Leading UK Nutritionist Rhiannon Lambert: The Truth About Ultra-Processed Foods | The Proof EP#415

Ultra-processed foods have moved from a fringe concern to the centre of the nutrition conversation. They show up in headlines, social feeds, supermarket aisles, and household debates, and yet many people are still unsure what to actually do at the till. In this episode, I sit down with registered nutritionist and Sunday Times bestselling author Rhiannon Lambert to bring some clarity. Her latest book, The Unprocessed Plate, arrives at a moment when UK children are getting up to 70 per cent of their calories from UPFs and only around 4 per cent of UK adults are hitting the daily fibre target. What I really wanted from this conversation was nuance. There is a version of the UPF discussion that paints every supermarket as toxic, and there is another that hides behind scientific complexity to defend the status quo. Rhiannon sits in neither camp. She runs a busy multidisciplinary clinic in London, has written extensively on the topic, and is currently consulting for one of the UK's largest bread brands while pushing back on industry practices that have crept in unchallenged for decades. What We Cover: - What ultra-processed foods really are, why the NOVA framework groups a baked bean and an ice cream into the same category, and how newer scoring systems like ZOE's are bringing more nuance to the conversation - Why calorie counts on packets can be 30 to 40 per cent inaccurate once you account for the food matrix, and what that means for whole almonds versus ground almonds, oats versus flour, and intact versus broken-down foods - The 2025 Lancet paper linking UPFs to multiple cancers, the rise of bowel cancer in younger adults, and the UCL ready-meal study showing home-cooked groups losing twice as much body fat on identical calories 00:00 Intro 07:15 The Stats That Pushed Her to Write About UPFs 11:26 Not All Ultra-Processed Foods Are Equal 13:52 How UPFs Hijack Your Gut and Calorie Absorption 18:45 Why Nutrition Misinformation Spreads So Fast 28:31 Why 30g of Fiber Solves Most Diet Problems 30:22 Reduce UPFs Without Spending Hours Cooking 33:04 UPF Top Offenders Driving Disease Risk 37:10 3 Numbers to Check on Bread Labels 40:48 The Ingredient List Rule That Misleads You 44:51 6 Additives Linked to Hyperactivity in Children 53:24 Are Ultra-Processed Foods Actually Addictive? 55:20 Small Changes That Deliver Big Diet Results To learn more from Rhiannon Lambert, visit her clinic at http://rhitrition.com, follow her on Instagram at http://instagram.com/rhitrition and TikTok at http://tiktok.com/@rhitrition, and pick up her books, https://www.amazon.es/dp/0241752655?tag=eslinktagdefault-21&geniuslink=true and https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0241803314/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=dkuk00-21. You can also find her co-hosting The Wellness Scoop podcast with Ella Mills. This episode is brought to you by: 38TERA Consider 38TERA's https://38tera.com/?ref=SIMON a daily multivitamin for your gut. Formulated by yours truly and gastroenterologist Dr Will Bulsiewicz. Use code THEPROOF for a discount at checkout. 38Tera ships to the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Momentous My go-to supplement brand for protein and creatine is Momentous. Use code THEPROOF for up to 35% off your first order at http://livemomentous.com/. Momentous ships to many countries worldwide depending on local import regulations. ProLon ProLon’s 5-Day Fasting Mimicking Diet is a science-backed, plant-based program designed to support metabolic health while keeping your body in a fasting-like state. Get 15% off sitewide plus a $40 bonus gift at https://prolonlife.com/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=Podcast&utm_campaign=audio&utm_content=THEPROOF. ProLon ships within the United States. IM8 With 92 nutrients, including Vitamin B12, Iodine, Selenium and Vitamin D, in highly absorbable forms, IM8 Daily Essentials is the perfect all-in-one daily multi-vitamin to ensure you meet your daily micronutrient needs. IM8 is offering an exclusive 10% off your first order with a free welcome kit when you enter the promo code SIMON at checkout on http://im8health.com/. IM8 ships to 27 countries including the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, and many regions across Europe, Asia, and South America. HomeServe HomeServe helps protect your home from unexpected repair costs, covering things like plumbing, electrical, and HVAC issues that standard insurance often doesn’t include. With 24/7 support and access to local contractors, it takes the stress out of urgent repairs. Plans start from $4.99 a month at https://www.homeserve.com. WHOOP WHOOP, the most advanced fitness and health wearable available. Your personalised fitness and health coach to recover faster, sleep better, and train smarter. Claim your first month free on http://join.whoop.com/simon. WHOOP ships to 56+ international markets, including the US, Canada, most of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, UAE, Singapore, and parts of Asia.