I need a list of ULTRA processed food and processed food

[LaurieFairyCake]

Internet searching just throws up people arguing about it

Is the (agreeable) difference that processed food is completely recognisable raw ingredients turned into something

• like fruit turned into jam/yeast into marmite

And ULTRA processed food is occasional ingredients with a longer list of additives - stabilisers/gum/E numbers/ ?

Basically I want to be able to compile my own list of food to avoid - and find replacements for things I eat every day (crisps that aren't crisps like Quavers and Wotsits)

And is Ryvita a processed food - basically baked wheat ? But not ultra processed? - I eat them every day !

If you really want to avoid ultra processed/processed food, it's just so simple. You cook everything from scratch. These days, it's not difficult, say, to cook a pasta from scratch. I actually do, to some extent(not pasta though), when I'm cooking something, because only way I can cook something without using shop bought stuff is to make it myself, when dealing with someone who has multiple food allergies and want to have the meals I want to cook.

Most people comes to terms with it, like me, I use shop bought pasta, because it's easy. I don't question or feel guilty about it.

The reason why I feel no guilt when using occasional shop bought stuff? Because 90+% of my food is made from scratch.

I was anorexic for years and have wasted way too much if my life analysing labels and doing calculations.
Part of my recovery process was deciding to eat more real food rather than more processed low fat versions eg I'll eat bakery bread rather than bread that was super thinly sliced, butter rather than the lowest fat margarine, full fat Greek yoghurt with fruit rather than muller light etc.

....but now I feel like I do need to start looking at labels again. I would make a pasta sauce from scratch using vegetables....but I might put chorizo in it...so that makes it more processed. (My attempts at making actual pasta were disastrous!🤣) I cooked pulled pork yesterday with herbs and seasoning, cider etc but then added bbq sauce, so does that cancel it out. And I didn't know all oils were not equal. I mean there can't be many people who literally make everything from scratch...can there? Are people making their own mayo to put with tuna for example?

@Fizbosshoes
I think it's about balance, like everything. I am not making mayo.

Two years ago DD might have had supermarket 50:50 bread with Marge and jam or Nutella for breakfast. For lunch supermarket bread again with ham or tuna mayo, a bag of crisps, a cereal bar and an apple, and for tea chicken nuggets, potato waffles, and sweetcorn followed by a bought muffin or cake.

Now she has toast made without emulsifiers or preservatives, with real butter or peanut butter made from just peanuts. For lunch she has homemade American pancakes with strawberries or a fresh bakery bread roll with tuna mayo, and the mayo is from "sauce shop" which has no gums or preservatives. She has natural Greek yoghurt with honey and an apple. Kettle type crisps if she wants them. For dinner she might have home made nuggets with mash and broccoli. Or last night we had home made beefburgers in buns. She made a mug pizza when she was hungry as a snack, and had a bonne mamman Madeline, strawberries and some haagen das vanilla ice cream for pudding. I am really not making everything from scratch but I am making more mindful choices I suppose. She still wants to be a kid and eat like her friends do.

We use cartons of passata with garlic and herbs or basil a lot as a pasta sauce base btw.

I don’t think the “cancel it out” school of thought is helpful.

Remember the 80/20 rule of thumb. It’s very difficult and time consuming to stay 100% UPF free. It’s not especially hard, however, to stay 80% non-UPF and that’s a really good point to aim for. Stressing about a squirt of BBQ sauce isn’t really a good frame of mind to be in - your meal is still overall less ultra-processed than many.

And there’s no need to “come to terms with” using shop bought pasta when pasta isn’t a UPF anyway!

Why seed oils?

I think the main problem with seed oils is that they contain too much omega 6. This is ok in moderation but due to being in most upf people are now injesting far too much which imbalances the omega 3 and is meant to be inflammatory contributing to heart disease, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, arthritis, Alzheimer’s and many types of cancer.

And some 'make from scratch' effort is more pfaff than others. If you have a stick blender, making mayonnaise from scratch with an egg yoke and olive oil is a doddle in a couple of minutes. Add flavourings like garlic too for variety. Enjoy.

@Fizbosshoes You don't have to worry about the small UHP foods that you are adding. Since the rest of your diet seem to be OK you'll be ok.

Following as I’d really like to learn more!