Van Telleken looks at the food we eat through the lenses of economics, public and individual health, and planet health or sustainability. He observes that we basically eat what is marketed to us. The poorer we are, the better the marketing works because ultra-processed food (UPF) is much cheaper than actual food.
Ultra-processed food is refined, bleached, deodorized, modified, hydrogenated, interesterified, and perhaps most importantly, aggressively marketed. There are ingredients, such as dimethylpolysiloxane and polysorbate 80, that we consume with little to no basic understanding of their effects on the human body.
The ingredients in ultra-processed foods are there for several reasons: 1) to save money (as opposed to using costly whole food), 2) to extend shelf life, 3) to allow for wide distribution - ease of transport, and 4) to promote excess consumption.
The purpose of UPF's is to create highly profitable, convenient, hyper-palatable foods that do a pretty decent job nourishing the portfolios of shareholders, but leave consumers malnourished. It is this lack of essential nutrients that, in turn, causes people who consume these substances to overeat. The human body has evolved to eat until it has consumed what it needs.
This book is on the hefty side. Some people will find it fascinating, and some might find it overwhelming. If you read only a few chapters or pages of this, it would still be a worthwhile effort. If thick books are unpalatable, just turn the packages over and read the ingredient list. That's the gist of the book.
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