Featured Image Credit: YouTube/Jeremy London, MD
A doctor has issued an urgent warning over a certain type of food that is ‘worse than smoking’, and according to the expert, this food makes up over half the average American’s diet.
This comes as heart surgeon Dr Jeremy London published a YouTube video which detailed how he suffered a heart attack back in 2022.
Sharing foods he considers to be dangerous, on top of the list is ultra-processed foods, which are described as being industrial products that are filled with additives, artificial ingredients, and little nutrition.
Dr London said: “Ultra-processed foods are the industrially manufactured branded food products made from ingredients that are mostly of exclusive industrial use.”
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He went on to say that these items have ‘little to no whole foods and designed to maximise convenience, palatability, and corporate profits’, adding, ‘in other words, your grandmother wouldn’t have these in her kitchen’.
The expert continued: “High fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils, modified starches and cosmetic additives that enhance sensory appeal such as artificial flavors, colours, emulsifiers.
“Foods that are manufactured for shelf life, longer shelf life, hyper palatability and convenience.
“Packaged foods, packaged snacks, frozen meals, protein bars with additives, fast foods.”
Dr London went on to cite research showing that ‘for every 10% increase in ultra-processed foods that is consumed, there is a 10% increased risk in mortality’.
He claimed that ‘the longer the shelf life, the shorter your life’.
Dr London said: “Ultra-processed foods create issues with glucose or sugar metabolism in the body, increasing your hemoglobin A1C, which then consequently increases triglycerides.
“It increases full body inflammation and it disrupts the gut microbiome.”
NHS doctor Chris van Tulleken has explained that ultra-processed foods have ‘overtaken tobacco as the leading cause of early death on planet Earth’.
Speaking on Steven Bartlett's Diary of a CEO podcast in 2023, he said his twin brother Xand, who struggled with obesity, suggested to his doctor to treat it more like giving up 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: “Don’t forbid this stuff. Let yourself wallow in it and read the ingredients list while you eat.
“You’ll realize 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.”
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.”
