Ultra-Processed People

Author Chris van Tulleken
Narrator Chris van Tulleken
Publisher Random House
Run Time 12 hours and 11 minutes
Format Audio
Genre Agriculture, agribusiness and food production industries, Cultural studies: food and society, Family and health, Food chemistry, Popular medicine and health, Popular science, Science: general issues, Society and Social Sciences.

Listen to a sample

What to expect

Brought to you by Penguin.

This audiobook contains exclusive bonus content between Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken, where they deep-dive into what you've just listened to at the end of each part.

An eye-opening investigation into the science, economics, history and production of ultra-processed food.

It's not you, it's the food.

We have entered a new 'age of eating' where most of our calories come from an entirely novel set of substances called Ultra-Processed Food, food which is industrially processed and designed and marketed to be addictive. But do we really know what it's doing to our bodies?

Join Chris in his travels through the world of food science and a UPF diet to discover what's really going on. Find out why exercise and willpower can't save us, and what UPF is really doing to our bodies, our health, our weight, and the planet (hint: nothing good).

For too long we've been told we just need to make different choices, when really we're living in a food environment that makes it nigh-on impossible. So this is a book about our rights. The right to know what we eat and what it does to our bodies and the right to good, affordable food.

©2023 Chris van Tulleken (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critics Review

A brilliant book . . . a real eye-opener. The bottom line is that if we keep consuming sugar, salt and fat on the scale that we currently do, it is going to cost all of us an unconscionable fortune in the future.

James O'Brien

You’ve got to get this book in your life . . . Completely compelling . . . Read a page and think about it for the rest of the week

Chris Evans

A devastating, witty and scholarly destruction of the shit food we eat and why

Adam Rutherford

If you only read one diet or nutrition book in your life, make it this one. It will not only change the way you eat but the way you think about food. And it does all this without a hint of finger-wagging or body shaming. I came away feeling so much better informed about every aspect of ultra-processed food, from the way it affects the microbes in our gut to why it is so profitable to produce to why it’s so hard to eat only a single bowl of Coco Pops to why any food that is marketed as ‘better for you’ is almost certainly not.

Bee Wilson

A wonderful and fascinating exposé of ultra-processed food, edible substances with strange sounding ingredients which are manufactured by some of the wealthiest companies on the planet and which, worryingly, form an increasing part of our diet. As Chris shows, not only have these foods been formulated to ensure that we eat them constantly and without thought, but they hijack our ability to regulate what we eat, primarily by affecting our brains. And he backs up his claims with a powerful self-experiment, along with lots of rigorous and often shocking research. Reading this book will make you question what you eat and how it was produced

BBC presenter and bestselling author of The Fast Diet

Packed with “I never knew that” moments, Ultra-Processed People is a wonderfully playful book that changed forever how I think about what I eat and why

Hannah Fry

Everyone needs to know this stuff

Tim Spector, author of SPOON FED and FOOD FOR LIFE

An engrossing, infuriating read. Ultra-Processed People makes most fictional villains look quaint. Read it and fight back!

Rob Delaney

A much-needed, eye-opening exposé. Beautifully written, each page reveals hidden truths and asks you to re-think and re-connect to food in a way that has been lost for decades. Truly mind-blowing!

Megan McCubbin

The past 10 years has seen an inflection point in human history, where more people in the world are now dying of eating too much, than of eating too little. This urgent and captivating read digs deep into one of the huge reasons, the rise and rise of ultra-processed food’

Giles Yeo

User Reviews

Book 4.8

Narration 5.0

5.0

Not an easy listen but fascinating and confirms much of what I have thought and felt as a lifelong failed dieter! I knew I was addicted and not lazy or greedy, thank you for saying that out loud!!

Bagqueen1 28/04/2025

5.0

Total eye opener. I work in sales, know a bit about marketing and thought I knew a bit about nutrition, turns out that what I knew had been diluted over the years by false claims.

The science is made easy to understand, the market forces are obvious, when pointed out and the revelations huge.

I cut out UPF before even finishing the book.

For context Iu2019m 52, vegetarian since I was 15 but have had some hormone issues over the past few years. A medical treatment led to huge weight gain over a couple of months and not being able to eat whole foods, fruits etc without feeling nauseous. I switched to diet food, took supplements and felt like hell.

I now feel nauseous trying to eat in the I would prefer but assume that I. A few more days this will be over and the addiction cycle broken.

amble 19/01/2025

5.0

jwarowioff 11/01/2025

4.0

5.0

gabe 28/09/2024

5.0

Excellent!

terry stevens 23/09/2024

4.0

5.0

Although I found some of the sciency jargon tricky to get my head around (I intend going back and listening to some bits again) this book was a really good read. Without being doctoral or condescending Chris the author gives lots of food for thought and I now certainly think twice now before putting food in my mouth and choosing from a menu.

Lel 25/08/2024

5.0

flosta 20/08/2024

5.0

Brilliant and insightful

suzannemarston 06/06/2024

5.0

This audio book is a must-listen if you want to understand what you are heavily encouraged to eat and how it is leaving you craving for more. Itu2019s one of those rare books that can transform your understanding of a key issue and can be a catalyst for a food revolution. The audio recording is a pleasure to listen to despite all the uncomfortable truths it contains than to Chris van Tullekenu2019s warmth and honesty about his own struggles with UPF.

amandine alexandre 21/04/2024

5.0

Andrew Thomas 16/02/2024

5.0

bornski 31/01/2024

5.0

sarah456 30/01/2024

5.0

Really interesting and insightful read.
Changed the way I think about food and opened my eyes to some of the trickery used by the industry.
Hopefully the lessons learned will help to improve my relationship with food and control cravings and snacking by making better choices.

nixon_26 06/12/2023

5.0

Chris is very talented to collate, write and READ so well. This is a subject dear to my heart. I listened to every word, some of it twice. I'm a lazy cook, live on my own, am over 70 and overweight. This is not the only thing that has revolutionised my eating and health but has made me see those tempting shelf-fulls of upf for what they are. Avoid upf, batch cook, 30 plants a week, cut out sugar, eat nuts. I've lost a bit of weight, but that's not what this is about. I plan to be around for decades yet, this book helps.

Phinna B 26/11/2023

4.0

5.0

Tdk 26/06/2023

4.0

5.0

Really informative and insightful, it made me rethink my relationship to food

raquelboso 13/05/2023

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