To wonder how anyone can live on so much processed food?

[MummyMumMumMummy]

Let me start by saying I’m not by any means a health freak. I have periods where we’ll have frozen pizzas, frozen beige food and cans of beans for dinner.. but it makes me feel so so rough!

For example, in the last week we’ve eating frozen pizza, a McDonald’s, a night of cheese and biscuits, and we’ve had beans on toast, ready meals like lasagna or currys. This is just down to using what left in the house before doing a food shop and I feel awful. I feel slow, my anxiety is high, I have aches and pains and I just feel generally ‘bleurgh’

This happens every time I swap out out usual cook from scratch lots of veg type meals to these ready made quick and processed foods.

but my point is; does anyone else feel this way?

I have friends who quite consistently live on beige food and ‘hate’ veg. DH before we started dating would literally only eat beans on toast and frozen pizza. He still enjoys them from time to time but even he prefer home cooked meals with lots of veg now.

I’m not in any way judging anyone’s diet, I don’t care what you eat it doesn’t affect me. I just wonder whether other people feel such a strong physical sense of being healthier in mind and body (that sounds super green!) when they eat more organic, fresh foods?

Organic Vs not I think is irrelevant.

Having a diet of food cooked as much as possible from unprocessed and minimally processed ingredients Vs a diet that is very high in UPF, high fats, high sugars and I'd agree.

I'm not a crunchy, whole foods only health freak and believe that most things in moderation are fine. I also hate the guilt and shame people try to attribute to food, and also hate treat mentality. If my diet slips to more UPF and junk then I see it in my skin, my sleep isn't as good, I feel sluggish, feel more hungry, feel like I've got an itch for another sugary hit, feel less motivated. It's not a nice feeling and I find that affects my behaviour and motivation.

I don't think people who have a high UPF diet appreciate how different a body can feel when it's being given proper nutrients.

I get terrible bloating if I eat too much sugar these days. And generally feel sluggish if I eat too much rubbish and not enough of the good stuff.
But the times when I eat too much rubbish are usually because I'm feeling blah in myself anyway so it's hard to separate out the two.

I definitely notice if I eat too much crap. My body functions much better when I eat home cooked meals from scratch with lots of veg & low carb. I always notice it on holiday where I tend to eat more crap. I usually can’t wait to get home & start eating healthily again.

I eat a really healthy diet now but used to eat a lot if processed food...I don't feel any healthier or more energetic than I used to, I just feel the same (am generally healthy) but hope it will pay dividends as I get older.

Can't say I've noticed a difference. I used to eat very healthily when I lived at home (until 25), then 25-30 I ate pretty unhealthily, lots of take away and and rarely ate vege. Then from 30 onwards I had kids so I cook a healthy home cooked meal almost every night. And I can't say I notice any difference in how I feel, energy, my weight is the same, skin/hair no different.

I think the op has hit a raw nerve with you. She was asking how it makes others feel when they eat lots of processed food rather than judging.

Op I get it. If I eat lots of beige food and no veg I feel kind of dirty inside. I can definitely feel a difference. I ate loads of 'scraps' chips n nuggets a few weeks ago and felt really grotty for hours

I used to eat very few vegetables even though I do like them. I eat a lot more now and salad veg, which I always hated, is something I have every day. I didn't just decide to become more healthy but I had a spate of bad health along with depression and stopped eating. My digestive health was really bad at this point so I started slowly reintroducing food with salads and simple things like scrambled egg or broth with noodles. It is like my palette changed and I can no longer eat like I used to or I feel awful (bread more than once a day makes me feel like shit - no idea why!). I now eat much more fresh stuff and veg and I do feel better but I am also a lot more active etc.

Absolutely yes
About five weeks ago I overhauled my eating and my alcohol intake because I was found to be pre diabetic.
I would not have said before that I felt unhealthy and tbf I ate very little ready meals/takeaway, but my diet was very high in bread, butter, cheese, pasta etc. probably 2-3 portions of veg a day. Alcohol and crisps 4 days out of 7 if not more. Grazing etc on biscuits.
I’ve totally stopped all crap except for planned treats and I really feel great. My sleeping is 1000x better and my snoring has stopped. My nails are growing and are healthy. My tummy is still fat but it’s not hard and bloated. I was taking painkillers for headaches most days and I have taken them three days in the last five weeks.
I honestly though I felt fine/normal and that being tired and bloated with a headache was kind of normal when you work and have kids.

It’s amazing and I actually am a bit scared of crap food now! It’s like a threat, a danger.

Everyone is different. If I go through an unhealthy period of convenience food or takeaways I don’t feel any different really. It doesn’t impact my skin either. My sister has one greasy meal and she will break out in spots and feel horrible. Our metabolisms and cells are all unique.

