The coca leaf, chewed safely by people of the Andes mountains for generations helps fight altitude sickness whilst providing mild physical and mental stimulation.
Cocaine, an alkaloid first extracted from the coca leaf around 1860 leads to short term euphoria and energy but ultimately becomes addictive and dangerous.
Same active ingredients, very different physiological outcomes.
Like cocaine being extracted from coca leaves, the modern western diet is built upon the refinement and simplification of food. Grains into flour, cane into sugar, seeds into oils. The net result is short-term reward over long-term sustenance.
As global consumption of this processed cocktail increases the correlating tidal wave of ill-health smashing into health-care systems is surely no coincidence. It would seem the human body can handle the whole food but not its constituent parts.
A simple solution then? Escape the world of processing. Return to a more traditional diet. Spend less time inhaling junk food and more time chewing on real food.