A leading physician has raised alarms on the widely-listened-to Diary of a CEO podcast, suggesting that a certain ubiquitous food item might be more lethal than smoking. Dr Chris van Tulleken, known for his BBC science programmes and expertise in infectious diseases, alongside his medical twin brother Dr Xand, a regular on BBC Morning Live, left listeners including host Steven Bartlett astounded with his claims.

In his recent work titled "Ultra-Processed People," Dr Chris addresses the persistent confusion about what constitutes a healthy diet: "For a very long time, we have been incredibly confused about what to eat." He points out the common misunderstanding regarding unhealthy foods: "We've called the foods that harm us junk food and processed food - high fat, salt and sugar food.

"We've not had a way of labeling food even as a pandemic of disease taken over the world," reports Birmingham Live. Dr Chris also draws attention to the global reach of this problem, affecting impoverished nations and disadvantaged communities within the UK alike: "This is particularly true in low income countries and particularly true with low income people living in the UK."

He cautions about the dire impact of diets laden with ultra-processed foods (UPF): "So poor diet, which means a diet high and ultra processed foods (UPF), has overtaken tobacco as a leading cause of early death on planet Earth for humans, for the animals we farm and for wild animals.", as reported by the Mirror. He delves into the detrimental effects of such foods on our planet: "This is because ultra-processed food is produced by food system that is the leading cause of loss of biodiversity and the second-leading cause of carbon emissions and the leading cause of plastic pollution."

He shed light on the origins of the term 'ultra-processed food': "So about 12 years ago, the definition was developed to describe a western industrial American diet. And it was done by a team in Brazil, and much of the best work on this stuff has been done by teams in Central and South America."

His observations reveal a dramatic shift in health trends within certain nations: "In places like Mexico, Columbia and Brazil, obesity was essentially unheard of and within a decade, it went to being the dominant public health problem. Where once obesity was a rarity, in a span of 10 years "everyone would know someone who had an amputation for type two diabetes." The question arises as to what influenced this rapid escalation: The expert continued: "The only thing that has changed was the influx of, broadly an American diet of industrial processed foods."

Explaining the evolution of the concept, he noted: "The definition was invented in 2009/2010 and we've had a decade evidence now that is very clear that it is ultra processed food that is responsible, not just for pandemic weight gain and obesity, but also for a long list of other health problems, including early death."

He highlights the dangerously addictive nature of UPFs, likening them to tobacco, alcohol, gambling and drugs, stressing that this assertion is backed by solid research. He also warned that "nagging" someone to give up junk food for the sake of health and weight loss is counterproductive, often leading to the opposite effect and "pushes people towards doing things that are harmful and generally makes them more likely to do the thing you're nagging them about."

He further noted: "High UPF consumption is associated with an increased risk of a variety of chronic diseases and mental health disorders. At present, not a single study reported an association between UPF intake and a beneficial health outcome. These findings suggest that dietary patterns with low consumption of UPFs may render broad public health benefits."

A viewer responded to the video on YouTube, saying: "I cannot overstate how much Chris has changed my life in the space of just 5 months. In early June I watched a podcast in which he was a guest and he spoke about the same topic.

"Since the 6th June 2023, I've cut out ultra-processed food almost entirely from my diet. Initially I thought it'd be impossible to find foods without crap in it but it's actually been really easy. When I fancy a snack I have an apple or a few grapes, or some nuts. I have a variety of home cooked meals every night. For breakfast I have a 'full fat' natural yoghurt (containing just milk) and occasionally I'll have toast with organic jam or scrambled eggs on the weekend (bread sourced from a bakery).

"The home cooked meals aren't what people would consider particularly healthy (plenty of meat, cheese, starchy foods) and I've not cut down on portion sizes. In the last five months I've gone from 112KG to 99.9 KG (as of yesterday). The only other lifestyle change I've made is to take a one-hour walk every week day. Other than this, I've done no other exercise in the last 5 months whatsoever."