If you’ve managed to completely give up UPF do you feel better for it?

[Sheswatchingyou]

Posting here for traffic.
2 months ago I stopped buying eating any UPF unless I was eating in someone else’s house.
Ive never eaten loads, I had a fairly healthy diet, rarely ate ready meals perhaps once a month, ditto take away, no pot noodles, breakfast cereals, fizzy drinks (I only drink water) flavoured yoghurts I love natural yoghurt etc but I did have a terrible weakness for biscuits cakes sweets and I bought my bread in a supermarket. Ive never eaten lots of red meat, I was always a big fruit eater but not an enormous vegetable eater.
Now I don’t eat any UPF, I buy my bread in an artisan baker, eat loads of vegetables of all colours, only eat organic kefir, red meat once a fortnight if that, chicken once a week, loads of beans, oily fish twice a week, very rarely any sweets biscuits or cakes and I don’t even like them when I do eat them. It’s definitely costing me more money but I’m very lucky I can afford it.
Before I disclose if I feel better or not for it Im very interested in others experiences.

I was already low UPF before I read the book so didn't see a big change, but I am definitely sold on the idea and trying my best to limit my children’s UPF too.
It’s so, so, so hard when they go to school! From seeing what their friends eat and drink at lunch, birthday treats brought to school, actual school treats because of x (Christmas, heatwave, non uniform day, science experiment day, Easter, new teacher, etc, etc) and add all the haribo they are randomly gifted…

yes, I feel the same

I find this sourdough so ‘ greasy’ so am on the hunt for a nicer one . I have reduced UPF intake and feel I sleep better and have more energy .

It's not amazing, but at least it's pretty ubiquitous in all the supermarkets so I just have it in the freezer for ease.

I've actively avoided UPFs for the past twenty years. I started when I was at university and carried on from there. I read the ingredients list of everything I buy and won't touch anything with emulsifiers or any chemical sounding names. I can't tell whether I feel better because I've got nothing to compare to, but I am a healthy weight and generally healthy and in good shape. It's not a panacea though - it's not going to solve every health problem. You also need to make sure you're eating for maximum nutrition which is making sure you get all the minerals, vitamins and probiotics you need through your food, not just through tablets.

I didn't feel much different, but I can certainly taste, or more feel the texture, differences in high UPF foods.

I cut UPFs out really strictly for a decent amount of time and have then over time modestly reintroduced some and stuck to other UPF free foods. I don't eat dorritos or strongly/ crazily flavoured crisps for example.

I think it's worth doing it as an education process.

Same. For the past couple of months I have cut out UPF. I have the odd square of organic dark chocolate, but other than that almost nothing highly processed.
I am slimmer, and I am slightly less tired but not much of a difference.
I don’t look any better other than being slimmer than before. I think I actually look more blue under my eyes. Maybe I am getting less of something I need, my skin is drier perhaps from less fat.

Was this all that you needed to lose @Whatisthisperihell? Or more of a kickstart to your weight loss? I need to lose a stone and doing it in six weeks would be amazing!

I’ve given them up and felt amazing but I always fall back into eating them again. It feels impossible to avoid UPF long term. I’d love that Van Tulleken bloke to explain how he does it.

Why not just bake your own cakes and biscuits?

No UPFs in flour/butter/sugar/eggs.

But yes, I feel better when I cut UPFs - especially sweeteners.

I've recently fallen back into drinking squash (which nearly all have sweeteners in) and am not looking forward to giving it up again.

I had a pretty good diet before, and didn't really notice that cutting out upf made me feel better. But then I went away for a week and had to mostly eat upf stuff and felt horrible.

My taste buds have definitely changed and things I used to enjoy I no longer enjoy much as they taste artificial and chemically to me, or much too salty. Or the texture is weird. I don't like cheap ice-cream anymore for example. And don't like eating out much.

So I'd say day to day I buy non upf, high quality food mostly for the taste rather than the health benefits. But I know if I ate loads of upf again I'd feel horrible.

Interesting. I moved from the UK to Italy. It is perfectly possible to access UPFs here but just that bit harder than in the UK - supermarkets have a huge range of fresh food, including bread which only lasts for a day because of the lack of emulsifiers, and culturally many people do tend to eat a Mediterranean diet.
i actually put on weight 😁 in year 1 due to loads of pasta and generally eating everything in sofht. Now I eat mostly non- upf, am losing the weight and feel pretty good
by contrast, I’m just on the way back from a trip to the US and Canada. There, I found if actively harder to avoid UPFs. We bought some bread for breakfast, looked at the label (after eating it) and it was composed entirely of chemicals.
by day 5, I actually did feel quite ill. It felt sort of like having a hangover but from food. Dd the same. Was craving a salad, unusually.

Never truly cut out all UPFs but when I cut out sugar and alcohol - which I do periodically- that takes out a lot of my UPF foodstuffs and I feel, and look, noticeably better. It’s worth it. Tho I ebb and flow with how strict I am.

I don’t feel that different eating them vs not eating them. I do feel better if I cut out sugar though.

