Does it surprise you to know that marketeers know how to get you addicted to their products such as cola, coffee and confectionary?

The combination of sugar, stress and stimulants such as caffeine hijack the brain’s ‘reward’ system making you become addicted to sweet food. But the same is true with non-food stimulants such as social media, gaming and gambling.

Dr Robert Lustig who is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics, Division of Endocrinology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) specializes in the field of neuroendocrinology, with an emphasis on the regulation of energy balance. He wrote the book ‘Fat Chance: The hidden truth about sugar, obesity and disease‘ and the ‘Hacking of the American Mind‘ although the same principles apply to any mind.

His research and clinical practice have originally focused on childhood obesity and diabetes, but latest book ‘Metabolical‘ explains what’s really driving ill-health and what we can do about it on both a personal and societal level. Dr Robert Lustig is a member of our Scientific Advisory Board.

Your assignment this week is to watch this short film with Professor Robert Lustig discussing the dangers of processed food or listen to this podcast interview called How Junk Food Kills People featuring Patrick Holford and Professor Robert Lustig.