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?

I always add whatever fruit is around too - strawberries, bananas and blueberries all seem to go very well. I add flax seeds to mine too but that's mainly 'cos I'm vegan and need the nutrition they provide.

I listened to the podcast and it made so much sense. I’ve started looking at ingredients. I made a pretty good dinner of chicken salad, but my salad dressing was upf. Need to look at making my own.

I’m going to look at some of the books recommendations to listen to on audible too.

I've found a recipe for home made oat milk that says it really works and tastes like proper oat milk

made oat milk recipe avirtualvegan.com/oat-milk/#how-to-make-oat-milk

And the only ingredients are oats and water. I'm going to give it a go (need to get some rolled oats - I've only got the jumbo sort at the moment.

I’m trying to avoid upfs and wondering if anyone has found an unprocessed stock cube replacement? I do make stock myself sometimes but it’s a bit of a faff. I suppose the bags of liquid stock you can buy are unprocessed but they’re quite expensive.

I use turmeric bone broth from Amazon. Horrendously expensive but sooooo good for you and lasts ages. You can buy it without the turmeric too.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Australian-Bone-Broth-Concentrate-Turmeric

Good lord that is expensive! Makes the faff of making my own suddenly seem worth it though, so thanks! 😂

If you are already having say a roast chicken it's not hard to put the carcase in a pot for stock, then freeze in boxes. Stock cube is the definition of processed. But they are quite a small component of your diet.

Are stock cubes UPF? I would not worry about those. But if I did, bay leaves, herbs, S&P plus some red wine would be fine in most sauces.

Stock cube is the definition of processed

Maybe, but stock powder is not necessarily ultra-processed. The Nova system categorises Bouillon/Marigold stock powder as a 3 (4 is UPF) and the advantage of that is that you can use as much or as little as you want.

I have no objection to making my own stock but not everyone has enough space in the freezer or can absorb the cost or running a hob for hours.

I've become addicted to sourdough...particularly from Lidl bakery...but I'm trying to stop having it everyday because it doesn't come sliced and when I cut it, I'm having 100g slabs at a time, often x 2!

I know this is a comment from a while back but sourdough is one of those things that shops sell that can masquerade as something much healthier than it is. Proper sourdough should contain nothing but starter, flour and water, but there's no legal definition of "sourdough" so shops can sell anything with that word on the bag. I very much doubt Lidl's sourdough is what people think it is, not least because of the price. "Proper" sourdough round here is about £4 a loaf and it's completely different - for a start you couldn't eat great slabs of it without feeling stuffed full!

For those posters above saying it's all a matter of will-power, discipline etc and those who eat crap food have only themselves to blame, maybe have a think about how this food impacts your brain. Many UPFs are designed to hit your brain's reward centres and to override your brain's natural satiety points so you just keep eating. Keeping eating = consuming more = buying more = bigger profits. There's increasing evidence (have a look at Yudkin's "Pure White and Deadly" or Lustig's talk "Sugar: The Bitter Truth") that sugar is addictive. Telling people who eat a lot of this sort of food that they just need to put down the doughnut and eat some lettuce can be like telling an alcoholic to just put the stopper back in the bottle or a gambler to step away from the fruit machine.

Processed is completely different from ultraprocessed.

To anyone still interested alas it didn't work - still binge-eating so clearly more at play here than just UPF. But to be fair maybe the trick is to keep it up; we went on holiday which meant lots of drinking and eating out... sigh. Wish I could get this under control. I wouldn't say it ruins my life, but it does make me feel very out of control and fed up with myself sometimes.

@MaybeIWillFuckOffThen I hear you, it's a constant struggle for me too. It's so hard to avoid upf's when they're pushed at you constantly in adverts, in culture as 'comfort' foods for a treat etc etc. I've had a wobble recently as I've had covid and just wanted to eat easy food that hit that reward button in my brain, but ultimately I've felt worse for it. This week I've been trying to re-brainwash myself into healthy eating by listening to relevant podcasts - Tim Spector on Dr Romesh's Feel Better Live More is good.

What do people think about least upf-heavy takeaways? I do love an Indian and I tell myself that that is probably least likely to have a lot of upfs, certainly compared to McDonalds, but I don't know really. A curry made at home just doesn't hit the same, although I do enjoy a home made lentil curry when I make it. I guess it's all about balance really.

OP do not lose faith. Not now.

