Low UPF diet - to think the experts weren’t lying?

I’ve also massively cut back on UPFs in the last 6 months - although I don’t think I ate as many as a lot of people anyway. I’m also trying to up my protein intake

@AusBoundDD can you let me know where I can get these Crosta / Mollina wraps? I probably only eat bread once a week now but I’d love to have something less processed I could maybe freeze.

What about sourdough from LIDL (or tesco)?

I read the book and thought he relied a bit too much on emotion and the gross out factor. But, generally speaking, a lot of the foods he talks about are ones where it's easy to eat loads of calories very quickly.

regular sugar is not a UPF, so there really isn't any harm in having decent quality chocolate that isn't 100% cacao or adding it to your puddings. It's just about overall quantity. As a diabetic I can tell you that alternatives, other than artificial sweetener, will raise your blood sugar as much as sugar. Fibre or not, dried fruit is pure sugar really. Also, rapeseed or canola oil isn't a UPF, that's a separate argument.

As for the person talking about the USA, I live there. Now, a bunch of disputes involve trade politics but what really matters in the USA is price. The UPF junk is cheap. Good food is expensive. People in poverty wind up having to eat a much poorer quality diet. If you have money and are eating in nice places, the quality of food is on a whole other level from the rubbish in the cereal aisle.

I do think it's about proportion. If you are eating a diet that is largely prepared from fresh ingredients, then the occasional packet of crisps or bottle of Coke or even fast food isn't going to harm you. It's when your diet becomes dominated by these foods, pushing out fresh produce and so on, that you're at risk for health consequences.

I have RTFT and surprised that despite everyone sharing the love for sourdough, only one other poster has mentioned the health benefits of all fermented foods.

There is SO much scientific evidence to point to the human gut having evolved to digest fermented foods. The gut microbiome is said to be the body's 'second brain' and have an effect on mental wellbeing.

It's easy to add a little fermented food to your diet. I make my own kefir, kimchi and sauerkraut and find the benefits are terrific. So tasty too!

I will try this. Thank you for the useful recipe.

@Pickingmyselfup

Artificial sweetener is the thing to ditch. I weened myself off it in my late 20s when I was the only one of a group having sugar./ artificial ones in coffee. Took about a month to get used to the new taste. Can't stand sweetened drinks now.

They are seriously bad news. They affect the gut microbiome but also your insulin levels in a way that is worse than real sugar. They can cause metabolic syndrome (diabetes) even though they are not 'real sugar.'

Also cola is seriously bad news especially for women. The phosphoric acid in it makes bones lose density and contributes to osteoporosis .It really is lethal stuff.

I definitely feel better just eating real food. Sadly I still have a bit of a chocolate habit. I don't think the message is new - I was looking at it 30 odd years ago when my children were small. I think what has changed is the pressure on everyone now, with very complex lives.
Re all the bread questions - I know it might seem very radical, but it's actually very possible to just go without. I don't eat wheat, and the ingredients in gf foods ( the processed sort) are quite alarming. I think there is quite an addiction to whatever goes into bread, whether it's the wheat or the added ingredients.

Regarding bread, Tesco bakery do some white sliced that aren't too bad and reasonably priced. Yes they contain palm oil and dextrose, but no preservatives/ emulsifiers. Have heard m and s do some non UPF bread. Also try Polish food shops if you have any nearby as ive found a few non UPF brands. My teen son eats loads of white bread and I need a convenient solution (don't have time to bake it all). So I just try and minimise preservatives and try not to worry about the other ingredients unless they're obviously bulking agents or cheap additives. Old english white from warburtons is good but expensive.

I think we are fairly lowish on UPF already but could always do better.

One thing I've recently done since Jan is gone cold turkey in cutting out biscuits, cakes, chocolate etc. I haven't lost a huge amount of weight on the scales but the difference in my face has been really noticeable, it's slimmed right down and looks less puffy and tired. I felt like I was starting to look really ugly and pouchy but this has really helped. I ended up letting myself have some chocolate over Easter and indulged a bit too much, and I can definitely see it in my face again. So trying to go back to cold turkey but it feels harder now!

That’s what I use. It’s really good.

Using the Yuka app has helped me avoid risky additives. It has a carrot is it’s ‘badge’ if your looking for it in the App Store

By a bread machine - and this book Bread Machine Jennie Shapter.

I'm not a Low UPF diet person - but we've been making our own bread for 20+ years with help of this book. You can buy large bags of flour from either mills direct (IL do this and we did at one point) or from Amazon and dried yeast.

Some like Chiense style chicken buns are a particular pack lunch favorite with the kids.

Also do fair bit of home baking using butter mostly sunflower oil- many cakes freeze well.

We did do home made sourdough starter at one point but kids started to dislike the bread though tolerate the pancake longer - also did home made yogurt - in fact our current bread machine has a setting for that as well. It did help sort DS gut issues out - he always had problems - but all fermented foods are supposed to help and it slowly petered out but he's been fine since.

