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

We eat quite a bit of upf and I think a lot of families do. Bread, cereals, crisps with lunch, pizza. It can be easy and convenient and it's not all bad and as long as we have plenty of fruit, veg and water I think it's fine.

Meh..... considering Italians are some of the longest lived on the planet, and consume large amounts of Salami, Prosciutto, and Parmesan, I will take my chances .

Bread is an interesting thing. It should be a processed but not ultra processed food. In many other countries (France, Italy, Greece for example) you can buy bread which tastes lovely, but is only really edible on the day you buy it. After that it becomes stale/hard very quickly. It's obviously not filled with preservatives, in the same way as homemade bread wouldn't have preservatives.

Contrast that with factory produced bread. This is the ingredients list for Kingsmill soft white bread.
Ingredients: Wheat Flour (with calcium, iron, niacin (B3) and thiamin (B1)), Water, Yeast, Salt, Soya Flour, Vegetable Oils (Rapeseed, Sustainable Palm), Emulsifiers: E471, E472e, E481; Vinegar, Preservative: Calcium Propionate; Flour Treatment Agent: Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C).

That is quite a different product from homemade bread, or from what you would buy in an average French bakery.

@BigWoollyJumpers the average life expectancy for Italy is 82 years, the UK is 81 so not that great!

Also I think a PP pointed out that 'everything in moderation' doesn't really work here . It's very good to have fresh veg and fruit but that doesn't cancel out the damage some of the UPF may cause

Like running probably won't cancel out damage to the lungs caused by smoking.

UPFs that I don’t eat, or eat very little of :
Pot Noodle etc
Processed cheese
Margarine / ‘spread’ (real butter only in my house)
Fizzy drinks
Cheap, nasty chocolate, eg Galaxy etc
Sugary cereals

UPFs that I probably eat too much of :
Sausages (but the ones I do eat are always top quality)
White bread. From our local bakery, not supermarkets, but still white.
Crisps & savoury snacks
M&S / Waitrose ‘naice’ ready meals, eg curries, pizzas.
Beer (I hope it doesn’t count, because I’m in trouble if it does.... )

@BigWoollyJumpers Parmesan though ( drools)

I think it's interesting to look at the reasons why our diet in the UK has changed so much over the last 40 or so years. I'm old enough to have grown up in the 60s/70s, and from what I remember there were quite a few UPFs available in those days, including sugary breakfast cereals, quite a few tinned goods and factory produced biscuits/cakes.

But I think there was more of a tendency to use these to supplement fresh food rather than to use them as a whole meal. Also there was less a culture of snacking in those days. I remember not being allowed to eat between meals in case it "ruined your appetite".

The other thing was that ready meals were barely known then. They took off in a big way when freezers and then microwaves became popular.

And takeaways were also few and far between. In my town we only had a fish and chip shop up until the late 70s when a Chinese takeaway opened.

I think the increasing availability of various UPFs, along with the convenience offered by many of them has led to a change in eating patterns.

But why does 'everything in moderation' not work? I don't think the analogy of running/smoking works because smoking is entirely optional, no-one ever came to harm from not smoking although they may feel they've lost a pleasurable activity, whereas food is essential, we literally all need to eat or we'll die. So it's not a case of eating some 'virtuous' food to 'cancel out' the bad in a weird hypothetical universe where the ideal is to eat nothing at all (aka a MN thread about what you had for dinner ), eating is not a sin, it's essential for our survival. And even the worst kinds of UPFs e.g. sweets, are not poison, they won't harm you eaten in small quantities and do in fact provide some nutritional value - you could actually live on just sweets for quite some time (not saying it would be good for you)...

I'm not disagreeing with your first principle that UPFs are not a particularly healthy and we should all eat less of them, but I think reducing the argument to a suggestion that 'everything that comes from a factory' or 'everything that comes in plastic' (sorry I know that wasn't what you said, but that does seem to be a common view) is as bad for you as smoking and you are literally endangering your children's health by letting them eat sliced bread is reductionist and unhelpful.

