What are ultra processed foods doing to your body?

Walk down the cereal aisle. Pick up a box of cereal. The front says "real nourishment" and shows a 4.5-star health rating. Flip it over. It's 25% sugar, packed with emulsifiers, flavors, and protein isolates – it’s full of ingredients you probably can’t even pronounce if you’ve ever heard of them before.  Welcome to Australia's national diet: ultra-processed.  Associate Professor Phillip Baker is the co-lead of a major Lancet series on ultra processed foods, one of the biggest global health challenges of our time.   He says over half of what Australians eat is now ultra processed, and our diet is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, and mental health problems.  Phil explains why these foods are why these foods are so ubiquitous now, examines what they’re doing to our health, how policy needs to change to protect real food, and how individuals can fight back with their forks.  +++  The Solutionists is a podcast from the University of Sydney, produced by Deadset Studios. Keep up to date with The Solutionists by following @sydney_uni on Facebook and Instagram, and @sydney.edu.au on Bluesky.  This episode was produced by Liam Riordan with sound design by Jeremy Wilmot. Supervising producer is Sarah Dabro. Executive editors are Kellie Riordan, Jen Peterson-Ward, and Mark Scott. Strategist is Ann Chesterman.  This podcast was recorded on the land of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. For thousands of years, across innumerable generations, knowledge has been taught, shared and exchanged here. We pay respect to elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.