Sabrina Tavernisi

Right. You're not really going to say, hey, 10,000 people, come live in my lab for 10 years and I'm going to control everything and you're going to eat exactly the same thing as that guy.

Right. You're not really going to say, hey, 10,000 people, come live in my lab for 10 years and I'm going to control everything and you're going to eat exactly the same thing as that guy.

Okay, so in a controlled environment, in the perfect scenario, which Kevin Hall created, it is true that people do eat more calories and do gain weight from these ultra-processed foods. But do we know exactly why they do, Alice?

Okay, so in a controlled environment, in the perfect scenario, which Kevin Hall created, it is true that people do eat more calories and do gain weight from these ultra-processed foods. But do we know exactly why they do, Alice?

These foods are being designed to make us want to eat them and want to eat more of them.

These foods are being designed to make us want to eat them and want to eat more of them.

Okay. You should have told me that before the ring ding.

Okay. You should have told me that before the ring ding.

Okay, so we know that ultra-processed foods can cause weight gain, at least according to this small study, and we're starting to get more research to understand why that happens. But why has it taken so long to get to this point?

Okay, so we know that ultra-processed foods can cause weight gain, at least according to this small study, and we're starting to get more research to understand why that happens. But why has it taken so long to get to this point?

What does that growing recognition look like? What's happening?

What does that growing recognition look like? What's happening?

Okay, Alice, here's the part in the podcast where I ask you how you think about these foods, because you're the expert. I want to probably try to avoid a lot of these foods, and I want to know how you think about doing that, given that they're kind of everywhere.

Okay, Alice, here's the part in the podcast where I ask you how you think about these foods, because you're the expert. I want to probably try to avoid a lot of these foods, and I want to know how you think about doing that, given that they're kind of everywhere.

Thinking about the future of this problem, Alice, I wonder if an analogy is the tobacco companies in the beginning of the conversation and the cigarette industry, right? That back in the beginning, the industry was incredibly well-funded. It was very difficult for scientists to prove that cigarettes were, in fact, bad for you. But eventually they did, and eventually they were regulated.

Thinking about the future of this problem, Alice, I wonder if an analogy is the tobacco companies in the beginning of the conversation and the cigarette industry, right? That back in the beginning, the industry was incredibly well-funded. It was very difficult for scientists to prove that cigarettes were, in fact, bad for you. But eventually they did, and eventually they were regulated.

And I wonder in some way if ultra-processed food might also follow that same trajectory but just kind of be at the beginning of it right now.

And I wonder in some way if ultra-processed food might also follow that same trajectory but just kind of be at the beginning of it right now.

Here's what else you should know today. On Thursday, President Biden said that he was commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39 people in a sweeping act of clemency during his final weeks in office. The White House said that it was the largest number of commutations by an American president in a single day.

Here's what else you should know today. On Thursday, President Biden said that he was commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and pardoning 39 people in a sweeping act of clemency during his final weeks in office. The White House said that it was the largest number of commutations by an American president in a single day.