Is anyone here completely ultraprocessed food free?

[Mummysgogetter]

I have been reading Tim Spector's book about ultra-processed foods and I am wondering if anyone has any experience of being completely free from ultra-processed foods; in particular have you noticed any difference to weight, skin, mood, energy levels etc?

I'd say about 90% since birth. Because I am not British and ultraprocessed food is not eaten in my culture. I was in my forties before I ate anything out of a can. At the moment, the UPF I eat is sourdough bread, chocolate and crisps. Which I don't eat often.

I meant I am about 90% free of UPF.

I am when I'm eating at home. We're entitled to eat at work (residential children's home) and dinner there is sometimes UPF. I'm trying to re-educate staff and the young people living there about cooking with fresh ingredients, that are preferably seasonal and locally-sourced, but it's a long, slow task.

I also come from a culture where there is little UPF, but haven't been paying much attention until I read the same book/listened to podcasts etc. I am now back to the basics and really enjoy it. My intake of UPF is very limited to the odd occasion. It doesn't require a huge amount of effort or time, but some determination.
Benefits? I have suffering from IBS symptoms all my life, on a daily basis. No more now. No bloating/nausea/toilet trips also mean higher energy levels, clear skin and good mental health for me.

I think my health is the best advocate for eating UPF free. I haven't needed to take a day off sick since I started in this line of work 4 years ago, despite Covid happening during this time.

Giving up sugar is probably responsible for any weight loss. I think you need to incorporate other healthy lifestyle factors to be in optimum health: sleep, drinking caffeine-free drinks, exercise etc.

Erm, beyond tinned tomatoes and chocolate, I'd say in the main we are? Unless I've misunderstood what it is

I cook everything from scratch, never use packet mixes/ready meals etc.

But do occasionally eat out or have a take away (too occasionally at the minute and I've really noticed it)

I have good health generally, but giving up UPF isn't a magic cure, because I still have diabetes in my family ( S Asian). What I need to do is cut carbs, not just UPF, which is very hard. i have good skin, but I think that is more due to genes and Retin A 😀

Nah. My childhood was UPF-free because I'm old and very few foods were UP then, plus my mother's borderline orthorexic. I do feel it's worth striving towards a healthily natural diet for children (though not obsessively!) In adulthood, it probably matters far less.

That said, most of my food is 'real'. If I end up eating nothing but stuff with long ingredient lists for more than a few days, I do start to feel even more jaded & unhealthy than usual, get spots, and develop insane cravings for a salad 😂

The salient phrase here is ingredient lists. Most tinned and frozen foods, many packet products and even ready meals are made out of real food, maybe with a thickener such as xanthan gum and a preservative. Considering I use thickeners (including xanthan) in my own kitchen, and we all use preservatives, those things are not problematic in themselves.

The UPF question is about how many tweaks & processes the food's been through. European & British diets are nowhere near as process-heavy as the average American one, partly due to EU regulations which I hope the UK will not trash too badly.

I think that all we need to do is read labels and use our brains.

I would say 90% for the last 5yrs or so. Unfortunately it has done nothing for my digestive system (or skin/weight etc!), but I have bowel disease so that’s a bit different. When I have flare ups the only thing that seems to help alongside medication is to follow a low FODMAP diet, which can contain quite a bit of upf (white bread, white rice, etc).

I don't think white rice is UPF. I grew up on that. I have switched to brown or less rice now to stave off diabetes, but not for UPF reasons. The microwave packets are UPF.

Yes basically, except dark chocolate. I do go out for dinner maybe 3x a year (more before babies/toddlers) and obviously you don't know exactly what's in that. Another 3x a year I go into the city and buy a sandwich for lunch or something.
I've always cooked from scratch though. The only change I've made recently is switching to upf free bread. I haven't noticed any difference to how I feel, but obviously was already eating mostly upf free before anyway. I am apparently very healthy, and never feel tired, despite being up all night with wee kids.
Hope that helps OP. Even if you don't feel benefits now, hopefully you are staving off problems later.

A lot of the specific foods mentioned above are not UPF though. White rice, tinned tomatoes, usually chocolate, even often crisps aren't UPF!!

I would be surprised if the sourdough was, too, although you'd need to check ingredients/ process to be sure.

I’m the same as a poster further up. I have a lot of food problems related to bladder , ibs and a bad gallbladder. I do my best in terms of what I eat. But my diet is so restricted that sometimes I don’t have any choice in the Matter in what I eat. Would love to eat all the veggies and fruit but that would leave me stuck in a bathroom for days. Saying that. I eat wheetabix , some carrot crisps ( baby food section ) and some gluten free bread. Without these I would be free of them all.