How Ultraprocessed Foods Hijack Your Brain and Mood - AI Podcast

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Health & Fitness, Health, Alternative Health

4.6 • 1.5K Ratings

🗓️ 13 June 2025

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Story at-a-glance

More than 85% of high ultraprocessed food (UPF) consumers meet clinical criteria for food addiction, including symptoms like cravings, withdrawal and loss of control
People who eat more UPFs report higher levels of depression, anxiety and stress, confirming that these foods worsen mood and emotional health
UPFs hijack your brain’s reward system, overstimulating feel-good chemicals like dopamine, opioids and endocannabinoids, which makes quitting feel nearly impossible
Damage to the gut microbiome caused by UPFs alters how your brain handles cravings and stress, increasing emotional eating and reducing impulse control
Cutting out vegetable oils, which are high in linoleic acid, going cold turkey for five days and rebuilding gut health with whole foods helps break the addiction cycle and restore mood balance

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen
0:06.1	summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go. No reading required. Subscribe
0:11.2	for free at Mercola.com for the latest health insights. Have you ever looked down at an empty
0:16.9	snack bag and wondered how it vanished so quickly, only to feel your mood crash moments
0:22.0	later. Hello, and welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. I'm Ethan Foster, joined by Alara
0:28.3	Sky, and today we're examining how ultra-processed foods hook you into addiction while quietly
0:34.3	fueling depression, anxiety, and stress.
0:42.5	Ultra-processed foods, or UPFs, aren't just convenience items.
0:46.0	Their formulations engineered to bypass your natural breaks.
0:51.7	By overstimulating dopamine, opioids, and endocannabinoids, they keep you reaching for more. That biochemical trap explains why willpower falters
0:55.2	and why emotional lows often follow a binge,
0:58.7	long before any weight gain appears.
1:01.2	A cross-sectional study from Ankara, Turkey,
1:04.1	tracked nearly 4,000 adults aged 18 to 65.
1:08.5	Researchers measured UPF intake, mood, hedonic hunger, and clinical signs of food addiction.
1:14.6	High intake participants skewed younger, largely female, and frequently single or unemployed,
1:20.6	groups facing higher stress and fewer support networks.
1:24.6	Among those heavy consumers, 86.7% met the Yale Food Addiction Scale threshold.
1:32.0	That means cravings, failed cutbacks, and eating despite consequences.
1:37.3	Classic addiction markers.
1:38.9	These behaviors aren't about weak character.
1:41.5	They reflect the same neurochemical dependence seen with nicotine or opioids,
	...

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