Doctor issues warning over food ‘worse than smoking’ that is leading cause of ‘early death’

A doctor has warned there is ‘a pandemic of diet-related disease that has taken over the world’ – and one ‘addictive’ food group is to blame.

NHS doctor Chris van Tulleken says ultra-processed foods (UPFS) have ‘overtaken tobacco as the leading cause of early death on planet Earth’.

UPFs, if you’re wondering, tend to be things like fizzy drinks, breakfast cereals and sweets.

A helpful way to know if something is a UPF is to check if it has anything in its ingredients you wouldn’t find in your kitchen cupboards, such as additives, emulsifiers or stabilisers, according to America’s Food Standards Agency.

Researchers have previously linked the alarming increase in colorectal cancer in under 50s to the increasing amount of ultraprocessed food in our diet.

Dr van Tulleken says UPFs shouldn’t even be classed as food, but ‘industrially processed edible substances’.

He said: “There is a decade of evidence now that is extremely 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.”

The reason the medic is issuing this warning is extremely personal; he was previously addicted to UPFs himself.

Speaking on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of CEO podcast in 2023, he said: “I’m always on the brink of weight gain and I recognised in myself that I lived with an addiction to ultra-processed foods.”

His own experience – and that of his twin brother Xand, who he says has long struggled with obesity – convinced the doctor that we need to change the way we tackle health problems around UPFs and start to treat it more like smoking.

Why ‘willpower’ alone won’t help us combat unhealthy diets

Dr van Tulleken recalled taking Xand to a behavioural change therapist – but the specialist said it was him, more so than his brother, who needed to make a change.

He recalled the therapist telling him: “You are the problem. For your brother to lose weight will be to lose an argument that’s been a decade long with you. You are the barrier.”

Some examples of ultra-processed foods (Getty Stock Images)

That’s because Dr Van Tulleken was pushing his brother to take responsibility for making healthier choices to lose weight. He said: “We have really good evidence that these arguments around willpower and personal responsibility are morally, scientifically and economically redundant. They have no value.”

Instead, he wants us to start thinking about UPFs as an addictive substance in a similar way to how we talk about smoking.

He drew comparisons with how smoking is treated via nicotine patches, adding: “Treating it as an addictive substance may be really useful for some people.”

His advice to anyone addicted to UPFs? He said: “Don’t forbid this stuff. Let yourself wallow in it and read the ingredients list while you eat.

“You’ll realise all the food has the same flavour profile. It’s equally salty and sugary and sweet. It’s all acidic. And you will gradually become disgusted.”

What are studies saying about ultra processed foods?

Van Tulleken’s claims are backed up by a number of studies which associate UPFs with many health conditions including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and bowel cancer.

A 2024 study from the National Library of Medicine found: “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.”

Another study’s conclusion states: “Higher UPF consumption was associated with increased all-cause and cardiovascular disease mortality risk, with multiple metabolic pathways playing mediating roles.”

Therefore, we should all be focusing on more naturally sourced foods such as fruits and vegetables, while eggs, good quality meat and olive oil are also far better for our bodies.