The 5% Heart Tax: Breaking the Ultra-Processed Food Cycle

0:03Darin Olien:Welcome to Super Life with me, Darin Olien, a podcast where we explore, discover, and share solutions that promote a healthier life and a better world. Together, we'll ignite possibilities, inspire change, and build sovereignty, creating a roadmap towards a super life for you and for all. Get ready to start living your super life.

0:32Darin Olien:Before we get into today's episode, I want to acknowledge the company helping to support this conversation, Alchemist. You know, most of us spend so much energy thinking about what we put into our bodies. The food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe outside. But here's something that doesn't get nearly enough attention. The air inside your home. Here's a fact that floored me. conventional paints, which are petrochemical-based, are off-gassing, endocrine-disrupting chemicals for not just days, for years after they've been applied. This means the walls of your bedroom, your kids' rooms, your kitchen, they could literally be releasing toxic chemicals into the air you're breathing every single day.

1:21Darin Olien:That's why I want to talk about Alchemist. Alchemist is the world's first wellness paint. Their paints are mineral-based, VOC-free, and completely free of PFAS, those damn forever chemicals that have no business being anywhere in our environment, especially in our home. And because the formula is rooted in natural minerals, it's inherently anti-mold, anti-fungal, so there's no synthetic additives needed to perform. Nature has already done the work. On top of all of that, Alchemist paint is class A fire resistant, which I love here in Southern California, because guess what? Rocks, i.e. minerals, don't burn.

2:08Darin Olien:So you're not just protecting your family's health, you're protecting your home on every level. No downside. And here's the thing that really speaks to me. Alchemist is cradle to cradle certified. If you're not familiar with that, it's one of the most rigorous sustainability certifications in the world. It means the product has been evaluated across its entire life cycle from the ingredients sourced to make it all the way to what happens when it is no longer needed. Nothing is an afterthought with this company. That's a standard most companies never even attempt to meet, but they do. They've rethought the entire formula from the ground up so you don't have to choose between a beautiful home and a safe home.

2:53Darin Olien:We put so much thought into the products that touch our bodies or go into our bodies. It just makes sense to extend the same standard to the surfaces that literally surround us. If you're repainting a room or now inspired to do so, building something new, or just ready to make a healthier swap, check out Alchemist. Go to A-L-K-E-M-I-S.com. Use the code Darren10, D-A-R-I-N-10. What's up, Superlifers? I am Darren O 'Lean, and I'm here to navigate this episode. I want to get into it. What if every time you reached for a convenient packaged snack, your risk of heart attack went up by 5 %? Hold with me now.

3:39Don't get crazy. Not overall, but per serving. That's exactly what the newest science is showing. I'm going to get into it. Today, we are breaking down the literal heart tax you are paying every time you choose an ultra-processed food. Let that land for a second. And I know you're going, what? How is that possible? Not 5 % if you eat a lot of it, 5 % per serving when you add it into your life. On top of whatever you ate yesterday and the day before, the thing is, ultra-processed Food compounds like debt. It collects like interest. Every single time you reach into that pantry and grab something in a creakly wrapper, a box, or some sort of package nonsense, you literally are writing a check on your overall health and your heart, and it has to cash it someday.

4:48There is always an effect with every choice you make. For those of you that want to be a victim in some way, you can turn off this podcast. That's okay. I'm not here to change you. But I am Darren O 'Lean, and this is Super Life, so maybe you want a little more of Super Life. And today, we're going to go into something that I know makes you, all of us, a little uncomfortable. Sometimes, leaning into the uncomfortable is a breakthrough opportunity on the other side. And what if, if we learn to lean into the things that are uncomfortable, we can have more and more and more truly out of life? instead of avoiding, avoiding what our instincts tell us, avoiding what we really want, avoiding our heart, avoiding those things that I know I should do, but I'm not doing.

5:54But if you care to live, I mean fully live, just beyond today, beyond the week, contribute to your family, to your career, and to make a difference in this world, no matter what it is, then you're going to listen. You'll want to listen because you are the special group of people that are not going to make excuses, that want to lean in and learn and apply and grow and expand and receive more out of life. That's why I'm here. That's why I'm making these podcasts. So let's get into it. See, we live in this world that has made eating incredibly convenient by a couple buttons. You can have it show up to your door.

6:43Breakfast bars, cakes, whatever. You can eat in your car. Deli meats that last weeks and weeks and weeks in the fridge or even just on the shelf. Flavored yogurts that have a paragraph of ingredients. single-serving pouches of whatever. The food industry has solved logistics. What they haven't solved and what they actively obscure is the cost. There is many ways to look at cost. These foods are engineered to save you time, and they do. But the currency they take in return isn't money. It's years. And it's years off your life. It's years off quality. And they're quietly, incrementally, one serving at a time, undercutting the very thing that you want from life.

7:43The study, April 2nd, 2026.