Please read or get the audiobook of:

'Why we eat (too much)' by Dr Andrew Jenkinson

This should further arm you with everything you need.

It's ok to start again as many times as you need to. Maybe when the time is right...

I dont really eat them (not a boast, just a fact), but I live alone and I think that can make a difference.

In the supermarket the other day I realised that I start at the fresh section and get what I need, and then walk the entire length of the supermarket to get some frozen veg - and pretty much everything in between is UPFs.

Don't feel bad OP, it's no wonder really when 98% of the supermarket is UPFs fgs. Staggering.

@BlueCupOrangeCup @Buzzinwithbez @CosmopolitanPlease

Thank you all for the kind words. I still think it will help enormously to cut them out. No need to give up on the whole idea yet just because I've slipped. Just seems life is always tough, and there's always some 'reason' why I need comforting, and for some reason the only comfort that seems to be available to me is food - lots of it - the worst kind. I'm more and more conscious, but still not really able to tackle the problem.

I understand. Life is bloody hard. But you did it once and saw some health benefits very quickly, so you know it will be worthwhile to do it again, even if for a short time.

I eat very low carb and while I'm eating like that I can't face eating them because of the brain fog - sometime I completely lose my words... But then something happens, a meal out, being out at lunchtime and only having the choice of scones or cake... Or simply just fancying some cake! When I slip off I don't necessarily notice I feel worse for it because my body soon gets used to a different state of coping (our bodies are amazing really!!) and it can take a while before life feels like I'm in the right place for getting back to it.

For various reasons health reasons I'm on a weight reducing diet
I read somewhere that an ounce of an alcoholic drink was same calories as an ounce of fat or oil
Now obviously this probably varies and I've never drink much, I can go for months without having a glass, and usually it is only for a toast at a wedding or something. But since then I've thought of drinking a glass of oil instead of wine and it has wholly put me off the idea
If the figures don't add up, no matter, it has worked for me

Yep. The sour dough bread I buy, which contains only 6 slices, is £3.80.

I think obesity is caused by many factors. The women of the maternal line of my family have always been big- there's a photo of my great grandma in a WWI nurse's uniform and she's built like a brick shithouse! 😆 Obviously they got like that on relatively unprocessed bread and cakes and Sunday roasts. But....the genetic inheritance from that is a tendency to overeat, and UPFs combined with that is like chucking petrol on a bonfire. I can't have biscuits in the house, and the crisps and crackers are strictly for the DCs. If I go somewhere there's a buffet though, my hand is going from plate to mouth all night- usually with UPF savoury snacks, while other people can just have one or two and leave them. I do manage to maintain a healthy weight, but it takes a lot of effort. I'm the kind of person who still manages to binge- a bit- on home made sourdough bread, which is why I'm low carbing right now.

For those who wanted a homemade sourdough recipe: the majority of those online are unnecessarily complicated. You just need : sourdough starter (make your own, get some from a friend, or pay ££ on the internet), flour, warm water, salt. I mix about a third wholemeal spelt flour with bog standard plain white flour. I just tip, Idk, about a kilo of flour in a big bowl, some pumpkin seeds, some salt, about 200- 300mls of starter, and enough warm water to make a slightly loose dough, mix it all together with a massive spoon, and leave overnight. Then in the morning, divide it in 2, roughly shape each half with the big spoon and plop on floured trays, bake for about an hour at 200 degrees. There....no kneading, nothing!! If you want it sourer, leave fir another 12 hours. I also use the starter to.make focaccia, pizza, flatbreads etc...

@MaybeIWillFuckOffThen

No need to give up on the whole idea yet just because I've slipped.

Spot on OP

Along with keeping off the sugary and starchy treats, I find Gillian Riley's work on eating less really helpful. It came out of her work helping people conquer their addition to smoking.

Hope you find something helpful in this https://gillianriley.com

I'll look into this as not heard of it before. I'm a huge stress and bored eater and I've piled on the weight, then I diet then gain and yo yo.

I thought the Van tulleken bros podcast was really interesting about psychology and their relationship too. Definitely recommend. I am trying to eat more healthily but with very fussy eater DC it is exhausting finding something we can all eat and a faff making different meals so it’s easier said than done.

Great thread OP. And as others have said, it's difficult to avoid upf's these days as we live hectic lives and also the manufacturers know how to mix the ingredients to make the 'sweet spot' in the brain.