To ask for your recipes which reduce or don't use ultra processed foods?

[nutbrownhare15]

The recent coverage of UPFs has been a bit of a wake up call for me in terms of the family diet. Read this report today https://www.firststepsnutrition.org/upfs-marketed-for-infants-and-young-children 😱Convenience is a big factor, but it's become habit as well and we tend to eat the same sort of dishes on rotation, the freezer is stocked with UPFs and my kids are used to having UPFs for snacks. I'm not looking to exclude them from our diet completely just ways to reduce them or reduce the amount of processing in the foods we do eat. So I'm asking if people could share quick and easy recipes that their kids find palatable to expand our repertoire including for snacks. One thing I'll be doing is getting the bread maker back out to make more fresh bread. We are a vegetarian household but I'm not asking for exclusively vege recipes in case this thread helps others.

Sugar is not a UPF. Myself and another poster have already said that on this thread. It’s also a very easy thing to google. I know you mentioned that identifying UPF can be tricky - but this one is simple.

The problem with UPFs isn’t that there are emulsifiers in them, it’s that the emulsifiers are industrially produced. Unlike an egg, which you’re right, is an emulsifier. Like wise the rest of the things on your list. Protein in itself isn’t UPF or not UPF. Likewise fat or starch. It’s the industrial processes that make them UPF.

But I think you know this! But for some reason the idea of avoiding UPFs doesn’t resonate with you? It feels counter intuitive in some way, eg that sugar in itself doesn’t make a food UPF?

Oh wait, it's fine to have as much sugar & salt as you like and still say you're eating low UPF. Sugar and salt aren't UPF after all. <shrug> And you wonder why the word "confusing" comes up a lot.

Why would you assume that people who choose to avoid UPFs are eating loads of salt and sugar? Cutting out UPFs is one of the easiest ways to cut down hugely on salt, since they are usually full of it - even if it's not the salt itself that makes it ultra processed. As for sugar, why would avoiding UPFs mean eating lots of sugar? For my DC a treat is just that - a treat, not an everyday food. But I prefer them to eat cake or ice cream made with butter and sugar, rather than UPFs. It doesn't mean that people avoiding UPFs believe that unlimited sugar and salt = healthy diet just because it is not UPF!

A good guide to what to avoid, is whether any of the ingredients are what you’d never find in your own kitchen. Even more so, in your mother’s.

A quick meal I like doing is cheesy pasta bake - I use cooked wholemeal pasta (counts as minimal processed) make a quick sauce with flour, olive oil and milk, add cheese to taste, season (I use black pepper, dried oregano grated garlic, and fresh chopped parsley, then add the sauce, pasta and steamed broccoli (can use any combo of veg, asparagus for instance) a teaspoon capers to an oven dish, top with more cheese and bake until browned.

Quicker is caper & tomato pasta - chopped onion, garlic, dried oregano, red chilli sautéed with capers, chopped tomatoes and olive oil, add chopped parsley add to cooked pasta (can add anchovies too)

Hummus and crudités is my go to snack

(Canned chickpeas, sesame seeds or tahini, lemon juice, olive oil)

It's actually easier to avoid processed foods eating meat (and not being a martyr soaking and cooking pulses) so much of the plant based foods being advocated is ultra processed. We eat meat and my dd is vegetarian, her burgers have lots of ingredients, mine have 2 (well beef and seasoning, so in my case salt, pepper and a pinch of herbs)

@lljkk

My homemade bread has flour, salt, sugar and olive oil. As natural as it comes bread wise and tastes better than shop bread

Why would you assume that people who choose to avoid UPFs are eating loads of salt and sugar?

Because some of the "low UPF" recipes people post are relatively high in sugar & salt. When asked about that high salt/sugar content, some posters insist (see PP, eg JumbleAndKitchen) that neither sugar nor salt count as UPF. So a high salt/sugar recipe is not UPF.

Bread is the main source of salt in British diet IIRC. As high salt as crisps in general. Does home-made bread have lower sodium content typically than shop-bought?

@lljkk Because some of the "low UPF" recipes people post are relatively high in sugar & salt. When asked about that high salt/sugar content, some posters insist (see PP, eg JumbleAndKitchen) that neither sugar nor salt count as UPF. So a high salt/sugar recipe is not UPF.

