The traditional theory linking modern processed food to obesity is that these foods are packed with calories and taste delicious, so we overeat them and take in more calories than we burn, storing the excess energy as fat. But weight gain and obesity are not under conscious control. If our weight anchor is stable, then we will subconsciously compensate for overeating by increasing our metabolism to burn off more energy, and decreasing our appetite to take in less. Our weight controls itself in a similar way to our hydration: if we drink too much water, the body compensates by passing more urine, we don’t suddenly start retaining water.
So, why does our body not regulate its weight when we take in processed foods? Why do processed foods seem to raise our weight set-point and shift our weight anchor upwards? Sugar, fructose and vegetable oils are three of the most common additives to our diet that scramble our brain’s weight-control centre and signal to our brain to gain weight.