Obviously if you cut out food high in fat sugar and salt - like ready made meals and crisps there will be an improvemnet from that alone.

We did do home made pasta sources for years and then tried a shop bought one and it was salty and didn't taste right - not so with the pesto sauces though. We try and keep crisps for special or rare treat - but honestly haven't noticed supermarket bread being an issue - it's different but often better toasted than home made stuff.

You can get decent cereal from Rude Health.

The spelt flakes and puffed rice are just that - whole grain and no additives.

They taste a bit “clean” at first if you are accustomed to the added salt, sugar etc; but once you develop a taste they are great. I couldn’t eat the additive stuff now. The spelt flakes especially have a nice malty nutty taste.

Agree with this.
It’s easy to find barely used ones second hand, if cost is an issue. If you have a charity shop near you that sells electricals, they come up quite often.

If you research what L cysteine is usually made from, I think you’ll be put off this ingredient.
Honestly, what they put in food to improve shelf life is shocking.
I’ll give you clue - it’s in this article
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2013/may/13/10-gross-ingredients-food-horsemeat-scandal

I'm pretty good on the whole, cook from scratch, swapped bread for sourdough but I do eat shop bought granola a couple of times a week and I eat energy gels once a week for my long runs.

I can't say I feel much better for it and it's not doing a whole lot for weight loss either but the only new thing I've changed recently is the bread swap for sourdough. I've always cooked from scratch and for 85% of my meals.

I'm always willing to try better and keep meaning to make my own granola and I'm going to look into my own gels for training and keep the processed ones for races.

I can't give up sweetener in my coffee, sugar is too high in calories to have every day. Also not willing to give up my daily can of pepsi max.

I make yoghurt flatbread. A heaped spoon of greek yoghurt, 1/2 a tsp of salt with self raising flour added to make a soft dough. Roll out flat and then cook in a hot dry pan. This is our lunch go to most days as my partner is yeast intolerant.

If I am making dough for my daughter to have bread I use 500g of bread flour, 10g of salt, 10g of sugar, 1 packet of dry yeast and a dollop of oil. Mix up with hand hot water to make a soft dough and kneed for 5 - 10 minutes (I do mine in a mixer). Pop in an oiled bowl and cover with oiled cling film and leave for an hour. You can then cut of small balls and roll out flat and then fold in half and cook on a hot dry pan to make pittas. You can make pizza bases or small rolls that you cook in a hot oven in an oiled and floured tin to make a bread bun or a small loaf. Cook it until crusty and sounds hollow when you knock on the bottom. Dough will last a few days in the fridge so I make 1 batch and use it up over a few meals.

Buy a breadmaker and make your own.

I wasn’t demonising it. I think you should go back and read what I said. I’m not arguing about having good fats, just pointing out everything in moderation.

I remember ringing up LBC in the 1990s and saying exactly this and also that the tax should be used to make wholefood cheaper but I got such a backlash.

Posted in error

Batch cooking is your friend here. I find the opposite: cooking UPF takes longer, because it's microwave for this long and that long and faffing about is not my thing.

What I do is cook a large batch. Sometimes we have the (adult) kids & or friends and hangers on eating with us sometimes not, and quite often it changes at short notice as their plans change, so anything NOT eaten is portioned and frozen in portions.

On Monday, on discovering it was definitely just us two old fogies eating, I took great delight in simply defrosting a chilli & rice portion for me and shepherd's pie for him, and catching up on a couple of episodes of The Archers (no groans from kids).

@mumuseli

Tesco's Bakery white bread typically contain Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Calcium Carbonate, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin], Water, Yeast, Rapeseed Oil, Salt, Dextrose, Palm Oil, Palm Fat, Flour Treatment Agents (Ascorbic Acid, L-Cysteine), Malted Barley Extract, Stabiliser (Tetrasodium Diphosphate).

My bread, baked most Sunday mornings - Wholewheat flour, yeast, rapeseed oil, water, a teaspoon of sugar, a pinch of salt.

I tried to limit my consumption of UPF foods at new year too.
I've noticed no difference at all! I wasn't actively trying to lose weight bit a couple of kg would be great.
I didn't think crisps generally were upf? Although I probably eat them less than once a month.

Back in the early 2000s I was recovering from an ED and I went on a holiday to Greece where I was eating fresh bread, cheese, fish, Greek yoghurt, fruit, vegetables etc. I found it disconcerting not to have packets to work out the calories in things but I realised I was eating more natural food (the 5% fat margarine I had at home was full of chemicals/additives and tasted disgusting ) and when I got home, I started to try and replace my low fat/low calorie foods with more regular foods.

Diet coke is my major vice although I am trying to drink more water.

I’m really trying to reduce the amount of upf food I eat. I’ve got a great app on my phone where I can scan barcodes to help me know what’s the best option. So one bag of tortilla chips is ok, the other not so much. It all helps.