To be totally on the anti UPF bandwagon and think this may finally be how I crack my food addiction?

[MaybeIWillFuckOffThen]

Listened to the podcast by the Van Tulleken brothers, and then read some of the Brazilian research and the experiment with UPF/whole food diet. Listened to some Giles Yeo. Oh my goodness. Mind blown!

I have a binge eating disorder and it was getting so out of hand. Spent fortunes a week on extra secret food, all of it crap. Gaining a lot of weight. I could eat 6 supermarket hot cross buns at a time and still feel like I wanted more even while feeling sick. Whole packets of biscuits in minutes. It didn't make any sense to me but I felt like I just couldn't stop. Now it makes a lot of sense why - I've basically been eating the food equivalent of heroin.

I've cut it out this past week or two - whenever I have been craving it I just go and listen to an episode or two of the podcast again and am horrified anew so resist. I've also accepted the fact I'm never going to manage to not eat with willpower alone so have packed my bag with healthy whole food snacks - nuts, Greek yoghurt, chopped vegetables, hummus - so I don't 'need' to go to the shop for some lunch (and walk out with a load of garbage).

I felt much better almost instantly. Clear headed. Less bloated and sluggish, less achey. Less sick obviously. And much, much less hungry. Staying within calorie limits (that always seemed laughably low and restrictive whilst eating junk) suddenly incredibly easy. In not weighing myself as my scales are broken but how I feel is worth it on its own.

Over the weekend my DD got a vomiting bug for the millionth time this summer, bad nights sleep, feeling grotty etc. So Monday I decided to treat myself t a toasted panini from the work cafe. Supermarket bread, weird cheese etc - real comforting junk food of the type I just can't get enough of usually.

Reader it was DIABOLICAL. It tasted AWFUL. I've eaten these things so many times before and loved them. But it was horrible. I literally could not eat it, had two mouthfuls, spat the second one out and threw it in the bin.

I honestly feel like I've had some sort of damascene conversion. Every time I think about buying some crap now I just remember the horrible, inedible crapness of that panini and the urge just goes away again.

AIBU to think this could actually change my life??? Can simple awareness really override such a lifelong, established addictive behaviour? Or will this just be a flash in the pan?

@Summerwhereareyou 500g plain flour, yeast about 10g but I never measure, 325ml warm water (warm will make it rise faster but don't use hot or the yeast is killed. A good glug of olive oil and then mix with a stand mixer until dough is formed. I let it rise for about 30 minutes and then split into about 8 balls, let these rise for another 20 minutes and then in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes.
Rise times may be longer as I am in a warm country at a high altitude which increases rise rate.
If you have time let it rise for an hour before shaping and 40 minutes before baking as this makes it fluffier but I don't usually bother and its perfectly acceptable as rolls. If you want them soft not crusty brush with butter and they also work great if you knead in some cheddar to make cheesy bread.
I love a nice slow fermented sour dough but I just don't have the time to make it often so this is my go to each week for sandwiches.

All good thank you!! Appreciate it.

Good for you OP!
I have started with the van tulleken series and have been increasingly aware of UPF. I'm trying to decrease ours as much as possible and this month have vowed that I will go back to doing more cooking as opposed to convenience that I've ended up with since having kids.
Reading with interest.

Really interesting thread, thanks OP!

There were threads about UPFs last year when the programme was on tv. Yes I agree that it is life changing. I overhauled my diet over a year ago. I feel like a new person

Omg op are you me?
Place marking and off to read

What is Chorley wood

This sounds amazing. This is what I want.
I am def getting there.
Since the program I have been much more cautious
I am trying to explain to my children about the insidious manufacturers. The whole "once you pop"
It's hard to get them out of "biscuit o clock" but will get on more to making our own treats over summer

Like a PP I have to finish up the freezer and start again and slowly phase it all out.
I do want to mske my own mayo but someone did say it's poss to buy it and have less than with eg Hellman's

Vegan Mayo is easy: 100ml light olive oil, 50ml unsweetened soya milk, 1tsp Dijon mustard, 1 tsp white wine vinegar, salt to taste. In a Pyrex, blend with stick blender for 5 secs.

