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

@AusBoundDD check the actual ingredients in the M&S bread. Just because it’s unwrapped in the ‘bakery’ section doesn’t mean it’s UPF free.

Same experience here. Sometimes I wonder if I've convinced myself I feel better, when I'm not entirely sure I believe I do, if that makes sense? Almost like a placebo effect.
It has made me reflect harder on the snacks and cereal I offer my little ones though.

This thread has reminded me I keep intending to make soda bread again!

Ok so you're eating less stuff like crisps, ready meals, etc. That's still restricting fatty, sugary food and explains the weight loss.

If you cook mainly from scratch you probably already have a fairly healthy diet (unlike OP who cut out crisps, ready meals, etc therefore unsurprisingly lost weight), so for you changing the ingredients slightly but basically eating the same food won't make much difference. If you want to lose weight then eat what you're eating but slightly less, or move more, or both.

If you cook mainly from scratch you probably already have a fairly healthy diet (unlike OP who cut out crisps, ready meals, etc therefore unsurprisingly lost weight), so for you changing the ingredients slightly but basically eating the same food won't make much difference. If you want to lose weight then eat what you're eating but slightly less, or move more, or both.

@justsawjohnny "I bit a McDonalds burger last week and it felt like foam in my mouth and went all gummy when chewed."

This should be a clear indication that it's a psychosomatic effect not a physiological one. You presumably don't believe that your mouth biology has changed and now turns bread into foam/gum. You feel differently about the "bad" food so your brain experiences them differently and they feel "bad" to you. Good foundation to lose weight as you'll be mentally repulsed by food you believe to be bad, but not evidence of their evil contents.

You are restricting though OP. Not eating crisps (high in fat), ready meals (high in fat), etc. You're on a diet with the currently in vogue new name and you're losing weight by eating less crap. Not groundbreaking but well done

Exactly this which is why I laugh when people talk about their bloody stock cubes being UPFs for gods sake.

my point is not that it’s a trend. My point is that is not a new trend. Anyone around in the 70s and 80s will find the messages of anti-UPF decidedly familiar. Whole foods are not a 2020s discovery.

Also, the evidence on UPFs is actually not at all strong. Yes, the evidence for individual components like trans fats is strong. There is no solid evidence that UPF in moderation is the cause of anything. If processed foods devoid of nutrients and high in fat, salt and sugar displace nutrient dense foods, then yes of course that’s a problem.

I've always known about good nutrition as I bought a book on it in my early 20s.

I just thought everyone else had a better digestion system than me and didn't feel it as much.

The big eye opener for me though with UPF was bread. I had no idea that supermarket bread had emulsifiers in it.

Try the Crosta & Mollica.wraps - only 4 ingredients.

Well done on the weight loss OP but its not rocket science, theres no clear definition as to what UPF is anyway, but essentially to cook and prepare your own food means you buy less food overall, have less 'instant' food in, so arent going to snack as easily therefore your intake is less.

I cook all my own food for various reasons, unfortunately Im still prone to overeating if unless Im careful, particularly my own baking which is far superior to shop bought, and therefore I want to eat more of it!

Emperor’s new clothes? Really? As in, avoiding UPFs is just a… trend?

There’s so much evidence they are worse for you than the equivalent home-baked cake/biscuits etc that I can’t believe you’re saying that.

This hasn't been my experience unfortunately. I think we've always cooked from scratch more than a lot of people but since January I've really cut back on UPFs. I honestly feel and look exactly the same. I'm trying to tell myself it's worth it but I'm just not seeing the benefits. Maybe you need to go 100% UPF-free to though.....

I agree. I’d never go back.

I've just been in the States and their food is PACKED with junk, including colourings that were banned in Europe in the 80s!
I've eaten non-UPF for about 2 years now and feel great, never get cravings and have a flatter stomach. I no longer recognise UPF as food.

Common sense is very often a poor foundation for science. Just because one thing happens and another thing happens at the same time doesn’t mean one causes the other. Correlation and causation are fundamentally different concepts.

What has ‘no food in them’ got to do with being vegan?!

The only chocolate I buy regularly is 100% cocoa, usually Montezuma’s Absolute Black, which is apparently fairly low UPF & which I discovered in my local Asda.

It’s very much an acquired taste & I worked up to it through the 70% & 90%. I enjoy it now & a couple of squares go a long way.

(I’m only buying for me though, which does make it much easier).

Really recommend listening to this interview with Dr Robert Lustig from a few years ago. They talk quite a bit about UPF - Really eye opening and some of it horrifying.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/feel-better-live-more-with-dr-rangan-chatterjee/id1333552422?i=1000555636677

This. You’ve lost weight and you’re feeling better because you’re eating healthier food. There’s no specific UPF magic. Congrats though!

@VeraWangTea Crosta and Mollica wraps are delicious and barely any ingredients