I don’t avoid UPF specifically but I’ve consciously cooked clean for years mainly as I think my sauces etc are better than jars. I do add salt and sugar to many of my recipes and I am very partial to a box of mcds 20 nuggets if I’ve been out on the sauce. I do try!

I eat less of them, have lost a couple of pounds ans feel better. Less hungry, fewer cravings.

Thank you everyone lots of very interesting replies. I should add I very rarely drink alcohol and this has been the case for 40+ years and have coeliac disease so although I can make my own cakes and will eat any made especially for me it’s slightly more tedious so I don’t bother. I think it would also be fair to have said I had a very “sweet tooth” but interestingly now I’m not interested in surgery things unless very tired and hungry.
So I do feel significantly better in a way I can’t quite explain (hence starting this thread I guess) I just feel much healthier in general. I do have much less joint pain/stiffness especially at night I just thought it was getting older, less irritating crampy abdominal pain again at night, I think more energy, I’ve lost 10kg without really trying, (I’m technically about 2-3kg overweight but am only a size 10-12), I don’t snack/eat between meals especially in the evenings anymore I eat my meal and feel satisfied, but I do suffer from serious reflux (am waiting for surgery) sadly this hasn’t improved at all, my memory was always pretty, good, colleagues often comment on it, but now it’s better I think. No change is my skin and hair I’m fortunate both are pretty good.
The other thing is when I do eat UPF I hate it I don’t like the taste or texture. A friend invited me to a party because of the coeliac disease keen to cater for my gluten free diet she bought all UPF, ready made sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, crisps etc I felt obligated to eat them but barely could there was just something absolutely repellent about them. In the book Ultra Processed People he comments that after a while all UPF whether sweet or savoury all starts to taste the same and I think this is true.

I need to read this book . I am honestly not sure how much upf I eat. I make alot from scratch, all. Bread is made at home, cakes, biscuits, granola, yogurt but I also like crisps and chocolate which is store bought. Dinners are 80 percent of time time are home cooked, homemade sauces etc but every now and then a pasta bake or a Thai curry packet. I dont buy any ready meals. I make our pizzas from scratch and pitta breads etc so I think I do well but I have not cut them out completely. How i feel.... Not the best to be honest, fatigued quite a lot, less energy than I should have. I also enjoy curry or Chinese takeaway which is probably a whole other level.

Im on a diet and the last couple months have eaten mostly salads, veg, fruit, all dinners from scratch and only the odd piece of bacon as the only processed food. No alcohol. Do I feel any better? No. I’ve lost 10kg though!

Yes I pretty much avoid UPF and definitely feel better. What is most striking is if I ever do eat some UPF food! The lack of energy and general discomfort is noticeable!

^This you’ve worded it better than I did,
With regard to the book I listened to it on audible (twice) I suspect that might be easier. He writes in quite an informal way uses lots of anecdotes some are quite amusing lots I could relate too. A couple of friends have physically read it, it’s definitely not something you’d read as you go off to sleep he quotes hundreds of research papers and you do need to actually read it rather than skim read it if you are going to get the most out of it.
He also talks about diets, supplements (that alone is worth reading), exercise, obesity and why people over eat, all backed up by independent (ie not food industry sponsored) research. He believes UPF in the future will be the cigarettes of today, the association with UPF and poverty is unsurprising but depressing. Ultimately it costs a lot more to eat healthily. It’s not difficult to not eat UPF once you’ve decided not too if you can afford it, have easy access to shops that sell non UPF food, are able to ignore the intense marketing of it by the food industry giants, have the time, facilities and knowledge to cook and store it and are willing to eat more vegetables etc and chance that some meals you won’t like and will throw away. But it’s also so easy to see why so many do eat it.

I actually don’t find being UPF free expensive at all. I make nearly everything from scratch and it’s actually cheaper (and no waste!). I’m now really organised but it has taken time to get to where I am but has been worth it for us! Enjoy the journey.

Thank you. I think it largely depends what you eat. My very small loaf of bread costs £4 but it is organic and gluten free so that probably increases the cost but I believe you can buy a large Hovis loaf for under a £1 and it would keep longer than my artisan tiny loaf and non gluten free one in the same shop I buy my bread although significantly bigger costs £4. I never eat pizza but in the book he gave an example you can buy a UPF pizza in a supermarket for £1-2 but an artisan not UPF pizza from a local pizzeria to take away £16! Healthy non UPF cereal (if you can find it) cost considerably more than coco pops. Ditto natural yoghurt of Muller corners. Proper cheese over cheese strings. I could go on. And of course parents in particular know there kids will eat coco pops or Muller corners.

No, I do not feel any better. Despite big changes to my diet (so now low fat, high fibre, low sugar, no alcohol) I do not feel better. Symptoms such as acid reflux, bloating, IBS continue as usual. However, my cholesterol has reduced a bit (which was what I was aiming for). I will be glad to get to the end of my packet of chia seeds and never see them again.

I don’t think I would feel better if I ate chia seeds!
I think it’s more roast chicken va chicken nuggets, salmon vs fishcakes, bran flakes or porridge vs coco pops etc…