Ultra processed foods

[Dowhadiddydiddydum]

Just listened to a podcast with Dr Chris Van Tullenken (think that was his name), talking about the health risks from ultra processed foods.

It got me wondering if I should cut down the amount put family consumes. We eat generally healthily but I can see we still consume a fair amount.

Has anyone been successful in reducing their intake of Ultra processed foods?
If so what did you do to manage it and do you have any tips?

I already cook a lot at home rather than buy ready meals. However we eat a lot of packaged snacks/cereals. I was wondering about bull making homemade cereal bars and things like that.

I think you're doing well, in the modern busy world just even trying is a win.
Cooking from scratch using simple ingredients for your main meals is great. Wholegrains rather than white, grains rather than pasta.
For snacks we try really hard to stick to fruit and veg. We do eat crisps and chocolate on occasion, but try to stick to quality ones with as few ingredients as possible.
Homemade granola bars/flapjacks with wholegrains are great, but of course would probably still count as processed to a purist. Every little helps as the saying goes though.

I wish I could be better at this so following this thread with interest. Bits I have managed:

Instead of sandwiches for lunch (typically shop bought bread and cold meat) we do things like soup or dahl or chilli with rice.

Not all cereals are as bad as each other. Shredded Wheat and Porridge are OK. Looking at the ingredients on Alpen no added sugar it seems fine too.

@LadyChilli yes the podcast mentioned cereals. It’s not something I’ve thought about before. I suppose porridge and wheatabix shouldn’t be too bad.

@Mumaway my DD eats TONS of pasta. Trying to reduce her intake but difficult because her diet is quite restricted.

There's a very long thread on doing this, and it has lots of helpful advice and questions answered. I have always avoided UPF, but as said, it's not easy. I think you have to pick your battles - for me, I am willing to buy lasagne sheets even though I can make better ones with flour and eggs. I only buy a pack in a cardboard box every few weeks and they haven't got additives. Bread, which is more of a staple, I make. Doesn't take long, and I have a good breadmaker for days when I don't have time to do it properly. I would choose one or two changes that will make a difference rather than trying to change everything.

Plain dried pasta isn’t UPF.

Most mueslis have additives such as whey and milk powder - not things you would put in home made! It's quite easy to make a large jar of muesli - but you'll notice the difference. The additives do make a difference, and it'll probably take a couple of weeks to get used to the unprocessed home made version. It also takes a lot more chewing!

No, it isn't which is why I buy it with a fairly easy conscience - it's pretty rubbish nutritionally compared to home made though.

I don't think pasta is that bad in terms of upf unless you are going low carb which is a whole different debate.

Bread is the thing that a lot of people's upf intake is increased by. Even bakery bread can contain emulsifiers etc.

Good upf free brands (if you don't want to bake your own) are Jason's and Bertinat Bakery, Crosta and Mollica is good for crackers.

Also I recommend the free yuka app, you can scan barcodes and it highlights harmful additives. Also good for hair and beauty products.

I also cook mostly from scratch, but reading about UPF did get me looking at labels more carefully, and also thinking about bread and breakfast cereals.

I now make a batch of homemade granola every week and we generally have this for breakfast, or porridge (using Flahavan's organic oats). I don't have a bread maker and can't be bothered with kneading and proving bread, so have opted for making soda bread which is very easy and delicious, and needs no kneading. I slice it up and then freeze it for conveniently making toast. That's all I've managed so far.

Buy a bread maker. Total game changer.

re snacks - make your own frozen lollies with yoghurt and blend in strawberries or raspberries

and oats/butter/raspberries make a great snack bar (cook in oven)

you could try making your own crisps

i read somewhere today that there are 50 ingredients in a cherry Bakewell

Glad to hear pasta isn’t too bad because I don’t see myself making pasta anytime soon, my dd eats it so frequently.

I might have to give thought to bread. We have a lot of wraps so I assume they’ll have the same issue.

@Mybacklookswierd thanks for the app suggestions. I’ll give that a try!

Soup. It’s much healthier for lunch I think. Gets us eating some extra veggies anyway and warm.
I generally make a new soup once a week, which is enough for several lunches for us. I keep some in fridge for maybe 2 days worth and freeze another 2-3 portions. After a few weeks you end up with various different soups in freezer also as speedy ready meals.
Good way of using up either random veg, bulk load if you bought cheap or garden produce.