7:47Darin Olien:That's right, very recent. The study that broke this thing wide open was presented at the American College of Cardiology's annual scientific session in 2026 and simultaneously published in JACC Advances. It used data from the MESA, MESA, the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis, one of the most rigorous cardiovascular research programs on the planet and certainly in the United States, over 6 ,800 adults age 45 to 84 tracked over years for hard cardiovascular endpoints, heart attacks, strokes, cardiac arrests, coronary death. Here's what they found. Each additional dietary serving of ultra-processed food, things in the packages was linked to a 5.1 % increase in cardiovascular risk.

9:01I mean, sit with that. This is what they found. One of the most rigorous scientific communities on the planet and the area that's killing more people than anything else, the ultra processed food is shaving days, months, years off you every time you eat it. That's how significant it is. People eating nine or more servings per day had a 66.8 % higher risk of a major cardiac event compared to those eating around only one serving. I know people in my hometown who for lunch, All they're eating is things out of a vendor. And still people eat Twinkies and sugary things and Doritos and cheap hot dogs from the convenience store.

9:59This is a real thing. This is killing people. These risks held even after controlling for total calorie intake, overall diet quality, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and obesity. Let me repeat the last point because it's the one the food industry does not want me to highlight to you for you to understand. The risk was independent of even people having existing issues. So you could be eating the right number of calories. You could have a low BMI. You could be exercising. And the ultra-processed food still raised your cardiac risk, period, by eating that serving and then eating another serving.

10:55That is not a calorie story. This is a chemistry story of toxic garbage, the kicker. The study also found a significant racial disparity. Black Americans in the study showed a 6.1 % increase in cardiovascular risk per serving, nearly double the 3.2 % increase in non-black participants. So this matters, and this matters enormously. When you talk about food access, food deserts not having access, and the systemic targeting of certain communities not even allowing for food and whole food to be there, and having ultra-processed food everywhere, cheap and convenient and available, this is horrible.

11:52This is a heart tax. It's not equally distributed. At all. And here's what I want to be clear about. This isn't one rogue study. Just weeks before this JACC paper, researchers at Florida Atlantic University published in the American Journal of Medicine using nearly 4 ,800 adults from the National NANES data set. They found a 47 % higher risk of heart attack or stroke in the highest ultra-processed food consumers compared to the lowest. Nearly 50%. Two different data sets, two different methodologies, same direction. A 2024 meta-analysis at eClinic Medicine pooled data from 20 observational studies across nine countries, covering over 1 million participants in nearly 58 ,000 cardiovascular events.

13:03The conclusion, a clear positive dose-response relationship. More ultra-processed food equaled more cardiac events. linear. You get that? Linear, consistent across cultures, across countries, across continents. We are not debating this anymore. The science is there. All of these companies, and there's now only a few monster companies owning all of these horrible foods, should be shut off right now. Stop right now. Subsidize whole food and change the freaking planet. Because people are dying.

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15:36Okay, so what is ultra-processed food? Before we get into the mechanisms of how the hell this is even happening, let's be precise about what we're talking about. Ultra-processed food are defined using the NOVA classification system, and that's developed by the researchers at the University of Sao Paulo, which categorizes food not by nutrients but by the degree of industrial processing. So group four of the ultra process means industrial formulations made from ingredients extracted from foods or synthesized in labs combined with additives, emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners, flavor enhancers, colorants, preservatives that you would never find in nature or in anyone's home.

16:31We're talking chips, packaged breads, muffins, breakfast cereals, flavored yogurts, many, many, many, many protein bars, instant noodles, packaged deli meats, most fast food, sugary drinks. They aren't just processed, they are freaking engineered. We should not be putting them in our mouths or in our bodies. That is ultra-processed. Get me? Mechanism number one, the gut goes to war. When you eat real food, a piece of fruit, don't be afraid of fruit. Fruit, fiber, good sugars, yummy, delicious, handful of nuts, a yummy sweet potato. These are God's candy. We already have it. We don't need to make all this crappy food.

17:23We have it. The food matrix is intact. The body knows what to do with it. Fiber slows digestion, which is good, cleans our digestive system, micronutrients are bioavailable. Your gut microbe then feeds on these things of what it actually needs. When you eat ultra-processed food, that matrix is gone. What's left is a food that rapidly digests acellular nutrients that hit your small intestine really fast. And then there's all these manufactured additives. So researchers published in the JACC and reviewed by the American Heart Association found that emulsifiers, which is most of the stuff, the compounds used to give processed food their smooth texture, palatability, extended shelf life, can disrupt the gut microbiota, the integrity of it, promoting a pro-inflammatory state immediately and over time, and create metabolic dysregulation.

