eat, that's not an addiction that's just how humans work. And I'm busy, so I choose the most convenient and time efficient option every time. If super healthy food came via Just Eat then I'd probably order it instead, but there's nothing more to it than that. That's not to dispute or minimise people who do have huge eating disorders, but he isn't talking about those people, he's generalising quite literally everyone. Also not disputing the food is crap, but this just comes across like rage bait or a bunch of people looking for problems to be an activist for. Moderation, that's what it's all about. And no, as a human who eats junk I can confirm that I do get full and have a stopping point. So that point was also BS.

[@nickalexander4431]

You're an AutoDesk expert not a food expert mate 🤷‍♂️

[@hasilovich]

So your argument is, just because somebody is actively campaigning for healthy life and against multi-billion dollar corporations that profit off your and your loved one’s life expectancy, and is “everywhere”, that means they are not to be trusted? Why it is so difficult to understand that whatever you consume, you essentially ‘become’ that food, your cells and all your bodily functions, your organs, metabolism depend on your diet. Have you read the book Ultraprocessed People? Have you seen hundreds of evidences and discussions presented there? Thing is, everything around this topic is very complex as well as new, and for decades, big food corporations funded scientists to find ways to get around, like what happened to tobacco companies in mid 20th century. The same playbook happening again. It used to be that cigarettes were pushed something to be enjoyed, there used to be news breaks when people advertised cigarettes claiming its benefits, just maybe less than 50 years ago. You mentioned crunchy nut cornflakes. What I understood from your comment, is that you are not aware and haven’t read about the techniques these companies are using (perfected with experience since WW2) to create food that feels great, made to look as much real food as possible, makes you get addicted to them, putting misleading health claims on them. But there are nuances, for example that only one portion of the cornflakes is in the range of healthy dietary guidelines, however literally no one is eating one recommended portion of them. The problem is real. I sometimes don’t have time either, because we’re getting more and more busier, we are just becoming more vulnerable to these terrible ultra processed foods. But I guess one of the best thing is to cook our foods at home, as much as possible. Or listening to food experts, impartial science that is not funded by PepsiCo, or Nestle.

[@hasilovich]

There is nothing to giggle about in my opinion. Just because you are lucky and do not have a genetic predisposition for overconsumption of ultra processed food, or any other health complications, and can stop whenever you feel full, does not mean that these foods are not very harmful to our bodies, brain and creating havoc population-wide. There is no doubt about that. Many people are struggling with its effects, from obesity, from other diet related diseases, IBD, blood pressure, diabetes in record numbers. These problems were not this common couple of decades ago.

[@timbase]

more lies being drip fed to you.. in association with the WHO 1:40

[@evanhadkins5532]

Some veg and most fruit can be eaten raw.

[@16Elless]

He advises WHO? Bad move.