A health-nut mum has issued a warning over "addictive" food after falling into bad habits while staying with relatives.
Taking to Mumsnet, she explained a recent health MOT suggested she was 17 years younger than her actual age of 70. "I love exercise, lots of walking, and my diet is normally supper healthy," she wrote. "Lots of vegetables, lean protein, a smattering of complex carbs, healthy fats and dairy/mostly yoghurt."
However, she went on to curse how quickly things can "fall apart" after spending 10 days with family members who are "addicted to UPF [ultra processed food], carbs and sugary treats". The woman continued in the Am I Being Unreasonable forum: "They sleep until 10, so I've given my usual morning workouts a miss so as not to disturb them. No point cooking stuff they won't eat. Or we eat out at places with limited/no healthy options."
Now, she admitted she has slowly fallen into the same pattern as her relatives, as well as "drinking wine daily" and "catching the bus instead of walking". She continued: "Even after such a short time I have gained weight, my belly is definitely more prominent, and my lovely muscles seem sadly diminished. A salutary lesson. Use it or loose it."
Closing her post, she asked other Mumsnet for their thoughts. "I wonder how long it'll take me to get back to where I was?!" she said. While some people slammed the woman for lacking mind over matter, others were more sympathetic and offered advice.
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"You’re probably just retaining loads of water from the extra salt and your belly will shrink back to normal in no time," one woman suggested. A second agreed: "In 10 days it's likely water retention not a real weight gain. Good news is that it will go quickly once you stop eating c***. Bad news - cravings... I agree that it is very addictive. It's designed to be."
A third detailed: "There are multiple scientific reports about how addictive UPFs are and how they act on your brain. Also multiple studies of how quickly people gain weight when eating a diet with a high proportion of UPF. Some of the stats are terrifying (a 10% increase in UPF may cause a 25% increased chance of developing dementia) and there is increasing evidence that food is more than the constituent calories and defined food groups."
Backing up that third user's comment on TikTok, body-building champion Eddie Abbew teamed up with podcast host Steven Bartlett and doctor and broadcaster, Chris Van Tulleken to explain the impacts of UPFs on the body. "For those who thought I was crazy for raising awareness, the word is spreading," Eddie said. "Ultra processed foods also lead to ultra processed people. Wake up!"
Dr Van Tulleken added: "Ultra processed foods are killing us slowly. I gained so much weight. I got in the vicious cycle of overeating, [leading to] anxiety and sleeplessness. I scanned my brain and if I'd continued for a year I would have died.
"75% of calories that are consumed globally come from six companies. They are controlling our food and what we eat. They are engineered to be consumed to excess. Whether it's a burger from a fast food chain or supermarket bread, everything is adjusted so that things become irresistible."
He added an "epidemic of dietary related diseases" has "taken over the world" and if the trend continues young children in the UK will see their growth stunted "by 9cm".
Combatting the problem isn't straightforward at all though, according to the doctor. He concluded: "If you got rid of poverty, you would get rid of around 60% of the problem of diet related disease."
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