Snacks - nuts are good, or fresh fruit. Another one I have done is homemade hummus which is very quick and easy to make and great to snack on with some raw veg.

I think plain ready salted crisps are okay too?

Crosta and Mollica are the only upf free wraps I have found in Tescos, Ocado sell Fitzgeralds kids wraps which look okay but the larger ones have emulsifiers.

It's a minefield but I have started using the foraging fox mayonnaise and Dr Wills sauces, the organic baked beans in Tesco's are fine and Montezuma chocolate (well the dark chocolate buttons are fine at any rate!)

Soup is very easy to make - I make three types regularly (tomato/red pepper, leak and potato and vegetable) and others now and again. Wraps, naan and flatbreads are dead simple once you master bread dough, and they are much easier than a loaf or rolls. Same with pizza.

I was gutted to learn that tinned tomatoes contain citric acid made from mould - need to find a brand that doesn't.

Ah you've reminded me that the other bread I make - apart from soda - is a ridiculously easy Jamie Oliver flatbread made with plain yoghurt and cooked in a hot frying pan. Great with soups, or topped with eggs.

@MotherofPearl Can you share your granola recipe please?

Sure, I use this one:

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/good-you-granola

I started off sticking very carefully to it but quickly realised that it's very adaptable. I vary the nuts and the dried fruit, and also the proportions of the seeds. I read that some maple syrup is an UPF so read the labels carefully (or just use all honey I guess).

Nothing wrong with pasta, Italians certainly live long and healthy lives on it! If you buy a quality brand the durum wheat is higher quality too, meaning it’s fairly rich in protein for a starch. If you mix it with a pulse and a vegetable (eg. Pasta with lentils) it’s a complete meal

I do cook from scratch but do cheat use the odd jar of sauce or vegetables/pulses, but I always read the label (been vegetarian since before it was a thing so always needed to check for snuck in gelatine) and choose the ones with very few, simple ingredients. Many meals are quick and simple, pasta with peas and pesto, omelettes, stir fries with spicy tofu, rice and dhal etc. so avoiding UPFs needn’t be a chore.

I rarely eat bread but when I do it’s usually from the bakery. Kids are given fruit, veg, hummus, cheese cubes, nuts etc as snacks, we do have biscuits too but very rarely or I bake cakes. For savoury snacks if I have the oven on I do cheese and marmite straws, cavolo nero crisps, toasted almonds with various flavourings or spicy dried fava beans. Also good as grown up aperitif bits with a glass of wine!

We avoid ultra processed foods, we have home baked cakes for snacks, there are loads of loaf tin cakes recipes which are literally put all ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix pour into a lined loaf tin, takes about 10 minutes to make and the kids prefer it to the ultra processed packaged snacks now.

Also homemade wraps are easy just flour, water and oil. We make up a batch of dough, freeze in portions and then defrost and cook as and when we need them. Again the kids prefer them to ultra processed wraps.

Obviously it is more time consuming than opening a packet but trial and error you work out what things are worth the extra effort and what things are worth tracking down non upf products you can buy Crosta and Mollica Pizza, hunter gather mayonnaise and Jason's sourdough sliced bread are good buys for our family.

You can do home made pizza base really easily and quickly with equal parts Greek yoghurt and flour, nothing else.

Yes to homemade cakes. I also do homemade shortbread which is super easy and only 3 ingredients!

Pasta isn't upf as others have said.
We started making bread in lockdown and it was so good and so easy we carried on. Ours is based on this recipe.https://garturstitchfarm.com/blog/kats-basic-sourdough?format=amp 5 mins prep and no need for a mixer or bread maker. And way nicer than bread maker bread

We make this granola https://cookieandkate.com/healthy-granola-recipe/ and also have greek yoghurt fruit and chia for breakfast. Or porridge, or shredded wheat

Snacks - apple + peanut butter, nuts, dark chocolate (look at labels for no emulsifiers etc), fruit, handful of granola, lump of cheese, homemade Hummus and veg sticks

The Crosta & Mollica Wraps don't have any nasty stuff in them. But it's relatively easy to make quick Wraps too.

Use loads of Chickpeas and butterbeans in salads and stews etc as we dont eat much meat and avoid fake meat