Fitness and nutrition guru Jillian Michaels spoke to Congress about an epidemic of chronic diseases linked to obesity that is affecting multiple generations of Americans.
Her testimony, which drew a standing ovation from spectators and members of Congress, criticized companies that produce ultra-processed foods (UPFs) for promoting harmful products that have unleashed a wave of long-term health effects and caused “a species-level extinction event.”
UPFs can be found on every supermarket shelf in the country, including cookies, chips, frozen meals, salad dressings, bread and cheese.
They are often inexpensive and have cheerful packaging, making them attractive to buyers on a budget.
But diets rich in UPFs have been linked to a long list of chronic diseases, including heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, cancer, particularly breast and colon cancer, digestive problems and cognitive decline.
Ms. Michaels’ impassioned testimony took aim at big corporations behind ultra-processed foods, which have fueled an epidemic of obesity that causes chronic disease.
During a roundtable discussion led by Republican Senator Ron Johnson, Michaels was among the guests who shared their views on the causes of the rise in chronic disease in the US.
In 2020, approximately 71.5 million Americans aged 50 and older had at least one chronic disease. By 2050, this number will expected to almost doublean increase of more than 99 percent to 143 million.
Ms Michaels said: ‘I don’t know about you, but I’ve seen my friends injecting themselves with fertility drugs every day, praying for pregnancy. My friends waking up early in the morning to have radiation treatment where the lump in their breast was found. My friends swallowing handfuls of pills to manage their debilitating anxiety and depression.
“If this current trend continues, the stakes will become unsustainable. We are in the midst of an extinction event.”
According to Ms. Michaels, obesity is the “default human condition in the 21st century… by design” and is the cause of the tidal wave of chronic disease plaguing Americans.
Currently, more than 42 percent of Americans are obese.
In 2020, approximately 71.5 million Americans aged 50 and older had at least one chronic disease. By 2050, this number is expected to nearly double.
The epidemic is the result of the historic collaboration between major pharmaceutical companies, food giants and industrial agriculture, using pesticides, herbicides, preservatives and additives in the production line.
Ms. Michaels argued that the mega-corporations have collectively betrayed the public’s trust by promoting products that have fueled an epidemic of obesity and chronic disease.
She said: ‘It seemed unthinkable to question whether a company would poison us for profit. [and] It was this betrayal of trust that allowed them to cunningly infiltrate every aspect of our lives.
“These monster corporations are masters at twisting research, influencing policy, buying stories, manipulating the environment, and manipulating consumer behavior.”
UPFs undergo multiple processing stages, adding more synthetic ingredients that have little nutritional value and can be harmful to the body.
They also contain more artificial ingredients, such as colors and dyes, which have been linked to conditions like hyperactivity and cancer.
There is also evidence showing that eating large amounts of overly processed foods can increase the risk of developing heart disease by 50 percent, according to a report in the British medical journal.
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Research also shows that eating more UPFs increases the risk of obesity by 55 percent, sleep disorders by 41 percent, type 2 diabetes by 40 percent and depression by 20 percent.
A diet high in UPFs also increases the risk of dying from all causes. A 2024 study, also published in the BMJ found that people who ate primarily UPFs had a four percent higher risk of death.
In addition, they were nine percent more likely to die from neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia, Parkinson’s disease, ALS and Huntington’s disease.
UPFs have also been shown to disrupt the balance of good and bad bacteria in the gut.
Changes in the microbiome can include the growth of bacteria that cause inflammation, which can stimulate tumor growth, changes in metabolism that reduce the ability of the gut to clear cancer-causing substances, and a reduction in the immune system’s ability to detect and fight cancer cells.
Ms. Michaels continued: ‘While I have been fortunate enough to rescue many people from the brink, over the course of my 30-year career I have lost as much, if not more, than I have saved.
‘I have seen them slip through my fingers, mothers who orphan their children, husbands who widow their wives. I have even seen parents forced to suffer the unthinkable loss of their adult children.
“They were literally sacrificed on the altar of unbridled corporate greed.”