A Thorough Examination With Drs Chris and Xand

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A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand

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Drs Chris and Xand explore the science of exercise and the dangers of inactivity.

Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken explore the science of exercise and the dangers of inactivity. Can Xand persuade Chris to do some exercise?

Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken investigate the science of exercise and the dangers of inactivity.

Is modern exercise a wellness cult? Or is it a vital cure for a world that's struggling with ill health and stuck on the sofa? Most of us might like to get a bit fitter, but how easy is it to actually start exercising and give up sedentary habits? 

In this series Drs Chris and Xand van Tulleken examine exercise and how best to do it. How much should we be doing? How does it help our bodies? And how does our surrounding environment stand in the way of us getting fitter? Chris is challenged to examine his scepticism towards exercise. Similarly, Xand is asked to look at his new-found exercise evangelism and see what he is really running from. 

Recently Xand has discovered the joys of physical activity. He's running, cycling, heading to the gym and playing ping pong like never before. It's been a real transformation and a way to keep on top of things after years of unhealthy living. 

His twin brother Chris, on the other hand, is really feeling the aches and pains of middle age. With a busy job and a young family, he has precious little spare time for exercise. After a very active period in his 20s and 30s, Chris is now embracing his 'Dad bod' and sliding into a creaky middle age. Xand wants to help him turn things around. Can he do it?

Introducing A Thorough Examination

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A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand: Series 1: Addicted to Food: S1. Ep 4 - Building an ultra processed body

S1. Ep 4 - Building an ultra processed body

Series 1: Addicted to Food

BBC Radio 4 - A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand, Series 1: Addicted to Food, S1. Ep 4 - Building an ultra processed body

Chris van Tulleken is on a mission to get his twin, Xand, to quit ultra-processed food.

Xand starts the Ultra Processed Food diet and speaks to obesity expert Dr Janine Makaronidis about the effect of UPF on his body.

Chris and Xand are doctors, scientists and identical twins. Well, not quite identical. Xand is 20kg heavier, clinically obese, and has a Covid induced heart condition. 

Chris believes that the reason Xand is overweight is the same reason that most of us in the UK are overweight - Ultra Processed Food or UPF. It’s the main thing that we now eat and feed to our children, but most of us have never heard of it. It’s addictive, highly profitable and the main cause of the global obesity pandemic. It’s destroying our bodies, our brains and the environment. 

In this series, recorded during the first coronavirus lockdown of 2020, Chris wants to help his brother quit UPF and get his health back. So, he has a plan. In an attempt to turn Xand's life around, Chris persuades his brother to eat a diet comprising 80% Ultra-processed food while learning about every aspect of it. By doing this, Chris tests two theories - that Xand is addicted to UPF, and that eating more of the stuff while learning about it, will help him quit.  
 
Chris believes that the science shows UPF is addictive and harmful to the body, not least by driving excess consumption and weight gain. By speaking with the world’s leading experts on obesity and nutrition, Xand will learn what UPF is made of, how it’s produced, whether it’s addictive, what it does to the human brain and body and how it is the number one force driving global obesity. 

In episode four - Building an ultra-processed body - Xand starts the diet, eating 80% UPF while continuing to learn about it. Chris thinks the diet will work because he’s done it, subsisting on a junk food diet for four weeks while investigating the causes of childhood obesity in a BBC TV documentary. In order to understand the direct effect UPF is having on his body - appetite, hormones and weight - Xand speaks to obesity expert, Dr Janine Makaronidis from University College London. Xand also interviews Dr Kevin Hall from the National Institute of Health in the US about his ground-breaking research into the consumption of UPF. Kevin was the first scientist to prove that UPF causes weight gain.

Presented by Drs Chris and Xand Van Tulleken 
Produced by Hester Cant
Executive Producers Philly Beaumont and Jo Rowntree
A Loftus Media and van Tulleken Brothers Ltd production for BBC Radio 4

A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand: Series 1: Addicted to Food

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Chris van Tulleken is on a mission to get his twin Xand to quit ultra-processed food.

Chris and Xand van Tulleken are doctors, scientists and identical twins - except that Xand is clinically obese. Now Chris is on a mission to get Xand to quit ultra-processed food.

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A Thorough Examination with Drs Chris and Xand

Series 1: Addicted to Food

S1. Ep 4 - Building an ultra processed body

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