Ultra Processed Food- how much do you eat?

[pigeonpies]

Reading an article about ultra processed foods (UPF) and the link to poor health. Not rocket science I suppose, we all know the risks. But today is for me thinking because a lot of food typically targeted at kids ( sugary cereals ex)

I want to change the way my family eat. AIBU to think this will be more difficult than I imagine?

I thought we were doing ok but then saw how much stuff in my kitchen is ultra professed!

In theory cooking from natural foods feels great but not always practical!

If you are already followed a low UPF way of living I'd like to hear the sort of things you eat!

Thanks

@CounsellorTroi

"What about plant milks? They are pretty processed."

They are processed, but it depends on what's added.

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@Judystilldreamsofhorses

I remember reading this article in the Guardian about it:

www.theguardian.com/food/2020/feb/13/how-ultra-processed-food-took-over-your-shopping-basket-brazil-carlos-monteiro

(It's long though.)

My take on it is just balance in terms of time. So tonight we are having a chicken pie from M&S, with fresh broccoli, and mashed potatoes. Last night I cooked a chilli from scratch, with loads of vegetables in it, but we had it with microwave rice.

That’s a good article. I listened to it on The Guardian Long Reads podcast instead of reading. I highly recommend it listening/reading it.

@Lalliella, I cut out dairy when going through the menopause. A quick Google will tell you non dairy sources. The best thing you can do for your bones is some weight lifting. Or at least weight bearing exercise.

@lalliella, I don't eat dairy no. It is a bit of a worry but I hope I get enough calcium from green veg, occasional tinned sardines with bones, nuts and the almond milk (fortified) lattes I forgot to mention! I might get myself some calcium tablets though as I am peri menopausal myself.

I started eating this way after reading Dr Terry Wahls' book The Wahls Protocol about five years ago. She has MS and is now pretty much symptom free, and many other people with autoimmune and neurological illnesses have found relief through her diet. I have struggled to follow the diet at times, sometimes lapsing into bingeing everything processed, sugary, and dairy-y for months at a time, but knowing how crap I feel when I eat that way has helped me stick to it this year and I'm really enjoying the benefits now. 🤞

I now eat far fewer ultra processed foods than I used to. I've gradually cut them out over the past 10 or so years and now mostly eat fresh or minimally processed stuff.

The lockdown last year accelerated the process, as I had the time to make a lot more meals from scratch and I stopped eating takeaway food (but, tbf, I only used to eat that about once a month anyway) and I have continued to do it. The fact that I have now retired has helped enormously, as I don't think I would have the time or energy to do all the preparation and cooking if I still worked full-time as well.

I rarely if ever buy ready-meals, but do sometimes drink oat milk, regularly eat veggie mince/burgers, drink fruit juice from concentrate, eat a bit of chocolate most days. Bread alternates between bakery bought (probably not ultra-processed) and supermarket-bought (possibly ultra-processed). There's a good chance the granola I eat counts as ultra-processed too.

I can't really get worked up about it. Sure, something like quorn is ultra-processed, but (as far as I can tell) there is nothing that indicates it's actually bad for you. It's high in protein, low in salt and fat, so why should it matter that it's not 'natural'?

Think I'm in reasonable shape here, we cook 98% of our meals from scratch so we do pretty well on that front. Bread comes fresh from the local bakery and we don't eat breakfast cereals (aside from porridge made from plain oats). We do eat the odd bit of bacon and chorizo (though it sounds like those aren't deemed 'ultra-processed'?) and I won't pretend we don't sometimes have chocolate and ice cream!

Where do things like soy sauce and miso paste fall on the spectrum? We do use a fair bit of those and they're clearly fairly heavily processed...

I don't eat very much upf at all, not really been a conscious choice and I don't actively avoid it. I don't really get how eating it is more convenient, aside from ready meals and table sauces

Crisps for the kids packed lunches. That's about it unless you count tinned tomatoes.

a lot of food typically targeted at kids ( sugary cereals ex)

Pretty sure there are rules around exactly this, and cereals in particular are not allowed to be marketed to children.

I’m comfortable with our levels of ‘bad’ food eating, which might be one ‘beige’ meal a week, the rest cooked as a proper meal. We could definitely do with incorporating more vegetables though.

Our main meal and usually lunch are cooked from scratch, but the kids do eat cereal and toast. I don't have time to make my own bread. And snacks are UPF usually, rice cakes, biscuits, cheese.

I'd say we're 50/50.

I'd like to see some brands of minimally processed cereals and breads though. I don't have time to be making stuff for breakfast for the kids.

To answer the original question of how much UPF do I eat, the answer is a lot. But I also eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables, cook using mostly fresh ingredients and try to have a healthy balanced diet, saying that I did eat 2 Belgium buns and a jam doughnut at midnight last night.

I already have bad health because of a genetic disorder, a carrot isn't going to cure my condition, but a cupcake will make me feel better about it.

