Ultra-Processed Women by Milli Hill

Living proof of what this brilliant book shares

Rather than a detailed review, here I give a short overview and personal experience related to

Milli Hill

’s latest publication Ultra-Processed Women: the lies we're fed about what we eat and how to break free. This is no ‘Salt Path’ story - I’m being 100% truthful when I say that I am a perfect example of what happens when you (virtually) give up Ultra-Processed Food (UPF).

If you haven’t yet come across the issue of Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) then this isn’t a bad book to begin with and Milli is also sharing her now extensive knowledge in this subject here on Substack Unprocess with Milli Hill. Here, I am offering a personal story to demonstrate the profound and life-changing knowledge contained within this book but first an overview:

Milli begins with an introduction discussing why she has focussed on ‘women’, and then the first chapter goes into detail about what we mean by UPF. But why women? She shares many reasons, but I would like to highlight two; medical research still uses male participants as the default in studies, and no matter how emancipated we feel, statistically, women tend to be in charge of the buying, preparing and cooking of food in households. These are facts. When it comes to medicine, we cannot escape our sexed bodies, no matter what we believe; when research looks at females and males, the conclusions differ in almost all cases. For example, in a chapter called ‘Unlucky women?’ Milli raises the issue of disparity in medical care that exposes women to the idea that when they suffer with female bodied problems such as period pain or excessively heavy periods, they may be fobbed off with medications or simply told that they are ‘unlucky’. However, when such afflictions are researched properly, significant causes are discovered; one of these is the effect of UPF on the hormonal responses in our bodies – which of course, differs between females and males. (I often refer to the research on ‘fight or flight’ and how for women, it may be a case of ‘tend and befriend’ The Tending Instinct:Women, Men, and the Biology of our Relationships)

Ultra-Processed Women is a book with a broad spectrum and whilst it centres on ‘bodies and minds’ (there is a whole chapter on depression), the author also covers cultural and sociological aspects as well as at least two chapters looking at other perspectives such as the ecological damage to the Earth and how UPF overlaps with things like cosmetics. What is particularly enlightening is found in Milli’s investigative journalism where we are shown the underworld of connections between big business and government. Of course this is front and centre in many aspects of life as we see the juggernaut of capitalism reaching into everything today; whatever is your area of interest or activism, you can bet there’s a nasty story behind the headlines.

But it is women who bear the brunt of this ‘man’s world’, whether it is guilt induced in mothers for how they feed their children, or physically (and this definitely includes men) – obesity as a modern problem, and as this book demonstrates, that you cannot escape the notion of UPF as the most significant factor. Milli is a wonderfully compassionate writer, and essentially her message is that it isn’t our fault that we are - fat, depressed, ill, or suffering – not entirely anyway. Now the personal story:

Anyone who knows me well enough, will have noted my inordinate focus on food (is it an obsession? Maybe). I suspect that I have always had a distorted sense of food, eating, and body image – just like any average woman – I am not unusual. What is unusual, is my journey through life and how regarding my relationship with food, I have completely transformed physically and have a deeper awareness of my attitude to eating. I share a picture of how I looked before 2010 – yep, at a size 22, I was obese. By the end of 2010 I was a size 10. What happened? No bariatric surgery (so called ‘weight loss surgery’ that physically reduces the size of the stomach), no Ozempic (the most known brand of medication used for weight loss – originally developed for treating type 2 diabetes), not even an actual diet program of any kind. I simply experienced a kind of perfect storm of mid-life crisis, menopause hormones, and burn out at work that culminated in halving my body weight. (I share some of this story in more detail in my Substack Sartorial Desert Island Discs posts).

But, reading Ultra-Processed Women, I have realised that what I did do quite unconsciously that year, was ditch UPF. Basically, I followed my heart and body which was screaming out for real nourishment – I was living a life I found stressful, and I wanted to simplify things. I began to exercise (just walking and swimming – no gym memberships or classes) and became interested in ‘real food’. Being in crisis meant that I explored the fad of the day – raw food – but it was all part of the journey, and I naturally found a pattern of eating that suited me (intermittent fasting – before it was a thing) and learned to not only enjoy actual food, but even its preparation.

My top tips? Learn about UPF, or rather cooking and eating actual food (there is a guide in the book or join Milli’s new Substack

Unprocess with Milli Hill

) – consciously eat, that is, don’t watch TV, scroll or even read (mindful eating?) – eat slowly (it gives your brain a chance to tell your stomach when you’re full) – and don’t stress over those extras you love; basically, eating in moderation. Or as Michael Pollen says in his excellent books (The Botany of Desire and Omnivore’s Dilemma) ‘eat food, not too much, mostly plants’.

This is a huge subject, but Milli has written an eminently readable and entertaining book, and I highly recommend it. It could change your life!

Lynn R S Genevieve