Dear all, a diary of sorts today as the publicity for Ultra Processed Women has come on hard and fast just like this heatwave we are having. Those of you who read my ‘nosebag’ on Sunday will know that I was having what can only be described as a ‘wobble’ about it all, and I cannot thank those of you who sent lovely messages and comments enough. I have read all your supportive words and also given myself a firm kick up the arse. I’ve also done something else that helps a lot when you are anxious: homework. Lots of cheat sheets and lists of stats for all the interviews - which it can sometimes feel overwhelmingly impossible to compile when all your energy is being directed into panicking.
So far this week I’ve done a recording for a podcast called High Performance Health with Angela Foster, and done an interview with the ipaper. There are more interviews and podcasts in the offing, and those lovely photos that I wrote about being taken a few weeks ago will be part of an interview in The Times that comes out on 1st July, two days before the book itself.
Today the first piece of coverage happened, in the Mail, and I will share the full text of that below the paywall at the end of this piece. It was nice to see that the question, “WHAT ABOUT WOMEN?” (yes the shouty capitals are deliberate!) made its way in…
I would also like to invite you to attend the online launch of the book this Thursday evening at 6pm. You can book your ticket here - they are free but I want to manage numbers.
I am really proud of how the book is being received by people from a huge variety of backgrounds. Here are some of the fantastic endorsements I’ve received, in no particular order!
In these pages, you’ll discover a deeply researched, eye-opening examination of how ultra-processed food is not just changing the way we eat, but changing the way our bodies function—particularly women’s bodies. You’ll learn how these foods interact with our hormones, disrupt our microbiomes, and influence everything from fertility to mood. And you’ll see why the conversation about nutrition must be more gender-aware, more critical, and more urgent. To every woman who’s ever wondered why she feels constantly tired, bloated, anxious, or out of sync with her own body—this book is for you. May it be a guide, a wake-up call, and a call to action.
Sarah Parish MBE
Utterly had me gasping and rethinking my relationship with food and what I advise my patients- just a fabulous book.
Dr Nighat Arif, GPwSI in women’s health, author, broadcaster
I thought I knew a lot about ultra-processed foods but Milli Hill’s book has opened my eyes – wide! The far-reaching consequences of an artificial diet on women’s health are shocking, yet rarely mentioned in the mainstream media. I read Ultra-Processed Women with the same rapt attention as a thriller. Milli’s accessible writing style also made it easy to digest the hard, scientific facts.
Mo Wilde, author of The Wilderness Cure and Free Food
Milli Hill’s Ultra Processed Women is a sharp and timely wake-up call into how ultra-processed food can disproportionately affect women. It’s an essential read that will inspire many of us to make healthier – and potentially life changing tweaks to our diet.
Melissa Hogenboom, BBC health journalist and author of The Motherhood Complex and Breadwinners
Such a brilliant book.
Maureen Brookbanks, Daily Mail
A radical rethink of food, feminism, and what it means to be nourished.
Lara Briden, Naturopathic Doctor and author of Metabolism Repair for Women
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Ultra-Processed Women by Milli Hill is a powerful and thought-provoking read that reframes the conversation around ultra-processed foods (UPFs) through a gendered lens. It explores how UPFs impact not just our physical health, from reproductive issues and depression to autoimmune diseases and menopause, but also our mental load, cultural values, and sense of connection. Milli challenges the assumption that convenience means progress, revealing how ‘Big Food’ has profited at the expense of women’s wellbeing. This book is a call for mindful eating, real food, and systemic change, without guilt or perfectionism.
Nichola Ludlam-Raine, dietitian & author of How Not to Eat Ultra-Processed
Much-needed guidance in a world where women are inundated with nutritional advice that so rarely takes real female bodies into account. Accessible, authoritative and warm-hearted, Ultra Processed Women exposes the truth about the food on our plates without ever losing sight of the practicalities of changing the way we eat. For anyone tired of male-default science and diets in disguise, Milli Hill is the one to trust.
Victoria Smith, author of Hags and (Un)kind
In a cultural moment where corporations sacrifice the health of women at the altar of profit, this book couldn’t come at a more perfect time.
Dr. Alexandra MacKillop, Food Scientist and Functional Medicine Physician
This is a rallying call to think differently about what and how we eat, remembering our relationship with nature and each other – the story of one author’s refusal to become an ultra-processed woman.
Rob Percival, The Soil Association
A must-read for any woman determined to escape the clutches of ultra-processed foods. It’s an empowering and accessible read, profoundly insightful and transformative.
Jenny Tschiesche, nutritionist and author of The Unprocessed AirFryer
A perfect book: Milli Hill manages to write a book with fascinating detail about food and nutrition, without once sounding judgemental, or putting us off what tastes really good. The only book on how to eat well you ever need.
Julie Bindel, journalist and author of Feminism for Women
A positive, fascinating and inspiring look at UPF and the food industry, from a feminist perspective. Highly recommended.
Roz Watkins, author of the DI Meg Dalton crime series and The Red House
If you’ve ever felt confused about what to eat, frustrated with your body, or dismissed by a doctor, please read this book.
It’s not just about food, it’s about the systems that profit from women’s health and how our bodies and wellbeing have been been hijacked by profit and shame. Milli joins the dots between diet culture, medical gaslighting, the wellness industry and the deep-rooted belief that our bodies are a problem to be solved.
She writes with real clarity and compassion. No fluff, no finger-wagging. Just a smart, honest look at how we got here and what we can do about it.
Ultra-Processed Women is a wise, rage-inducing yet hopeful read. I’ll be recommending it to friends, clients, anyone who’s ever sat in a doctor’s office and not felt believed.
If you’ve ever felt let down by your body, this book will help you realise the problem isn’t you – it’s the world you’ve been living in.
Jo Fuller, Menopause Coach at The Merry Menopause
We know we are what we eat and as Milli asks us after a lightbulb moment of her own – do you actually know what you’re eating? In this wonderful resource Milli unravels ultra processed food and it’s effects on us, our bodies our children, our brains, the Earth… Everything. And it’s not good. Her focus on women, especially – “what about women?” reveals the effects of UPF on our fertility, our rites of passage and our health on every level.
Milli shows us that we have been hoodwinked, tricked, lied to, ripped off and cheated into thinking that a lot of what we are eating is food! She highlights connections between all the common complaints and diseases of the modern human and the ultra processed food (UPF) we consume. This is a wake up call and with a convincing need for change in how you feed yourself and your family.
Thank you, Milli.
Jane Hardwicke Collings, Agent of the Goddess
And here is the archived version of the Mail article…