Easy ways I improve my diet include:

Pre boiled eggs ready for me and kids
Preparing lots of salad: grated or chopped carrot, washed greens in fridge, having herbs on the windowsill and in garden. Oil and cider vinegar. Add salt! All improve salad / cooked veg.
In the freezer I keep meat and vegetables. In the fridge I usually have smoked mackerel, eggs and cheese. We always have long lasting root veg too. Stops me thinking I have nothing much in so could justify a takeaway or eating pizza for tea which I used to do.

@Allthereindeersaregirls

Our main meal and usually lunch are cooked from scratch, but the kids do eat cereal and toast. I don't have time to make my own bread. And snacks are UPF usually, rice cakes, biscuits, cheese.

I'd say we're 50/50.

I'd like to see some brands of minimally processed cereals and breads though. I don't have time to be making stuff for breakfast for the kids.

Minimally processed breakfast cereal is porridge oats. Takes 5 minutes to heat up in the morning

I don't eat much ultra-processed food at all

I think the main thing for us is bread. We do make our own fairly often, but we eat a lot of it so supplement with typical shop bought stuff.

And the whole miso/soy/tins of beans etc is interesting - we use them all the time, if they count we're suddenly much worse off!

@Chanjer

I don't eat very much upf at all, not really been a conscious choice and I don't actively avoid it. I don't really get how eating it is more convenient, aside from ready meals and table sauces

Well, most people buy pre-packaged, pre sliced bread such as Hovis, that's UHP and easier than baking your own (and cheaper and usually easier to get than your local bakery if you even have one). Lots of kids have cereal for breakfast, it's faster than making porridge or eggs. Loads of people have gravy regularly and it's usually bisto or such type. How many people use frozen chips? Definitely easier than making you own (though doesn't taste as good). Chicken nuggets, veggie burgers, sausages, even veggie sausages are all UPF, and easier/ faster than making your own if those of are the sorts of things you eat. So I can see how a person's diet could be made up of 80% UPF. As I said we tend to cook from scratch for lunch and dinner, but even then we'll sometimes buy shop made hummus and falafel and pitas (todays lunch!)- all UHP, even if the salad isn't.

And the whole miso/soy/tins of beans etc is interesting - we use them all the time, if they count we're suddenly much worse off!

Yeah, tins of beans counts and miso paste. It's those sorts of things which make us particularly bad on the scale. I can't be bothered to soak my own lentils and stuff! I should be better.

@Allthereindeersaregirls

And the whole miso/soy/tins of beans etc is interesting - we use them all the time, if they count we're suddenly much worse off!

Yeah, tins of beans counts and miso paste. It's those sorts of things which make us particularly bad on the scale. I can't be bothered to soak my own lentils and stuff! I should be better.

Who can be arsed / how would you even do baked beans? Haha

Buying bread from an (even in-store) bakery will be better than packaged sliced bread. You don’t need to make your own.

Me nothing really, we avoid supposedly healthy gluten-free/vegan/veggie substitutes and things like Tofu.
Kids have that as a dietary requirement at school

DD likes cheesestrings and we like sausages on the BBQ

None at all.
I grew up only eating fresh, unprocessed food, so that is what I do.
I won't say I have never had a Mcdonalds, but the last one was in 2004 ;-)
To be honest the smell and taste of ready meals put me off. They smell so "dead" and not the kind of thing you want to put in your mouth, let alone swallow.

We avoid it as much as we can. We buy fish from the fishmonger, meat from the butcher, veg from the market and cheese mainly from a local goat cheese producer (30ish goats) and cook all our meals. Other than that we buy bread from the French bakery and some high quality dark chocolate. I also eat Greek yoghurt with my (non-industrial) granola and DH has milk.

It's taken us a while to get here, but a programme we saw on French TV about UPFs was a real eye-opener. Covid helped too by keeping us away from supermarkets

We never buy ready meals and cook meals from scratch. Have a take away every few weeks, so I'd say 90% of what we eat as meals are made from scratch. But I do use miso paste, gochujang paste, thai curry pastes, ready made gravy, stuffing etc, so I guess that counts.
I do a lot of baking, so there's always a homemade cake on the go and biscuits. The kids so eat crisps, sweets and shop bought biscuits sometimes, and even fizzy drinks.
We are all healthy and on the lower end of a healthy bmi so I really don't worry about avoiding UPFs.

The most commonly eaten ultra-processed foods in the UK are:
Industrialised bread (11 per cent)
Pre-packaged meals (7.7 per cent)
Breakfast cereals (4.4 per cent)
Sausages and other reconstituted meat products (3.8 per cent)
Confectionery (3.5 per cent), biscuits (3.5 per cent), pasties, buns and cakes (3.3 per cent) and industrial chips (2.8 per cent).
Soft drinks, fruit drinks and fruit juices
Salty snacks, including crisps
sauces, dressings
baked beans, tinned soups
meat alternatives
soy and drinks used as dairy milk substitutes.

I eat bread but at least half of it is from a bakery, the rest is wholegrain. I probably eat all the snack categories (biscuits, cakes, crisps) 1-2x per week. Sausages and beans 1-2x per week as we've got into the habit of a weekend fry up. Fruit juice/soft drinks used to be never but since being pregnant I've craved juice so 4-5x per week. I don't really eat cereal. I have dressings on salads 3-4x per week.