Neither sugar nor salt are in themselves UPF I’m not insisting this - it’s just true.

You conclusion that therefore a high salt/sugar recipe is not UPF is simply not true. Of course a food high in sugar and/or salt can be UPF. What makes you think otherwise?

@lljkk you seem to be conflating 2 different things. This discussion is about UPF, not sugar and salt content. It is entirely possible to have a diet free from UPF yet still eat a diet high in salt and sugar as neither are ultra-processed.

Cutting UPF out won’t automatically make an individual healthy. From what I understand of the research, it is pointing towards the fact that it’s easier to control how much salt/sugar you have when you eat food that isn’t UPF as it doesn’t have the addictive quality UPF does. It is still work in progress though. It also doesn’t mean you won’t get overweight/suffer from diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease etc by avoiding UPF

These recent threads have made me determined to wean my kids off crappy supermarket white bread. (I already make sourdough, but it's 'too sour' for some of them 🙄).

I'm lucky enough to own a Thermomix, and have just made a ridiculously quick & easy white loaf in there - just flour, yeast, salt and water.

Can anyone point me towards an instant yeast without added emulsifiers etc..?

Also made my own granola this morning for the first time, one child has already had some of that with natural yoghurt and fruity linseed sprinkles (Lidl) for her after-school snack.

Any other Thermomix tips also welcome - I agree it's great at sauces/dips/condiments. I want to try mayonnaise, but have been stalling due to the seed-oil-debate... think I might try with Lidl's light/mild olive oil first.

Lidl does a cold-pressed British rapeseed oil, FYI, probs the cheapest you'll find it. (Unfortunately I really dislike the taste/smell.)

Bottle green is the least upf squash that I’ve found. Very concentrated too which nearly makes up for the higher price. Also delicious - we have elderflower but they’ve recently launched a pomegranate one which is very good and ribena-like if your kids are attached to that…

www.bakerybits.co.uk/biorealr-dried-organic-gluten-free-instant-yeast

I have just ordered this yeast - free from emulsifiers. I'm going to use it in my bread machine. Haven't tried it yet but I read about it in Andrew whitleys bread matters book - which is a great reference book for all things bread!

UPFs tend to contain a lot of sugar (or sweeteners) and salt to make them more palatable, and to make up for using lots of what can be bland or unpleasant base ingredients. So cutting them out tends to lead to reducing sugar and salt consumption even though some non UPF foods can have high salt and sugar levels. Making home made bread allows you to reduce salt levels a little (though don't leave it out, bleurgh!). I sometimes need to consciously add salt to make sure I get enough, particularly if I'm sweating a lot in the summer.

But it's not just salt and sugar that cause health problems. There seem to be a lot of different potential mechanisms being proposed as reasons for the harms that UPF appear to cause and there's lots more research that needs to be done to pin this down. This is made more complicated by the fact that it seems to be a cocktail of different things happening in different types of UPF so it's hard to pull apart what is actually happening.

That said, one consistent theme is that UPF tend to be low in fibre, making them bad for our digestion and gut microbiome and meaning any sugars in them are absorbed very quickly (this is why eating an orange is better for you than drinking its juice). Low fibre foods are more calorie dense and take less chewing so it's easier to have more; you'd really struggle to eat eight oranges at a sitting and it would take a while, but you could drink the juice of 8 oranges in a glass in seconds.

The emulsifiers and preservatives that most UPF contains often thought to disrupt the gut (though again it's complicated, some emulsifiers and preservatives don't seem to cause problems and some even seem to have positive effects on gut health). Many artificial sweeteners seem to have an effect on our bodies' blood sugar responses, the sweet taste causing insulin levels to rise even though there isn't any glucose for it to take up, thus causing crashes and cravings. And common UPF ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup are bad for our bodies in so many ways.

And also UPF is designed to be hyperpalatable so people eat as much as possible, with manufacturers tweaking sugar and fat content to make them as appealing as possible. They choose which products to market based on which their testers eat more of.

It is perfectly possible that some types of UPF could be good for us (eaten in moderation), but we just don't know and it's increasingly clear that a lot of them are very bad for us, so with our current level of knowledge cutting back our consumption seems prudent.

@gogohmm tinned pulses are very convenient and minimally processed. I also use my instant pot a lot for pulses as they can be cooked unsoaked in 35 minutes at pressure (which is hands off time so just set up and go).

