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When Russel Valentin, 32, lost over nine stone after moving to the UK from America, he was baffled.

The US content creator didn't massively overhaul his diet or change his exercise regime.

Yet the figure on the scale – which read 21st 6lb at his heaviest – dropped steadily over the course of six months, settling at a trim 12st 5lb.

'I was dying when I was living in the US,' the influencer who boasts an impressive 151k followers on TikTok said.

'I used to be constantly out of breath, or winded when climbing flights of stairs.'

He also suffered with low energy and sleep apnoea – an obesity-related condition affecting 83 million US and four million UK adults.

It wasn't until he moved from Chicago to the UK in January last year that the real culprit became clear – American portion sizes of ultra-processed foods (UPFs).

'Despite earing a lot when moving here, and food that isn't necessarily considered healthy, I was shedding the pounds,' he recalls.

When Russel Valentin, 32, lost over nine stone after moving to the UK from America, he was baffled

'It's something I had really struggled to do before - so I was very surprised.'

Back in the US, Mr Valentin would start his day with a large plate of waffles, eggs and bacon, washed down with an additive-laden coffee.

Lunch, whilst not overly calorific, was always followed by a packet of crisps or a bag of sweets – fuelling the derogatory comments left under the food reviews he posted to social media.

'People would tell me to go to the gym instead of recording myself eating,' he says.

He also received numerous comments telling him he was 'spilling out' of his clothes.

'I felt trapped in my own body and just really embarrassed.'

In a last-ditch attempt to drop the weight, the content creator began 'attacking' his calorie intake, forcing himself to workout harder and eat less.

'But all that did was make the process miserable and unmanageable for me.'

The content creator dropped a whopping nine stone when he moved from Chicago to the UK

Before his transformation, he was bombarded with hate comments telling him to go to the gym and lose weight

That is, until he moved to the UK.

'As soon as I moved here, I noticed my weight starting to drop.

'Where I used to put in a conscious effort to lose weight, it was suddenly just falling off me.'

Now, his breakfast consists of toast or a crumpet, though lunch and dinner – meat paired with vegetables – haven't changed.

Crisps and sweets have been replaced with lighter picky bits, containing less saturated fat and more essential protein and calcium.

It's not his small diet tweaks that he puts his weight loss down to, though. It's the ingredients – with foods in the UK typically being less processed than their US variants.

'Everyday British food contains far fewer chemical preservatives and substances engineered to keep you eating more,' he said.

'Less high-fructose corn syrup and added sugar also plays a big role. There’s also more straightforward labelling here and smaller portions – making it easier to know what you're actually eating.'

Ultra-processed foods, also known as UPFs, including mass-produced items like snacks, packaged bread and ready meals, typically contain high levels of fat, sugar and salt and have been linked to harm in every major organ system of the body.

They are also often packed with artificial colours, flavours and preservatives, which experts believe could be behind the steady rise in many obesity-related conditions, including high blood pressure, diabetes and even some cancers.

Evidence reviewed by 43 of the world's leading experts in UPFs last year found that diets high in UPFs are linked to overeating, poor nutritional quality and higher exposure to harmful chemicals.

In response, governments around the world have adopted a battery of measures to safeguard global health, including front-of-pack warning labels and marketing restrictions on unhealthy products to make them less alluring.

But the world's biggest UPF companies – many of which are based in the US – continue to file scores of lawsuits challenging policies put in place to protect children and adults against the harms of UPFs.

Mr Valentin also sold his car before moving to London, meaning that he now walks most places, racking up 12,000 steps a day – 2,000 more than the widely recommended target.

Now, he weighs a trim 12st 5lb and feels 'far more confident' in his body.

'I finally look like my true self,' he said. 'Moving here has absolutely saved my life.

'If I knew that the better food and walking everywhere would lead to this, I would've made the move much sooner.

'My advice is to start with very small, achievable changes in your life that you can repeat everyday without too much struggle.'