No- I don't notice any difference... but then I think that i constantly eat a combination of UPF and whole foods, rather than swinging between one and then the other.
As I get older (mid 50s), I definitely can't manage big bags of sweets or huge bars of chocolate like I used to. I mean, I can still eat them but I feel sickly as if my body just can't process the sugar hit as well as it used to.
I get my fitness from exercise- gym/swim/ weights 6x per week.

I never feel better or worse based on what I eat, but I do sort of follow my body's cues on what it needs. If I'm craving something I eat it that day or the next as I noticed it seemed to be tied to what my body needs (e.g I start craving steak a day or two before my period starts).

If that means I can't stick to a meal plan I just throw what I was going to eat into the freezer and have it later on in the week after the cravings meal.

I generally don't notice a huge difference but I have friends who do. Not everyone is as sensitive or in tune to their body and general health and some people's bodies just process things better than others.

I definitely think people who eat healthy notice a difference quicker when they binge processed food than vice versa. I think when you're body is used to good quality food to fuel your systems, it'll dip faster when you take it away but, when your body is used to dealing with crap quality, a sudden influx of greens is a drop in the ocean when it's been working with a deficit for so long. I might be making that up though, it's purely observational.

I've always been on the processed side of things. I gained 10 stone after a big life change and I've lost most of it again. At the start I was still eating crap food but with a check on the calories but now I'm integrating better, balanced food to try and improve my long term health prospects even if I don't a big difference day to day. I can still flip flop a bit between the two styles but it's gradually getting more towards the balanced end.

Interestingly, I started seeing a vocal coach to start building my singing voice back up again after years of not using it. On some days, I'll be doing my exercises and it'll sound great and others it won't be as good which is totally normal because there are so many environmental factors that can influence your voice. I DID notice that, when I'm in a balanced eating phase, my voice tends to be consistently better and my exercises are easier. It definitely made me more aware of the subtle things you're body is doing with the resources you give it and it just presents in different ways with different people.

Interesting. I do notice a benefit when I make a concerted effort to eat healthily - i.e. home cooked, more veg and fruit. I have more energy and feel less sluggish. And (tmi) my bowels are a lot happier!

Also reducing alcohol helps too.

Yes definitely feel crappy (more tired, less energy, not normal ‘toilet’ habits 😆) if I’ve had a few days in a row of processed instant type food.
My husband does too. If it’s just one meal, a takeaway or whatever, that is fine.

Me too. In fact, more than a day eating less than my usual '5+ a day veg and fruit, healthy meals cooked from scratch' diet and I get fruit and veg cravings.

Almost all food is processed now from packed ham to micro rice to tinned tomatoes. Its almost impossible to live your life eating no process unless you dedicate your life to it.

My hat goes off to anyone that does.

Yes it makes me feel horrible. I don't think it's intolerances. More a case of nutrient shortages when you are used to having a high load of veg, lentils etc and few additives

I feel physically better when I'm eating well, especially if I keep my carbs fairly low, there's lots of diabetes in my family and I feel i'm starting to feel early signs of carb intolerance.

Unfortunately in my family money is very tight, as is time (lots of overtime etc to get extra much needed money) at the moment and it's just cheaper/esier to buy this sort of food, especially with fussy children. I'm hoping to get to a better place financially soon and can start doing better food shops and better meals.

I definitely notice the difference if my diet is crap. As people have said, if you don't eat any fruit or veg and then start your digestion may notice - pretty quickly!

I am no saint, I eat processed food (I've just scarfed down some smoky bacon crisps)

But I always eat plenty of fruit and veg.

Today is

breakfast - homemade porridge, a slice of ryvita and a satsuma.

Lunch - homemade tomato, pepper and chickpea casserole with a few fried left over potatoes, an apple (and aforementioned crisps 🫣)

Dinner - pasta with homemade mushroom, pancetta, tomato and courgette sauce. Natural yoghurt with stewed rhubarb.

Processed food is disgusting and it's not talked about enough the bad effects it has on your body and the environment to.

On occasion I still get a lasagna from the store but most of the time I make all my meals with fresh meat and vegetables.

Oh lord, yes. I would feel so ill after a week such as you describe. I like the odd ready meal for convenience, but on the whole I much prefer to cook from scratch, it is healthier, cheaper, and tastier.

I like some junk food so not judgemental but I can’t eat too much of it as I just feel so sluggish. I like pizza (not the delivery type) and chicken burgers, but too much of it definitely makes me crave fresh good quality, colourful food.

You don't have to dedicate your life to it, and not all processed foods are equal. Tinned tomatoes for example are great as part of a balanced diet and world's away from something created in a factory. There are plenty of foods that aren't ultra processed, most people in this country don't have the pallette or desire to eat it though or wrongly assume its all super pricey and time consuming. Chickpeas and pulses for example are cheap, quick to cook and can be delicious- a lot of people wouldn't consider eating them though as they'd find all sorts of excuses.

It's really not. It's full of sugar and additives

The odd processed meal and I'm fine. When I eat it too often, for various reasons, I end up feeling very lethargic and just not right.