18:33Animal studies show emulsifiers increase the gut microbiome, destroy the good microbiome and the good bacteria. One double-blind controlled feeding study found that a common emulsifier altered both the microbiome and the microbiome compared to the emulsifier-free diet. And when the gut is inflamed, the whole body gets the signal. It's a fire going on. So that leads to chronic low inflammation, can't upregulate food, energy goes down. So upstream drivers create a whole host of other issues. Ultra-processed foods don't just add weight. They change where fat goes. Research from the Pre-Med Plus trial found that the higher ultra-processed food, the higher the intake was directly associated with greater visceral fat accumulation.

19:37The fat that surrounds your organs. This gets really dangerous. And you also don't see it. Not subcutaneous fat. Not the stuff under your skin. Talking visceral fat. the fat that wraps around your liver, your pancreas, your kidneys, and your heart. Visceral fat is metabolically active, meaning it secretes inflammatory cytokines. It drives insulin, drives insulin resistance. It elevates triglycerides. It raises blood pressure. It is, in the language of cardiovascular medicine, a massive independent risk factor. Here's the other mechanism, the satiety override. Food scientists have designed these products to understand very well the ultra-processed foods are engineered to bypass your natural satiety signaling.

20:34The combination of refined carbohydrates, industrial fats, salt, flavor, flavor enhancers overstimulate the brain's reward system so you don't stop. Keep eating. You keep eating. It neurologically, the other side of biohacking, it neurologically hijacks your brain. The food was designed that way in a lab. The American Heart Association in 2023 science advisory on ultra-processed food flagged another mechanism that doesn't get talked about enough. The packaging itself, high heat processing generates harmful compounds like advanced glycation products, AGEs, acrylamide, and other contaminants, bisphenols, PFAS, things in the packaging, around the packaging that then get into the food.

21:29So you're not only eating these crazy, horrible foods, you're eating what's touched them. The solution, eat whole food. Food first. Don't rely on this stuff. It literally causes you harm on every time you do it. So when you catch yourself saying, I just want to live, you're actually lying to yourself. You want to live, but you're doing an action now knowing that it's harming you, slowly undercutting your wanting to live. It's not an alignment. So I'm not going to tell you this is going to be easy. You have to break these patterns, these habits that wasn't your fault necessarily. But now you know food first, fruit first, whole food, right?

22:20Have a date. It's one of the greatest candies ever created by this beautiful planet. If you can't trace the food back to a single whole ingredient, put it down, grab an apple. Put it down, grab a banana. Put it down, grab a blueberry. Put it down, grab a sweet potato. Put it down, grab a nut, a seed. Fill your cupboards full of nuts, seeds, legumes, rice, beans, fruit, a beautiful plate of fruit displayed. Kids come home, they grab the fruit. The closer your food is to the thing it was supposed to be, the better for you. So when you see emulsifiers, artificial sweeteners, seed oils, vegetable oils that were created in high heats, color additives, synthetic dyes, natural flavors, all of that stuff, run the other way and go towards the thing that you want.

23:20Life, living life, healthy food. The only real antidote to ultra-processed food convenience is making whole food convenient. it. Buy that instead. You can batch cook grains on Sunday, quinoa, brown rice, white rice, doesn't matter, millet, whatever. Beans, you can roast vegetables. You can buy a bowl of nuts and seeds and dried fruit and real fruit. You can do all this stuff and it just takes a little effort. stock your car with real food snacks apples almonds barucas real deep organic dark chocolate you know all that stuff come on so there is a five percent heart tax it's real it's a study it's real the more you eat ultra processed food the more you're running i just had a friend i wasn't in touch with him the last few years but he was such a deep friend and person such a huge heart he struggled with his weight and I have a lot of empathy for that.

24:27He couldn't break the ultra processed food cycle and he died last week. That's it. He wasn't even 50 years old. He's no longer with us. This is real consequence, people. If you feel it in your bones and you want to live a super life and you want to make an impact and be powerful in your life, It's these kind of things that we have to face together. So I built the Patreon community so we can have conversations and supportive mechanisms on that. So check that out. It's only$7.50. You get access to me and the community and the things that we're doing on there. So check that out because we all need support.

25:10We mirror each other. And when we mirror each other, we show the good and the challenging. and then we get to raise above and be better. So like this episode, share it. Please share it. You know, five people that can benefit from this information. I'm not making money on you sharing that. Share it. Just share good information so people can make something, make a change in their life. That's what it's all about. Remember, live your super life. Be bold. Be courageous. Be willing to lean in to the things that are sometimes uncomfortable. But through that uncomfortable, you will have a breakthrough to the other side.

25:55And then when you get that, you're like, I'm not afraid to lean in. I'm not afraid to lean in to have the best life ever. So if it's a little uncomfortable, it takes a bit of courage.

26:08Darin Olien:It takes a bit of boldness. And it takes a bit of volume. Love, I'm in. I'm in. I'm in with you. That's my commitment to you. I'm a catalyst for change. I'm a catalyst for your change. Amen. Peace. I love you.