Bread does not have to be salty at all. When I make bread at home I just add a small pinch of sea salt.

For children ice lollies. I just make a fruit smoothie in the nutribullet and freeze in ice lolly moulds. Strawberries, banana and Greek yogurt. Makes about 10 toddler size ice lollies. Otherwise I freeze just fresh apple juice in lolly moulds also.

what age are your DC?

In weaning babyhood, my DC loved avocado mashed with banana - sounds vile but it was very nutritious and easy to make.

We used to do snacks of carrot and cucumber sticks, apple and pear slices when they were toddlers.

If they were ill and off their food or during their growth spurts, I made very high calorie, high nutrition banana bread using almond and soya or wholemeal flour, eggs, bananas, butter or oil, muscavado sugar, blueberries or raspberries and toasted nuts.

You can get peanut butter which is literally just ground peanuts with or without salt added. That spread on wholemeal toast is a great breakfast. Or wholemeal toast (I like Warburtons sugar free stoneground) with a poached or fried egg on top

For easy family dinners - do traybakes of chicken or salmon pieces, baby potatoes or sweet potato wedges, and chunks of fresh seasonal veg flavoured with herbs or spices rather than bottled sauces.

I'm not sure why @lljkk thinks that Vitamin C is "often added in home-made bread", never mind egg white?
I don't know anyone who includes those ingredients in their home-made bread, and have never heard of anyone doing so.

If you're making your own bread, you can very easily control how much salt you put in it. Sodium is an essential nutrient, that our bodies need, so you'd be very unwise to cut salt completely out of your diet.

Yes, you'll see a small amount of sugar on the ingredients list for home-made bread, but this is in order to feed the yeast, not to sweeten the bread, so you won't be consuming it as sugar - when you eat the bread, it's in the form of a carbohydrate, which your body then converts into blood sugars.

I don't understand why a minority of posters are unable/ unwilling to understand what this thread is about, and still haven't grasped the difference between 'processed' and 'Ultra Processed'.

@DataNotLore It should be obvious that avoiding UPFs means not buying things like Quorn and stock cubes, but instead cooking with the kind of foods your gran would recognise.

Back to the point of this thread...

Another poster asked for bread-making recommendations.

It's really easy to make your own sourdough starter - all you need is some wholegrain flour (could be rye or spelt, for example) and water - Doves Farm have helpful guides and recipes on their website: https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/recipes/sourdough-starter and https://www.dovesfarm.co.uk/hints-&-tips/sourdough-making
Lots of people think that sourdough bread works better for them/ their health than bread made with yeast, even people who'd originally worried that they were gluten-intolerant.

Any suggestions for oat milk that is not upf? Cow's milk upsets my stomach.

The only thing I know about oatmilk is that it sends my sugar through the roof. There a videos on yt that show you how to easily make your own.

You can make oat milk. Literally just blend oats with water, blend and strain. It’s not going to be as milk-like as the UPF versions. It’s worth taking a look at You Tube - sometimes you see people adding a bit of vanilla or maple syrup etc to it to tweak flavour.

You can do the same with nut milks, but obvs that’s lots more expensive. To be honest, making any milk substitute is going to be a faff. If milk is important to you, and you can’t even tolerate small amounts, it might be worth accepting that you prefer to carry on drinking commercial oat milk and look at reducing UPF elsewhere in your diet?

In the last twelve months, I’ve found that I’ve had to limit the amount of dairy I eat. I did by UPF milks but now I just don’t have too much. So I can have it in 3-4 hot drinks a day. I seem fine with smallish amounts yogurt, cheddar and parmasan too. Some people find taking lactase before eating dairy helps too. I did buy some, it worked but is a bit of a faff so I just avoid cream, ice cream and foods I was making with lots of milk eg daily milk.

Daily porridge that should say at the end of my last post.

I made nut milk once and went back to buying it. I do make my own yoghurt, peanut butter, butter etc though

I'm actually trying to figure how to make dairy free yoghurt atm

Absolutely loving how sugar, which used to be public enemy number one, is now absolutely fine and we’ve found a new cause for all of our woes.

Every few years we get told that it’s definitely this which is making us fat and unhealthy, until someone else wants to sell a new book and we’re told it’s actually this.