Avoiding UPFs at breakfast

Do you use a sourdough starter? Do you have a recioe? I really should !

Yes Instagram the well known scientific research site. 🙄🙄

@QuestionableMouse, I didn't suggest it was scientific research. It's a useful resource for ideas and products that other people have found. Avoiding UPF where possible doesn't need anyone to knit their own lentils or become a kitchen martyr and it's good to share knowledge.

@AhBiscuits

maybe she has other things she’d rather be doing other than baking bread? Like going to the gym or doing her hobbies or just relaxing?

Are you happy for the 9yo to use the microwave? I batch cook ful medames (Egyptian breakfast dish made of fava beans) at the weekend - it’s very substantial with pitta/flatbread and is easily reheated in the microwave.

Yes Instagram the well known scientific research site. 🙄🙄

Why can't they just wait for you / dad to get up @Ayechinnyreckon ?

They get up at 6am as usual, build dens etc and then the adult gets up at 7am and makes them one healthy breakfast? Negates the sugary crap / 2 breakfast situation completely.

I'm very impressed that your DC are able to left to their own devices without complete anarchy. Mine are 12, 10 and 7 and need chivvying along in the morning!!

@Ayechinnyreckon I don't know how your kids aren't starving by 10am at school if they eat at 6am.

I hear what you say about one of them being autistic and having their own set pattern.But they will have life experiences where they simply have to fit in with others and change their behaviour.

It's far too long to go from 6am to 12pm at school unless you're providing a healthy snack for break and if school allows snacks then.

I'm fully aware that that's what he's saying. My point, which is made much more eloquently in that linked podcast, is that actually there is very little evidence for the harms that he claims.

@samarrange No, you're not fully aware because if you were, you'd not be disagreeing.

Maybe you've not seen the TV prog he did a while back? He ate UPFs for a while and had brain scans before and after - science. Done by doctors at UCHL.
The difference was astounding. The damage to the neurons was terrifying. I suggest you watch that programme before making more comments.

As for 'poor people' - it's not about money but education. A kilo of porridge oats is a fraction of the cost of packets of cereal with 30% sugar.
Saying they are 'not in control' is bollocks and also insulting to these 'poor people'.

My concern is that any child eating breakfast at 5.30 or 6am will be starving again by 9.30am at school. It's not good for their concentration or behaviour.

I fully understand the 'rigid' behaviour of children with autism, but at the same time they have to be able to change their behaviour, not use it as a 'catch all' for behaviour that isn't in their best interests.

If they were starving, I'd put a flask of cold milk by their beds and a banana and maybe a packet of oat cakes.

There are some breads available that are not UPF @nopdhhd

We buy one from Waitrose that has no emulsifiers or anything added. It's a Duchy Organic wholegrain with seeds. There are also more bakeries now selling sourdough (genuine) .

Weetabix is not classed as ultraprocessed. It is processed, by the fact the grains undergo a process. If a child has to have cereal out of a box, it's one of the better ones.

Bake your own! I make sourdough and it's so easy. A loaf costs me about 50p to make. It only contains flour, water and salt, not a UPF to be seen, and tastes amazing.

Don’t know why you’re getting a hard time OP for trying to feed your kids healthier foods! We’re not perfect but the kids breakfasts are usually cereal (bran flakes, weetabix, bought or homemade granola, bought muesli), toast (most often bought bread but I make a couple of loaves a month), pancakes (Mary berry drop scone recipe), and their absolute fave - overnight oats! Mine would be horrified at boiled eggs and spinach! They each got a jar of Nutella in their stocking but it’s not something we have in really, for toast we use a good quality peanut butter, jam, marmite or honey.

A proton is much too wee to last a week.

Shredded wheat is not a UPF and they can do it themselves.

How is it more work to buy granola instead of cereals or make a fruitshake instead of popping something in the toaster?
Also more men then women are overwheight so clearly women care more about healthy eating.

Poorer people on average have much poorer health. Unlike wealth, genetics, disability etc. diet is one health input that people do have control over. Do you not want people to be given information about how they could adapt their diet to improve their health, for fear of making them feel bad?

I'm fully aware that that's what he's saying. My point, which is made much more eloquently in that linked podcast, is that actually there is very little evidence for the harms that he claims.

We have been here before with the demonisation of fat. Basically, since the end of the 1950s everyone has been looking for "the next tobacco", but the research is basically a bin fire, partly due to conflicts of interest, which in the case of nutrition science are on all sides, not just the makers of sugary cereals. The organic lobby is huge, and heavily backed by supermarkets - their mark-ups on organic produce are so much higher because people who buy organic are much less "price-sensitive".

As a PP said, you probably shouldn't be eating Coco Pops with added sugar for every meal, but the idea that there is one single attribute common to UPFs that is not found in any non-UPFs is ridiculous. Ultimately this comes down to making poorer people feel bad (again) about situations that are not always within their control.

Could you make them some muffins, banana bread, granola bars for when the wake up? One of these with fruit and yogurt is a good breakfast.

I don’t toast Jason’s - only the ciabattin loaf needs toasting in my opinion. All 3 of my kids have the sourdough for the sandwiches in their packed lunch. Though it does cost me a fortune as we average a loaf a day 😢

Well it's just sugar . No protein or healthy fats

Me and my brothers were the same. So are my nieces & godchildren. We were all perfectly capable to be up before my mum in primary school.

I assume the kids in that story with the chaotic kitchen had parents who didn’t mind them messing up the kitchen, if the pancake making was a regular thing I mean . I can’t see many parents allowing that.

I have suffered from sleep deprivation for long periods of time and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Sleep is so important so if you don’t need to wake up at 5.30am you’re quite right not to!

Weetabix and shredded Wheat are ok.

Don't buy pastries. Bananas, dates and nuts instead.

We'll, it isn't. But there is a wide difference between processed cereal, fake plant milk, fruit squash as a breakfast and a cube of oat, egg and cheddar flapjack.
The world if artificial additives is so confusing. In my head (for my sanity), it works like this: any food that can't be made nice by the way it is cooked or the addition of other foods can't be ok. If it needs to have something artificial or unrecognisable added it isn't good.
Basically if it only tastes good because of artificial stuff then it isn't good for you.

I'm sure if you heard a scientist or doctor saying exactly what you wanted to hear, you wouldn't be so quick to accuse them of 'making a career out of it'. Confirmation bias - the ones you agree with are respectable, the ones you don't agree with must have an agenda.

The heart of what Van Tulleken is saying is:
-Whole food, in or close to its natural state, is what you have evolved to eat.
-Packaged food made in factories is produced to maximise profits and not with your good health as a priority.
-The former is therefore almost always better for you than the latter, and is what you should aim for as much as possible.

Taking the celebrities and internet experts out of the equation for a minute, does anyone actually disagree with this? If you do, I'd love to hear your reasons.

I came to say this. It's just another thing aimed mostly at women to add guilt and work onto an already full plate (no pun intended).

Do you think men are spending a significant amount of time reconciling whether it's ok to give their child a specific type of jam in the morning? They're absolutely not.