I had been lagging on read Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken because I previously read Metabolical which goes pretty deeply into UPFs. I finally got around to it and it is honestly my new go-to for UPFs. It was such a good read.

For a while I have been blaming my health issues on all of the UPFs I have consumed over my lifetime. There is a lot of evidence UPFs are not only nutrient poor, but also that they cause many diseases.

I was raised on UPFs. I have very fond memories of Hot Pockets and frozen meals. My summers at home basically centered around Nickelodeon and microwaving frozen food. Then there was the Venti Caramel Frappucinos that I had weekly. Also, my obsession with Starbucks. Anyway, you get it.

UPFs are pretty amazing because not only can they cause leaky gut, but they can also act as the trigger to autoimmune disease – all you need is the genetic predisposition and BAM!

Specifically for Hashimoto’s, UPFs can lack iodine and other nutrients that are essential for thyroid function. All of the chemicals that we are then consuming can cause the intestinal permeability that gives your body the perfect environment for setting off a bunch of false alarms and starting to attack itself — autoimmunity.

The book “recommends” an 80/20 diet – eating non-UPFs 80% of the time. Sometimes I wonder though if the damage on my body is already too great…

I generally avoid UPFs, but pregnancy and postpartum have uprooted my diet. Reading this book was a nice reminder to get my ass back on track.