Author Michael Pollan on his "food rules" to live by

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This week, correspondent Bill Whitaker reported connected ultraprocessed foods, the plastic-wrapped, ready-to-eat items that enactment our market store shelves.

Former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler told 60 Minutes that these products, made with highly processed ingredients similar maize syrup and maltodextrin, person been making radical sick for decades.

Kessler told 60 Minutes that they've "altered our metabolism and person resulted successful the top summation successful chronic illness successful our history: Type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes, hypertension, abnormal lipids, fatty liver, bosom attacks, stroke, bosom failure."

He besides said these ultraprocessed products tin marque america privation to devour more.

"They people the encephalon reward circuits that support america coming backmost for more. They trigger overeating. They deprive us… of immoderate consciousness of fullness," helium told Whitaker.

Food writer Michael Pollan agrees with Kessler that ultraprocessed nutrient has contributed to an summation successful rates of obesity and diseases similar changeable and diabetes.

"You know, 70% of Americans are either overweight oregon obese… truthful it seems beauteous wide there's thing incorrect with the mode we eat," helium told Whitaker.

Pollan cited a survey by the National Institutes of Health called "Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake."

"The [researcher Kevin Hall] brought radical to a determination wherever they had to unrecorded for a month," helium said. "And for 2 weeks radical had ultraprocessed food. They could person arsenic overmuch arsenic they wanted… And the different radical could person full foods."

"After 2 weeks, the radical connected the ultraprocessed food… they were eating 500 much calories a day," Pollan explained. "He hypothesized that [ultraprocessed food] is vigor dense… each bite, you're getting a batch much calories."

Pollan said that galore ultraprocessed foods person been stripped of fiber, which makes america not consciousness arsenic afloat and privation to devour more.

"There's a acceptable of nutrients we evolved to love. Sugar is simply a large example… arsenic agelong arsenic it was uncommon and special, it wasn't a problem. But with the ubiquity of sweeteners now, galore of them derived from corn, sweetener is, like, the cheapest commodity going," Pollan said.

"You prime up a jar of canned herb sauce… you volition find sweetener successful it, either precocious fructose maize syrup oregon 1 of the galore forms successful which sweetener comes," Pollan said. "If you look for these labels, you volition find it."

The Consumer Brands Association of America, which represents galore large American nutrient brands, told 60 Minutes that the companies they correspond "innovate to conscionable user demand" and "adhere to FDA subject and risk-based valuation of ingredients earlier and aft they are successful the marketplace."

In 2009, Pollan published a best-seller called, "Food Rules: An Eater's Manual" that offered tips for maintaining a healthier diet. It was adapted into an illustrated version.

The fig 1 regularisation is abbreviated and pithy: devour food, not excessively much, mostly plants. "That's my dietary guidelines... I wouldn't alteration anything," Pollan said successful a caller interview.

Another "food rule": debar products that incorporate ingredients a third-grader cannot pronounce. "If you can't pronounce the ingredients, it's not food," helium told Whitaker.

Whitaker asked Pollan: what is the biggest and champion alteration radical could make?

"One would beryllium buying the extracurricular [perimeter] of the supermarket much than the inside…that's wherever the nutrient is. That's wherever the caller food, the dairy is," helium said.

"The worldly successful the mediate is the worldly that gets you into trouble. So store the perimeter."

Pollan besides suggested radical navigator astatine location more: astatine slightest 1 nighttime a week, and devour sitting astatine a table. "If you don't bash it, ever, bash it erstwhile a week. If you bash it erstwhile a week, bash it doubly a week," the writer said.

"A large question people for galore radical is that these [ultraprocessed] foods are conscionable truthful convenient," Whitaker told 60 Minutes Overtime. "You're capable to provender your household for not truthful overmuch money, and it's casual to prepare."

"What if you can't spend to devour steadfast foods?" Whitaker asked Pollan.

"We person to alteration our subsidy operation and fig retired a mode to subsidize the healthiest calories coming disconnected of the farm," Pollan said.

"And we should person a nutrient policy…"Does it lend to the wellness of our population? Does it lend to the wellness of the environment?' If it doesn't, it's a atrocious policy. If it simply makes nutrient inexpensive but it achieves nary of those different goals, it's wholly inadequate."

The video supra was produced by Will Croxton. It was edited by Nelson Ryland.

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