Most replayed moment: The Impact of Ultra-Processed Food on Young People | Dr Andy Chan

ZOE Science & Nutrition

ZOE

Nutrition, Science, Health & Fitness, Education

4.6 • 5.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 June 2026

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Today we’re exploring the impact of ultra-processed foods on young people. One of the big reasons ultra-processed foods have become so widespread is convenience. They offer quick, easy meals for people short on time - and few groups are more time-pressed than parents trying to feed young children. But does this convenience come at a cost? I’m joined by Harvard professor Dr Andy Chan, whose research is helping us understand how early exposure to ultra-processed food can shape future health. 🌱 Try our science-backed and tasty wholefood supplement Daily 30+ Get our brand-new app and Gut Health Test designed by world-leading gut health and nutrition scientists to build healthy eating habits 👉 Join ZOE Follow ZOE on Instagram. 📚Books by our ZOE Scientists The Food For Life Cookbook Every Body Should Know This by Dr Federica Amati Food For Life by Prof. Tim Spector Ferment by Prof. Tim Spector Free resources from ZOE Eating for Better Brain Health: Your brain-gut blueprint How to eat in 2026 - Discover ZOE’s 8 nutrition principles for long-term health Live Healthier: Top 10 Tips From ZOE Science & Nutrition Gut Guide - For a Healthier Microbiome in Weeks Better Breakfast Guide Have feedback or a topic you'd like us to cover? Let us know here Listen to the full episode here

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Zoe Recap, where each week we find the best bits from one of our podcast episodes to help you improve your health.
0:09.0	One of the big reasons that ultra-processed foods have become so widespread is convenience.
0:15.0	They offer quick, easy meals for people short on time, and few groups are more time pressed than parents trying to feed
0:21.8	young children. But does this convenience come at a cost? I'm joined by Harvard professor, Dr. Andrew Chan,
0:28.5	whose research is helping us understand how early exposure to ultra-processed food can shape future
0:33.5	health. There's some new studies that say around 50% of the food that we cook at home is now
0:41.5	ultra-processed.
0:43.0	And so that says it's not just, you know, when we're out and about, we should need to be
0:46.7	worried about what we're buying in the supermarket and taking home.
0:50.5	Yeah, I mean, I think that this is evolving.
0:52.5	I think ultra-processed food has been a moniker that's been
0:56.8	thrown around to classify foods in a somewhat simplistic way. I think you're right. I think in most
1:03.4	people's conception, ultra-processed food, conjures up images of the bag of unhealthy chips or Doritos
1:10.0	or the fast-food meal that you have on the go. I think those are kind of the bag of unhealthy chips or Doritos or the fast food meal that you have on the go.
1:13.9	I think those are kind of the classic conceptions of what ultra-processed food is,
1:19.0	but I think that we are understanding more and more that alter-processing
1:23.5	and that terminology can be a bit misleading because I think there are different ways to think about
1:30.4	ultra-processed food, and there are different ways to think about food processing more generally,
1:35.5	and also different ways to think about how those different components of food actually influence our health.
1:41.4	So I'd actually love to go down to this individual study that you published very recently
1:46.3	on ultra-processed food that you ran at Harvard, because I think it helps us to understand
1:51.2	one of our most common listener questions, which is like, are these ultra-processed foods making
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