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

Lots of supermarket food & goodies are so bland now anyway. They’re just not worth eating, so I feel like I’m not missing anything! Even naice M&S ready meals are bland nowadays.

Also traditional dieting programmes encourage restrict & binge. My sister is upset as she “only lost three pounds” on the first week of SW. This is her third time doing it… It’s madness!

I agree that good, natural, tasty food is the best thing to eat.

I had chronic fatigue for a few months in my late 20s after eating all UPFs in my new flatshare as it was hard to cook there.

Stress and a viral infection kicked it off so I don’t think UPFs was the only factor but it was one.

I’d go to my mums house for a few days and feel great and she cooks homemade food from her own culture. Then I’d go back home to my Upfs and have all kind of digestive issues (extreme constipation, queasy stomach etc) and increased fatigue.

During this period I went abroad to south east Asia where I ate practically all Asia food/ non-UPFs for 3 weeks. I felt amazing and the fatigue vanished. I had been that close to cancelling the trip due to feeling so bad as well. Couldn’t believe how after a day I was so full of energy and able to consume freshly made street food with no stomach issues.

So I’ve kind of known for a while my body does not appreciate a diet high in UPFs, sugar or dairy but yet it took me another decade to really start consistently cutting down on it and that was mainly because I’d piled on weight. I wish I had started earlier too but better late than never. It’s no longer just about weight loss for me, it’s about staying healthy and the rebel part of me feels like I’m defying the food industry lol

Have you tried divine dark chocolate ? The orange one is nice but I agree with you about the bitter taste of most dark chocolate

Me? Or op?

What exactly do you eat? Could you post a meal plan breakfast, lunch and dinner?

I will ask again after the snarky response

I do think it of sweetvfood as a treat and I like something sweet after my dinner and my lunch if it’s a very active day

I need the calories because I am quite slim and active

dark chocolate just doesn’t cut it - I dislike the taste for a start ( oh I just have a square of dark chocolate if I need a treat is a MN classic) and it would leave me in a calorie deficit or needing to boil even more potatoe which get boring

so do people just make puddings ? Are there good recipies for things like ceral bars that you can take on long walks ? My oat busicuits are more like crumble !

Good thread..taking a note of some suggestions for non UPF wraps as I love wraps. I already mainly just eat Jason’s sourdough for sliced bread. I occasionally eat brioche but as I like baking may look into making that myself. I feel much better home cooked meals.

The other day I made some chocolate cake and found a super easy mug cake recipe using egg, cacao powder and wholewheat flour and a sprinkling of sugar .

Took me 2 minutes to whip up and ten minutes in the air fryer. Quicker, cheaper and less unhealthier than if I’d ordered something from one of those dessert places that are all over high streets now.

BBC have a recipe for freezer oat cookies, I reduce the sugar in them significantly . They’re great - you can freeze them for ages and just cook a couple at a time.

I agree with you OP. I wish I had tried to make the change years ago but was blissfully unaware quite how unhealthy my diet was. I was vegetarian, non smoker didn’t drink much so thought I was quite healthy. Got diagnosed with inflammatory arthritis last year so am slowly trying to eat less UPF and more anti inflammatory foods. Think it was more stress that has caused my disease but wish I had been more aware years ago about a cleaner diet not just eating your five a day. Hardest thing I am finding to give up is chocolate

I'm trying to avoid the additives, emulsifiers, artificial flavours and colours etc. Not sure if this has been mentioned already but the YUKA app is incredible. I've already made so many swaps because of it. And not just food, shampoo and makeup too.

I don't really understand how low/no UPF has suddenly become so fashionable. Surely it's obvious that most pre-made stuff from supermarkets is full of rubbish, it's right there on the label.

Easy plenty of fruit and veg, whole grains, sufficient good quality protein and fat, and cook as much as possible from scratch. That's what we were taught at school in the 70s and 80s. It all seems such common sense that I'm surprised (or maybe not) that there's a whole industry making money from those principles now.