I think we'd be better off looking at why it is that it's so difficult for most of us to stick to 'everything in moderation', is it because we lack time/skills to cook everything from scratch every day, it is lack of access to fresh ingredients/UPF alternatives, is it because UPFs are so palatable and tasty, is it a combination of all of the above? We absolutely can't/don't want to return either to the days of hunter/gathering and a totally raw/unprocessed diet (where incidentally whatever 'paleo' people will tell you, life expectancy was incredibly low and most people were likely malnourished) or to the days where huge amounts of domestic labour per family (usually either full time servants or the women of the household) had to labour for hours and hours every day to feed the family without recourse to any processed food - the 'invention' of convenience foods in the 60s may have been worse for our diets but it was also of enormous societal benefits in that it played a big role (alongside the contraceptive pill and labour saving household devices like washing machines) in freeing up huge numbers of women from effective domestic servitude. Like it or not convenience and processed foods are here to stay for the majority of people so for me it's more how can we try and make them a healthy choice within an overall good diet rather than how can we stop people ever eating processed foods by terrifying them that they're hurting their children?

@maxelly

But why does 'everything in moderation' not work? I don't think the analogy of running/smoking works because smoking is entirely optional, no-one ever came to harm from not smoking although they may feel they've lost a pleasurable activity, whereas food is essential, we literally all need to eat or we'll die. So it's not a case of eating some 'virtuous' food to 'cancel out' the bad in a weird hypothetical universe where the ideal is to eat nothing at all (aka a MN thread about what you had for dinner ), eating is not a sin, it's essential for our survival. And even the worst kinds of UPFs e.g. sweets, are not poison, they won't harm you eaten in small quantities and do in fact provide some nutritional value - you could actually live on just sweets for quite some time (not saying it would be good for you)...

I'm not disagreeing with your first principle that UPFs are not a particularly healthy and we should all eat less of them, but I think reducing the argument to a suggestion that 'everything that comes from a factory' or 'everything that comes in plastic' (sorry I know that wasn't what you said, but that does seem to be a common view) is as bad for you as smoking and you are literally endangering your children's health by letting them eat sliced bread is reductionist and unhelpful.

I think we'd be better off looking at why it is that it's so difficult for most of us to stick to 'everything in moderation', is it because we lack time/skills to cook everything from scratch every day, it is lack of access to fresh ingredients/UPF alternatives, is it because UPFs are so palatable and tasty, is it a combination of all of the above? We absolutely can't/don't want to return either to the days of hunter/gathering and a totally raw/unprocessed diet (where incidentally whatever 'paleo' people will tell you, life expectancy was incredibly low and most people were likely malnourished) or to the days where huge amounts of domestic labour per family (usually either full time servants or the women of the household) had to labour for hours and hours every day to feed the family without recourse to any processed food - the 'invention' of convenience foods in the 60s may have been worse for our diets but it was also of enormous societal benefits in that it played a big role (alongside the contraceptive pill and labour saving household devices like washing machines) in freeing up huge numbers of women from effective domestic servitude. Like it or not convenience and processed foods are here to stay for the majority of people so for me it's more how can we try and make them a healthy choice within an overall good diet rather than how can we stop people ever eating processed foods by terrifying them that they're hurting their children?

Very well said!

I didnt think anyone had suggested hunter gathering.😂

Look if people want to eat it they will and indeed they are. I do too and have no intentions of hunter gathering.
Giving the public the information that the manufacturer won't include in the advertising is hardly terrifying people.

Look at the moneymaking and advertising promotion going on here.

And if makes my partner notice that maybe be shouldn't be buying his kids biscuits and cereals to eat everyday I'll be glad of it.

@PetuniaPot

I didnt think anyone had suggested hunter gathering.😂

Well no fair enough but plenty of anti-processed-food loons on twitter do seriously recommend 'caveman' diets of raw unprocessed berries and meat as being the cure for all ills, obesity, cancer, soo ....

