How did you reduce your Ultra Processed Food consumption

[RollingInTheCreek]

Have just listened to the 'A Thorough Examination' podcast and was horrified. I thought we ate well, we cook a lot from scratch but especially with the kids foods etc. We use the odd packet (e.g old el paso), they love ham and sausages although I have really tried to reduce this due to the carcinogen risk, and they love ice lollies etc.
We are going to use up obviously any cereal, fishfingers etc so it doesn't go to waste but then I am really going to try and make some changes to our eating habbits. As I said we do eat fairly well and have an allotment so lots of homegrown fruit and veg but we can do better!
My plans are:

• Make fingers/chicken goujons myself with breadcrumbs


• Less bread/crumpets etc overall and buy from local bakery instead of supermarket


• More fresh produce, eggs, etc


• Dippy egg, porridge/overnight oats or yogurt and fruit for breakfast


• Less processed kids snacks e.g malt loaf (would appreciate ideas for alternatives! Cucumber sticks and hummous etc.?)


• Eat less meat generally and more veg based meals and fish

If you have tried this do you keep using things like marmite? I know its processed but we all love it and I feel like making big changes will mean small things like that should be fine.
Appreciate anyones experiences!

Batch cook scones and cheese scones for snacks.
Home made flap jack doesn’t worry me, in moderation.
Honestly I think worrying about Marmite is getting obsessive. Many overall healthy cuisines use condoms and flavourings such as miso… is that ultra processed? You are unusual if you eat more than tiny amounts of B vitamin rich Marmite!

Many overall healthy cuisines use condoms and flavourings

Yum 😆😆

Mmmmmm condoms 🤣

You don't have to cut it out entirely. I cook a lot more from scratch now than I used to but still use things like stock, marmite, tomato puree for flavour

I’m on a mission to do this for my kids too. Problem is DH prepares 95% of their meals as I’m working and he’s just not on board with this stuff…

Dying at condoms

We have started with the homemade goujons and fish fingers and the kids love getting involved.

Homemade chips with potatoes or sweet potato fries.
We don't eat much bread, but have swapped to the bakery section in Tesco (i know now great but better than the proper packeted stuff)
kids still having cereal but only Shreddies (well tesco version) and weetabix, both accompanied by a banana and blueberries so quantities have reduced.

I made homemade ice lollies the other day, some were nutella and whole milk, some were smoothies.

Snacks - as pp homemade cheese scone, fruit, homemade oaty fingers, a digestive biscuit, frozen yogurt bark.

we are only a couple of weeks in but I'm really noticing a turn, especially in how little they're wanting to snack now!

For health reasons I have been making a massive effort to avoid UPFs this last year or so. Helped by a family member who is an excellent scratch cook.
Bread is always from a bakery, any leftover bits get made into breadcrumbs (using the grater) and frozen. Good for toppings for Mac cheese etc.
Snacks are either fruit, nuts, dried fruit, or things like Nakd bars (for DD).
Pasta sauces I batch cook and freeze.
Instead of baked beans, I make a sofrito mix, with tomatoes and paprika, whizz, and add a tin of mixed beans.
I tend to make a basic sauce base that I can add different veg to on the day to have a range of sauces.
Stir fry, risotto etc all home made, make extra and freeze.
Eggs are great, for omelets, poached with veg, for home made cakes etc.
What I struggle with replacing are ketchup, and veggie sausages / mince. Not going to stop being veggie tho!

Yes bread is my real sticking point. I am not good at baking it. Just listened to the Food Programme and they said most supermarket sourdough (which I’d assumed was healthy) was still v processed and just flavoured normal bread so still caused blood sugar spikes etc.. they recommended Bertinet whixh I am going to try to order. Local fancy bakery has queues and is an effort vs easy supermrwrkt delivery. Kids have agreed that we will bake a cake a week for packed lunches rather than nasty chocolate bars. Plain crisps have only three ingredients (potato, salt, oil) vs the weird ones like frazzles.
I have made my peace with their weekly bowl of chocolate cereal and my use of Laoganma Chili oil. Figure some processed that we can stick to is better than going all out.

Well you can get flavoured condoms, they seem ultra processed to me😁

I reduced my ultra processed food intake by going low carb, avoiding sugar & refined grains and intermittent fasting.

As a family we totally avoid cereals for the kids and try not to do them sandwiches. Plus cooking from scratch with whole food ingredients. It did require a big change in the way we eat but we're all much healthier for it.

Home made bliss balls are a good snack too. And porridge with fresh fruit is a lovely breakfast!

Following - I’ve heard similar podcasts recently but TBH it just seems impossible with tiny DCs, both work more than FT. Eating at all is a hassle a lot of the time 😕

I make batches of bara brith which is not unlike malt loaf and either freezes or can be kept for about a week. Also breadmaking is easy enough with a bread maker (and quicker for us than queuing at the bakery).

Other snacks - crudités and hummus or cream cheese; slices of cheese and olives. Fruit. Sometimes raisins etc.

Have a look at the difference between processed culinary ingredients (bacon, marmite, miso) and ultra processed food (ice cream, ready meals, biscuits). Don't make it harder for yourself by cutting out too much!

