Lecture by Prof. Dr. Dr. Anja Bosy-Westphal

Approximately 46 per cent of daily energy intake amongst people in Germany comes from highly processed foods – frozen pizza, ready-made lasagne or barbecue sauces are now indispensable in today's diet. That this is harmful to health is becoming increasingly clear. Professor Anja Bosy-Westphal from Kiel University, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural and Nutritional Sciences, demonstrates in her lecture the connections between the consumption of highly processed foods and the development of diet-related diseases. Many highly processed products contain very high amounts of sugar, fat and salt or rapidly available carbohydrates, stimulate the reward system in the brain and lead in the medium term to metabolic disorders, such as insensitivity to the hormones insulin and leptin as well as chronic inflammation. The lecture provides practical recommendations for anyone who wishes to approach their diet more consciously.