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!

@RollingInTheCreek we are having the flatbreads tonight too, with Cajun salmon, salad, avocado and sour cream - maybe some chips depending on portions :) Once you get into the swing (and accept that you'll probably never bee wholly completely UPF free I find it great)

Also worth checking out the glucose goddess. It's about ways to eat to avoid your blood sugar spiking so much.
Basic order is
vegetables, protein, fat, carbs, sugar (incl fruit)

It's actually really easy to make your own non dairy milk if you have a food processor or blender. I've never made soya milk but I've made almond (and other nuts), oat, coconut, pumpkin and sunflower seed milk. All you have to do is soak a large handful of nuts/seeds overnight then drain, put in blender, add fresh water - how much depends on how creamy you want it and blend. You can add a soaked date if you want it sweeter, and you can drain the pulp off using muslin (I don't bother for porridge/ cereal as its extra protein) If you do, save the pulp for making crumbles or anything else nutty.

Also mean't to say, its also possible to make your own cheese from nuts, usually almond or cashew and yoghurt using coconut milk

I get the organic unsweetened soya drink (milk) from Tesco. The ingredients listed are just water and organic soya beans.

Is marmite that bad?! We have it most morning on toast. Lunch is usually weetabix with bio yoghurt and some fruit etc blueberries raspberries banana. Dinner something like salmon with sweet potato wedges and greens, bolognese with wholewheat pasta, tuna and med veg risotto. DD has fromage frais for pudding and a biscuit. I thought we were pretty good eaters. My soft spot is chocolate buttons though, I can easily get through one of the sharing bags. But not share them of course 😟

I feel like this too and we work a lot less than you two by the sounds of things but still seem to struggle to make basic healthy-ish meals nonetheless!

Thank you I will try and find this

sessell oh that's fab I have a Tesco near me so I'll go and get that tomorrow.

Wonder about yoghurt ? We are really limited up here but I'll need to have a read of all the stuff in the free from fridge.

Love a bit of tasty condom😋😅🤣

Those with children, how have they taken to it? Mine are 3 and 5 so I really want to get them into healthy habits now but not sure how to go about it. I suppose I could slowly make food swaps and start making homemade snacks etc rather than a radical change and allow them to have some treats.

Even harder than my children is my husband. He has grown up on a diet of frozen processed foods and has bread with everything. His idea of a healthy breakfast is one of those ultra processed breakfast biscuits so it will be hard to get him on board.

I'm listening to the podcast just now and would like to cut down, but I'm struggling with understanding what counts as a UPF. I gather that the inclusion of just one "bad" ingredient is enough, and that many of them are vegetable extracts so don't necessarily sound as if they're UP. Does the addition of citric acid make something a UPF? Lactic acid? What about things like potato starch and cocoa mass? So confused!

Yes all of those make something upf. There is link a few posts up that shows the categories and what classes as a upf. There is also an open source project adding foods to an app so people can search for foods and it tells you what category they are.

You wouldn’t find lactic acid, citric acid, potato starch or cocoa mass in a domestic kitchen.

Yes all of those make something upf. There is link a few posts up that shows the categories and what classes as a upf. There is also an open source project adding foods to an app so people can search for foods and it tells you what category they are.

You wouldn’t find lactic acid, citric acid, potato starch or cocoa mass in a domestic kitchen.

Citric acid and potato starch surely are ok? I’ve got citric acid in my kitchen (for making elderflower cordial) and potato starch is a relatively standard gluten free thickener, isn’t it? For adding to gravies and such like…

I have both citric acid and potato starch in my kitchen

Ok, maybe I’m wrong!

A quick search on that open foods link, seems to suggest that potato starch itself is group 3. Processed but not ultra processed. But that pretty much anything with potato starch in that is bought from a shop (so in packaging etc) is group 4. But that could be of what else is on those products.

I’m really confused by that link and the classification.
for example it’s rated Aldi bolognese pasta sauce as 1 - unprocessed.
looking at the ingredients it includes modified maize starch, citric acid and a whole load of other stuff.
how is that level 1?

Are you sure? There are two scales. One is A-E for nutritional value and one is 1-4. When is watch bolognaise sauce I can’t find a single one that isn’t 3 or 4. But some are A for nutrition.

Ah I’ve found it. Must be a mistake. It is an open source project, so it won’t be perfect. The point is you know from reading the label that it’s upf.

The whole page/app relies on people editing and correcting. You can flag it as incorrect.

This is such a useful thread. I've also loved the podcast. Like PPs I'm vegan so dairy free cheeses, milks, yogurts and mayo are a bit of a stumbling block, so I plan to do some experiments with making my own.

Made my first loaf of bread today using this no-knead recipe. I'm not a baker by any stretch of the imagination, but the results look like something from a deli! Very impressed!

www.bowlofdelicious.com/dutch-oven-bread/

Thanks @TorviShieldMaiden

this is a great thread

What is the issue with UPF and why did someone say wheatabix is bad???