Ultra Processed Women

The lies we’re fed about what we eat – and how to break free,

Everyone is talking about ultra-processed food (UPF) and its impact on our health – but what about women?

Is this very modern way of eating having a unique and specific impact on the female body? Are these ‘industrially produced food-like items in plastic packets’ that many of us consume particularly damaging to women’s health?In Ultra-Processed Women Milli Hill uncovers the shocking truth. From period pain and weight gain to depression, hormone imbalances, autoimmune conditions and even Alzheimer’s, Hill reveals cutting-edge research into the hidden dangers that lurk in your daily food choices.

But this is not just a book about food. Ultra-Processed Women also explores the way the modern food industry has exploited women in their advertising for decades and uncovers the damage being wrought not only on our bodies but on the environment and on our own ability to connect with each other through the fundamentally human experience of cooking and eating.

This isn’t just a wake-up call―it’s a battle cry. Written in Hill’s trademark down-to-earth style, Ultra-Processed Women will help you understand the issues and develop a clear course of action, arming you with tools and practical steps to cut through the confusion, break free from the damaging effects of UPFs, and reclaim your health without guilt or deprivation. Changing the way we eat, Hill argues, is a radical act of resistance to an ultra-processed world.

  • Ultra Processed Women is an important and brilliantly readable addition to the growing literature on ultra processed food. There is no more gendered subject than food and the way it impact our bodies our society and our planet. Milli has done a superb job – it’s a great read, and I’m so pleased it exists in the world. I do think of it as a companion piece to my own, and also as an extremely worthy book in its own right.

    Chris van Tulleken, author of Ultra Processed People

  • Utterly had me gasping and rethinking my relationship with food and what I advise my patients- just a fabulous book.

    Dr Nighat Arif

  • 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

  • Such a brilliant book.

    Maureen Brookbanks, Daily Mail

  • 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

  • A radical rethink of food, feminism, and what it means to be nourished.

    Lara Briden, Naturopathic Doctor and author of Metabolism Repair for Women

  • 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

  • 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, 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

  • 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