If you search online, it the industrial bread making process with (I think) enzymes and high speed mixing which makes the bread faster. timetocook.org/2016/06/02/real-bread-chorleywood-sourdough-flavour-and-health/
Apart from obvious difference in taste/texture there are suspicions bread made this way is behind the rise in gluten intolerance etc.

I started making sourdough as DH finds it much better for his IBS.

Does it thicken or does it stay quite light?

I am going to try this as I find jarred mayo quite offputting, a bit jellylike!

Could you share the link of this podcast please? Thank you!

Are plant milks UPFs? There are certainly a lot of weird ingredients in the oat milk i (regrettably) feed my CMPA daughter...

Can I ask what you all do if you go out for the day? I've got a trip planned and I've gone blank. Last time I took some cooked porridge in a Kilner jar but I'd like to try something else. Home made mayo tends to separate if added too early (possibly if kept out the fridge at all) so my go-to salad is out.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0017tcz

It depends based on factors I am not quite clear on

cold soya milk and slightly more vinegar seem to mean thicker. I tried oat milk and it was very runny, but made a nice dressing.

That’s a very good point. You can make your own oat or nut milks, but I never have.

I've found it reasonably easy to eat out, keeping to simply cooked / grilled meat / fish with vegetables and or salad.

For food on the go, I like to take a kilner style jar of salad. Vinaigrette dressing in a separate jar, Mayo style dressing (eg with garlic and anchovy, for a Caesar type salad) I'd put the dressing in the bottom of the jar, add lots of crunchy veg incl celery, cabbage, spring onion, bacon bits, with chicken or prawns and quail eggs on top and at the very top green leaves and chopped parsley

Freeze s bottle of water to keep in the same bag which will be unfrozen by the time I get to lunch and keep the salad cool. Shake up salad to distribute dressing and eat from the jar.

Alternatives include tuna / onion or smoked and or poached smoked Endless different possibilities.

Any veg you happen to have. A square of chocolate to have with a coffee afterwards.

Remember cutlery long enough to reach in 😀

@FinallyHere those are some great ideas thank you- I hadn't thought of putting the mayo in the bottom and mixing it later!

Almost like if you stop shovelling shit food - packed with obscene amounts of gluten and fillers in to your body you'll feel a lot better 🤔🤷‍♀️

This isn't rocket science, OP. You knew UPF was shit food and it was shit for you. You just needed a label to latch on to.

Meat and veg was a staple for eons for a reason.

You're making your mayo wrong.

It is the cause. It's also a trigger for many, many autoimmune and thyroid problems such as hashimotos, inflammatory conditions, my Consultant also suspects it plays a role in b12 deficiency and a high portion of Fibro and other myalgia diagnosis. The obscene amounts of gluten in a standard crap white loaf is sickening.

The sourdough method allows the gluten to be broken down and reduced in the proving process. It's why proper sourdough is much more tolerable for non severe coeliacs and normally entirely tolerable for those of us with gluten intolerence.

What we know as 'bread' is nothing like bread should be at all.

That is so helpful, thanks for posting! This list in particular:

Ingredients and categories only found in group 4 (ultra processed):

colour
colour stabilizer
flavour enhancer
sweetener
carbonating agent
firming agent
bulking agent
anti-bulking agent
de-foaming agent
anti-caking agent
glazing agent
emulsifier
sequestrant
humectant
flavour
casein
lactose
whey
hydrogenated-oil
hydrolysed-proteins
maltodextrin
invert-sugar
high-fructose-corn-syrup

@MiniPiccolo

Allow me to offer you a cheery "fuck off dear", @MiniPiccolo. You're a mean-spirited bitch on literally every thread you go on, so can you please just bugger off mine full of nice people sharing tips and being interesting? Your sarky arsiness is simply totally not required. Byeeee!