Supermarket sliced bread is minging. Shop bought cakes are not worth the calories.

I read Ultra Processed People a few weeks ago - I threw my half eaten chocolate bar in the bin, that’s how much impact it had on me.

You could try this recipe for UPF free home-made porridge mixes

www.theseasonalhomestead.com/homemade-instant-oatmeal-packets-better-than-quaker/

I made better choices for 15 years including doing loads of exercise, but only mounjaro has succeeded in helping me in eating only the tiny amounts I need to be able to lose weight. I'm paying for mine but it makes absolute sense to fund it on the NHS for obese people.

Was replying to the poster who called them 'treats'.

Don't call them treats and just eat them if you want them, but offset it with less of something else. It's all just food.

Vegan here. Can confirm that we do in fact, eat food 🤣

Just don't eat 'treats'.

3 meals a day is fine and a piece of fruit in between if you're starving.

or 1 square of dark choc- at least 70% cocoa solids and no emulsifiers in it.

I don't know why you started your thread with 'lying'? @AusBoundDD

Why should scientists lie?

The health of the microbiome is critical to health.

One of my family has advanced cancer. When he started immunotherapy he was advised by the oncologist to stick to a very healthy diet (the 30 plants a week. )

There is research published that shows cancer treatment can be 50% more effective when patients have a heathy microbiome (full of good bacteria.)

so my problem is the buiscuits and chocolate - dinners are fine , make my own bread

do you just replace the sweet junk with homemade treats or ?

I am not ultra strict but rarely eat crisps now and that used to be my biggest weakness. I only eat sourdough bread.

I try to eat more protein too.

I find food noise is down a lot. I eat way less carbs because sourdough just doesn't seem to create cravings.

I should eat more fruit but am not a huge fan but do like veg and pulses.

For me biggest advantage is it doesn't feel too restrictive once you identify the products that are less processed e.g. I use coconut milk for a meal and so many cans have additives but once you find the one that doesn't you just buy that one.

Have you tried no kneed baking?

Look up artisan bread in 5 minutes a day for the basic recipe.

Really delicious and doesn't require the labour or time factor, especially if you are doing it regularly as you can store your dough in the fridge and just grab a loaf's worth when you need it..

No!!!!! This drives me nuts - does diddly squat to stop people making poor choices but makes me pay more for my very occasional treat.

I might have a coke once a month or so. I absolutely cannot abide sweetener, can taste when it's been added to anything immediately. The bloody sugar tax meant that now a huge number of restaurants stopped serving full fat juice or the companies changed their recipes and ruined it! It's such a misnomer. Drinking diet coke or pepsi max is NOT better for your health!!

I cook the vast majority of our meals from scratch and always have done - mostly because that's how I grew up but also because I'm a reasonable cook and enjoy home cooked food / baked goods etc much more. I have always been at the lower end of a healthy BMI, despite having a considerable appetite and being quite sedentary. Probably not a coincidence.

I was reading about intermittent fasting recently and was shocked to learn that 12:12 was considered a fast that people had to work towards instead of just the norm!!! It's been known forever that eating in the evening is the fastest way to put on weight - yet people still do it!

I don't agree with the massive profits being made by using these horrible ingredients, but the things we expect the government to fix is terrifying. (E.g. "My interest rate won't be 1% anymore, the government need to subsidise my mortgage that I didn't plan properly for).

And now the NHS is going to fund weight loss injections because people won't start making better choices! It's madness!!!

I started eating a much ‘cleaner’ diet over two years ago. I cut down on a lot of fat but made everything from scratch with fresh veggies and fish occasionally. I lost four stone in under a year and have kind of stuck at my ideal weight for my height. I feel 100 % better and have sorted out my thyroid problem.

Correlation =/= causation.

It’s the junk food that’s the problem - high calorie, high sugar and simple carbs.

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