Recently I've been cutting out upf every time I want to lose a few pounds and it's been working like magic. A bit scary really.

I’m following with interest, I’m listening to the podcast mentioned but I’m half way through the second episode and it is so slow and boring. Does it get more useful?

It's a really good listen, isn't it?
Dinners are easy as I cook almost everything from scratch. Am finding lunches harder though. Bread was an eye-opener for me, especially bought chapatis and wraps. I don't have a wnaky bakery nearby, and chain bakeries don't seem dramatically better than the supermarkets. I need to bake more at the weekend - it's actually not that much of a faff if you get into a routine. H and I usually take a salad with fish or falafel, but the teens just want a white roll with ham .

I make my own fishfingers (yukata panko is just wheat flour, yeast and salt) and they are sooo much tastier than frozen.

I think the suggestion was that aiming for 80:20 creates a good balance and is pretty achievable, and on that basis I'm now eating a Cornetto .

I think it's unrealistic to cut out all processed food. It's way more doable if you don't get stressed out for using some.

We cook pretty much all lunches and dinners from scratch. Snacks are trickier!
Like others we are not aiming to be completely religiously cutting out ultra processed stuff but, by habitually cooking from scratch we are using whole ingredients for the majority of our eating.
I do love a sausage with ketchup and the odd beans on toast though!

We basically don't buy any ready-made food to eat at home, we make our own bread etc and cook meals from mostly raw ingredients.

We have recently stopped buying any snacks to consume in the home. If we want a snack we have toast and jam, or some cake. It has the same calories as a chocolate bar or bought biscuits but none of the crap ingredients. Yogurt we only eat plain, we don't drink any soft drinks, we don't buy cereal.

Single biggest change most people can make is make their own bread. We make a four loaf batch once per week, slice and freeze. We also make some extras like pitta breads, one batch makes 20 so worth the time effort. If you CBA to make bread in the oven a bread machine gives the same control over ingredients without any actual cooking involved.

Next biggest change is stop buying cereal, just buy oats.

I think it is a process, we have cut more out over time, but think a total ban is unhelpful at the outset.

I’ve been using a bread maker that was gifted to me and sitting the the cupboard gathering dust- it’s been much easier than I thought, it makes a loaf in 1hour 20 mins and the bread is nice.

baking kids snacks (flapjack, carrot cakes, muffins, cheese straws, oatcakes, jam tarts etc)

replacing all yogurts with Greek, and adding honey, nuts and fruits If needed

kids puddings are now pineapple / melon / stewed or fresh apple, something baked, cream rather than ice cream (We still have some treats but massively less than when we started)

roast Chicken night (make a roast abs then use left overs for soup)

I’ve switched cream cheese (all of which has locust bean gum etc) to either ricotta or mascarpone

lots of beans in salads for protein, put lentils in things

various cheeses, loads of egg based meals,

home made flat bread (Jamie Oliver yoghurt bread is amazing)

switched all oils to olive oil and butter.

i basically cook everything from scratch now and it’s time consuming, but it’s possible with lots of planning

what I have noticed is that if baking with butter rather than margarine, the end product is nicer and you need less of it.

I think of meals that my Nan cooked me when I was small and try to make them, I was listening to Micheal pollan on this subject and he said I’d ur grandma wouldn’t know it as food, don’t eat it.

its saved me money really. We don’t have takeaways really anymore. And I’ve learned to cook some really nice things.

Find a decent butcher rather than a supermarket. Our butcher makes sausages while we watch, so can see what goes into them. He makes mint sauce and coats lamb chops, chicken breasts coated with garlic & herbs, all fresh.

Buy whole fresh or frozen vegetables

Use a bread maker over-night.

Snacks, I batch-bake tomato or walnut bread and freeze in thick slices for snacks. Just add butter or oil & balsamic vinegar

Desserts - fresh fruit and cream works for most.

its saved me money really. We don’t have takeaways really anymore. It has definitely saved us money and also the other big benefit is the mental health benefits of just eating really good food - UPFs make humans feel crap.

I’ve noticed feeling better for it as well. And less guilty about feeding my kids stuff that I had a suspicion wasn’t great for them. They still get stuff at nursery/ from grandparents that’s processed, but it’s more balanced.

I’ve lost weight too. Not loads, but in the book ‘why we eat too much’ he says any weight loss from removing UFPs will be slow and sustained, so I’ve not really been weighing, just noticed my clothes fit better etc.

OMG!
Bloody autocorrect.

CONDIMENTS!

😂🙄😳😳😳

I've become a fan of the Dr Joanna McMillan books and her podcasts which are available on audible for anyone with a subscription.

For adults she recommends 1/2 a plate of vegetables, a 1/4 protein and a 1/4 carbs. For teens a 1/3 of each.

Proteins include oily fish and lean meat and poultry, carbs should ideally be whole grains and she encourages eating legumes regularly.

I've found increasing veg, has taken me away from processed food naturally.
Meals this week include chicken salad, butternut squash curry, salmon and new potatoes, home made falafels, and frittata.