Ultra-processed foods engineered for craving and overconsumption, framed in a fiery glow to reflect their hidden health risks.
In Malaysia, I ate like a poet unchained.
Noodles in the morning.
Spiced broth at noon.
Chicken glazed with soy and garlic by nightfall.
I sat on plastic stools under humming fans.
I picked up late-night snacks from carts where the only menu was memory and steam.
I ate more than usual.
I felt full every day.
But when I returned home, the scale surprised me.
Two pounds lighter.
My steps had not changed.
My sleep was the same.
I tracked nothing.
I restricted nothing.
Yet somehow, my body felt clearer, lighter, and calmer.
That was the moment I understood.
The issue was not how much I had been eating.
It was what I had been eating.
Here’s the bar of my Penang hotel:
A major review published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology confirmed what I had already suspected.
Ultra-processed foods, often called UPFs, are not just harmless conveniences.
They actively promote overeating, disrupt metabolism, and increase the risk of obesity and chronic disease.
Researchers reviewed decades of data.
Their conclusions were clear:
These are not neutral calories.
They are chemical provocations.
→ Want to know which “health facts” are wrong?
Download my free guide: Debunked: 7 Health “Facts” That Are Quietly Hurting You
.
A century ago, food processing helped prevent disease.
Preservatives and fortification solved real problems like spoilage and vitamin deficiencies.
But today’s ultra-processed foods are something else entirely.
They are stripped of fiber and water.
They are saturated with sugar and salt.
They are softened or crisped for speed.
They require little chewing and deliver maximum pleasure in minimal time.
These are not foods made to nourish.
They are products made to disappear.
In Penang and Singapore, I kept waiting for the usual signs.
Cravings.
Energy crashes.
That pull toward sugar at night.
None of them came.
Instead, I ate whole and real foods.
Greens stir-fried in oil.
Fish with bones intact.
Rice, fruit, spice, and broth.
Even the desserts had substance.
Even the snacks had structure.
And every bite required chewing.
The review and related studies show that UPFs:
One U.S. study linked high UPF intake to more than 120,000 preventable deaths each year.
Another found strong associations with cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and cognitive decline.
This finding is not just about gaining weight.
It is about how these foods affect nearly every system in the body.
UPFs often pretend to be healthy.
They say low-fat, gluten-free, plant-based, or high-protein.
But flip the package and the label tells a different story.
You’ll find artificial flavors, gums, starches, stabilizers, and sweeteners you can’t pronounce.
You’ll find them in:
These foods don’t just deliver calories.
They confuse your hunger.
They dull your instincts.
They keep you coming back.
Instead of strict food rules, I offer simple replacements.
Real food asks you to chew.
It slows you down.
It satisfies you in a way engineered foods cannot.
You don’t need to be perfect.
You only need to shift direction.
Manufacturers design ultra-processed foods to be addictive.
They melt in your mouth.
They hit the same reward centers as nicotine.
They are easy to chew and hard to resist.
They make you eat faster and feel less full.
This is not a failure of willpower.
This is a feature of the product.
Start small:
The smallest shift creates momentum.
And momentum is what makes change last.
In Malaysia, I stopped thinking about food.
I didn’t count macros.
I didn’t obsess over protein.
I ate when I was hungry and stopped when I was full.
Because the food I was eating allowed me to stop.
When I walked through the airport food court back home, everything looked different.
It wasn’t the smell that hit me.
It was the stillness.
The silence.
The lifelessness of boxes filled with shelf-stable meals and snack bars designed by chemists, not chefs.
And I realized something.
Hunger is not always a request for food.
Sometimes, it is a call for something real.
→ Want my full circadian reset, daily checklists, and Micro-Habits plan? Get the Micro-Habits bundle today.
Want more science-backed habits like these? → Follow me for new guides every Tuesday, or explore this reader favorite on building daily resilience.
Author bio: I am a radiation oncologist who writes daily about longevity, cancer prevention, and the small habits that change health trajectories. I’m a physician and writer who helps people understand how everyday habits shape long-term health. I believe food should fuel, not fool, the body.
The first time I suspected light could make people gain weight, I was not in…
Our body contains a built-in construction crew, which can perform repairs on almost every harmed…
Craig Martin is a strategic chameleon in health innovation. He is equally at home in…
I had never envisioned a computer responding to me and “telling” me that it had…
If you work in climate or environmental innovation, you’ve probably felt the shift: it’s getting…
Most people walk to relax. I came to Borneo to let the ground fight back.…
This website uses cookies. Your continued use of the site is subject to the acceptance of these cookies. Please refer to our Privacy Policy for more information.
Read More