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The Exam Room by the Physicians Committee

One Type of Food Linked to 32 Diseases: How to Avoid It with Dr. Neal Barnard

The Exam Room by the Physicians Committee

Physicians Committee

Carroll, Health & Fitness, Diabetes, Science, Nutrition, Vegan, Pcrm, Barnard, Weightloss, Food, Health, Recipes, Medicine, Diet

4.93.3K Ratings

🗓️ 19 June 2025

⏱️ 51 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Ultraprocessed foods are everywhere — and a lot of them are making us sick! These industrially processed foods are being linked to 32 different diseases, including type 2 diabetes, obesity, heart disease, cancer, and depression. 

 

But UFPs make up more than HALF the foods we eat. More when it comes to the diets of children and young people. And it's no wonder — even foods marketed as "healthy" choices fall into this category. 

 

So how do you know what's safe, and what's making you sick? Are all of them unhealthy?

 

Dr. Neal Barnard is here to guide us. He joins Chuck to explain how this one category of food is quietly fueling a public health crisis — and how you can protect yourself.

 

You’ll learn: What qualifies as an ultraprocessed food — and why it matters– The difference between a healthy and unhealthy processed food– How these foods are designed to be addictive and override your hunger cues– What the latest research says about chronic disease risk– Simple, affordable swaps to cut ultraprocessed foods from your diet

 

Whether you're trying to lose weight, prevent disease, or eat more mindfully, this episode gives you the tools to take control of your health — starting with what’s on your plate.

 

This episode is sponsored by The Gregory J. Reiter Memorial Fund, which supports organizations like the Physicians Committee that carry on Greg’s passion and love for animals through rescue efforts, veganism, and wildlife conservation.

 

— — SHOW LINKS — —

JAMA Processed Food Study

https://bit.ly/UPFsHealthStudy

— — —

Gregory J. Reiter Memorial Fund

https://gregoryreiterfund.org

— — EVENTS — —

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— — —

International Conference on Nutrition in Medicine

Where: Washington, DC

When: August 14-16, 2025

Tix & Speakers: https://www.pcrm.org/icnm

$50 off tickets with code: NUTRITION50

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— — —

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Today on the exam room.

0:04.0

I think that there are a lot of people who were like, well, now, wait a minute, guys.

0:08.0

You talked about this figure that there are 32 different conditions that these ultra-processed foods have been linked to.

0:14.0

What are the biggies?

0:15.0

Everybody knows about the link between colorectal cancer and processed meat products.

0:20.0

But it's not just colorectal cancer, it's breast cancer, surprisingly enough linked also to

0:24.9

processed meat, not to processed veggies.

0:27.5

But other forms of cancer are also linked to that, and there are some that you had never

0:31.1

in a million years guess could be linked to diet.

0:34.3

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

0:36.9

Lung disease, that's associated with what?

0:39.0

Smoking, right?

0:40.5

Or factory exhaust, that kind of thing.

0:43.6

That affects the lungs.

0:44.9

So do certain processed foods, especially the processed meats.

0:48.6

And what we think it is, is nitroso compounds

0:51.4

in these meats are damaging the fragile tissue of the lungs. So yeah, it's not an

0:56.3

exaggeration to say there are dozens and dozens of conditions associated with processed foods.

1:05.2

Welcome to the exam room podcast, brought to by the Physicians Committee. Hi, I'm the weight loss

1:10.6

champion Chuck Carroll,

1:11.9

raising health IQs coast to coast and around the world. Hi to the exam roomies listening in

1:17.5

Berkeley, California, Jackson, Mississippi, and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Wherever you are,

...

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