@maxelly well eating fresh food over processed food is also optional, but that wasn't really my point. I came here to advise and for advice from anyone else who would like to eat a less processed diet. I'm not here to scare or shame or eat like a caveman!

I like to be informed in life, I probably can't ( realistically) go 100% non processed. But I do want to know what other people choose for their families. This thread has been useful to me and it seems like to others too!

I think the reasons why it's so difficult for most people to stick to "everything in moderation" are as follows.

Most people given the choice will opt for whatever is easiest/most convenient. Many UPFs fall into this category. For example ready meals and takeaways are quick and easy, rather than cooking from scratch. A pre-prepared sandwich is quicker than making one etc.

Most UPFs are designed to be addictive. They taste (to many people) good, but have little nutritional value, so people then crave more of them.

Companies spend a lot of money on branding, advertising, attractive packaging etc to make us choose their products. Most fresh ingredients aren't marketed in the same way.

There's nothing wrong with eating mostly fresh food with the odd factory made biscuit thrown in. But many people end up with a diet consisting of sugary cereal for breakfast, a couple of biscuits with coffee, a prepacked sandwich, packet of crisps and factory made cake for lunch, a chocolate bar mid afternoon, and a ready meal followed by a sweetened yoghurt for dinner, washed down with a fizzy drink. That's a day's eating of what are considered totally normal foods, but practically all of them are UPFs.

I think there needs to be another category really, there's a difference between a slice of premade wholemeal bread and a packet of Doritos or Haribo and food made from scratch can still be unhealthy especially if you overeat it (warm homemade bread fresh from the oven).

@GlutenFreeGingerCake

It's why the focus should be on ' evidence it's causing poor health' instead of just simply 'unhealthy'

Lots of things can be unhealthy, too much exercise with little nutrition, too much water will kill you etc. You're right, we can't lump everything in the unhealthy pot, but we can educate ourselves about what the risks are and mitigate those.

I personally didn't fully understand the risks associated with UPFs until today. I am glad I now know.

This thread is hilarious. I can only assume most of you have a lot more money and time than I do.

We eat loads but none of us are overweight or unhealthy. None of us have any troublesome health conditions either.

I only wish I had the time to bake every snack, visit a greengrocers a butchers and a bakery several times a week. They're all shut by he time I'm home from work.

Neither of us want to slave in the kitchen making tomorrow's cooked from scratch lunch to take to work either.

@Getyourarseofffthequattro

No I don't have loads of time or money but I do want to have a long healthy life! Not to say you won't of course, I hope you do.

But the links to poor health are a result of eating a diet high in these foods for long periods of time. I am thinking ahead to my own longevity and that of my children.

I am wondering what sacrifices I can make now that I'll be thankful for in the future. Nothing hilarious about that.

Many people pay in to a pension to secure their financial future. I want to do the best I can to secure a healthy future

The trouble with UPFs is that they are either deliberately marketed as healthy, or it's just not clear that they are high processed. For example, sliced bread - most people think that if you buy wholemeal, that's fine, not realising that it doesn't bear much relation to traditional bread. I really think that manufacturers bear a huge responsibility here - most people have been 'marketed' into believing this stuff is fine.

This has nothing to with being overweight, I've noticed a few posters saying they are healthy weight, great! But it's the internal damage we may not be seeing

It's an interesting thread.
I would say I eat a healthy diet, never been overweight and eat loads of fresh fruit and veg. However I certainly eat some processed and UPF.
We have a microwave ready meal once a week, I could easily just make it.
I eat meat pie or sausage roll once a week. Easy to find alternatives.
I like cake but usually make it.
I buy good bread from a local baker.
I grow a lot of fruit and veg.

My main issue is crisps and chocolate. One or the other most days. Neither of which I would relish giving up.

This has nothing to with being overweight
I think it does.
The vast majority of the health issues attached to UPF are down to obesity. If you eat too much of anything you put on weight and then you are vulnerable to heart disease and diabetes. UPFs are easier to over eat.

Marcia, yes I think that cereal bars are some of the worst for being labelled as "healthy" when they are often packed with sugar and other undesirable ingredients.