To ask you how to reduce UPF

[Calvinlookingforhobbes]

Just that really. Which switches could I easily make to reduce UPF without too much effort, please?

We switched to a lot of organic products of the same thing, more expensive but I'm lazy and work long hours so it has assuaged the guilt a little.

Breadmaker has solved a lot of it.

Our main issue is snacks for on the go. We try to have fruit but DC do need something carby before clubs and I struggle to find things and don't have time to bake.

Get a Panasonic bread maker (secondhand if on a budget). By far the best swap.

Join the reducing UPF Facebook group. Loads of good tips.

Don't buy it in the first place. It's not rocket science.

Great tip. Thanks.

Easy, just don't really eat processed rubbish. Loads more you can do if you really want like baking bread, but the first thing is just to stop buying anything processed.

Check there labels and if there's e numbers and emulsifier in there don't buy.

Remember that there is a difference between processed food and UPF. You can still buy stuff for snacks like cheese, Greek yoghurt (add honey), bakery bagettes etc. avoiding UPF isn’t really that hard if you don’t buy it, if you are a half way decent baker you can make cakes, cookies, bread, muffins etc pretty easily. It depends how far you want to go with it or how strictly your interpret it, I don’t include stuff like pasta in that category and I buy stuff like Siracha, soy sauce etc for flavor and I’m sure some count those as UPFs. I also meal prep on weekends to avoid the need to buy ready meals for busy weeknights

What is it that you eat and what do you want to cut back? Because getting rid of an upf-diet is as simple as it sounds: dont buy it.
Buy foods that look like food and you can tell where they came from: bananas, broccoli, eggs, milk... If you cant tell by looking whats in it: noodles? Crunchy nut cereal? Springles? Then dont buy it.

bread machine.... for bread and pizza.
buying organic dairy; Yeo valley yogurt and ice cream is better than others.

avoiding aldi own brands and going back to the big brands. Not sure its completely perfect but hellmans mayo and heinz ketchup contains less UPF than aldi s own.
Kallo stock cubes instead of cheap ones, although I also make chicken stock (which i freeze) with every whole chicken. (we eat 2 - 3 a month)

Cooking meals from scratch and baking cakes and puddings helps.

I also now drink only tea or tap water and have a soda stream and I add a slice of lemon to fizzy soda stream water sometimes too. (or lime). Occasionally rocks cordial.

Bread is fine according to the latest research, but look for ones with less salt if possible. Vegetarian processed food is better than processed meat, so that would probably be an easy swap. I found snacks tricky, but yoghurt, popcorn, cut up veggie sticks with humus, or fruit generally work well.

Jason's bread if you don't want to make your own - most supermarkets sell it.

Don't buy crisps/ chocolate/ meat substitutes.

Check labels for emulsifiers or flavourings and don't buy things with those in.

Lots of shop bought shortbread is fine so I have that for something sweet now.

Buy Greek yogurt and flavour yourself with fruit etc.

Eggs for breakfast/ snacks.

If only it was as simple as just don’t buy it. If it’s what you’ve been buying for years and your family are used to it, it’s difficult. I’ve been trying to make small changes where I can, and I read labels so I’m more mindful of what I am buying.

I'm trying to watch UPF too. It is easy to say "don't buy it", but when you have a set routine of food products it becomes a habit (well for me anyway) to select the same things all the time.

I decided at the end of the Summer to change one thing a month. It's not much but it makes me think now and look at labels when buying. I make my own brown and white soda bread, it's so easy and no kneading or yeast or rising etc. required. I often add grated cheese (self grated), and various herbs and a few seeds. Then raisins or the like for a sweeter version. Real butter, whole milk, and Greek yogurts.

It's a start I suppose.

It's hard to say without knowing what you eat day to day really

It's not as easy as some people are quite flippantly saying. It takes quite a bit of adjusting, especially if you don't have a lot of spare time and are used to quick and easy meals. I've always enjoyed cooking from
scratch but I can't deny that I miss the convenience of throwing a tin of soup in my bag for my work lunch tbh.

PP already mentioned Jason's bread. Some of the Tesco finest loaves are also non UPF. I'm not ready to be making my own bread yet. President spreadable butter is good as well.

Having said that, it does get easier and I do feel the benefits in my sleep and lack of snacky cravings. When things like sweets creep back in, I can feel the difference.

Start with small changes. Things like chicken nuggets / goujons, hash browns, chips, breaded fish etc - if that’s the sort of thing you’re struggling to get DC to eat anything else - can easily be made at home with fresh and less processed ingredients and then frozen for your own stock of freezer food. Buy a soda stream and you can make your own fizzy drinks with your own fruit cordials, which are super easy to make in bulk to last for ages.

And overall, don’t beat yourself up about it too much when you do need to opt for processed ingredients for convenience or because of fussy DC. There’s more to life than worrying about a slightly increased risk of cancer because you like a ham sandwich.

Can I ask which research? Genuinely interested because I understood mass produced bread is one of the worst things and I haven't seen anything to refute that.
Sourdough made at home I think is fine. Flour is fine. Supermarket bread is UPF.

Eat what you like and fancy eating. The whole thing is a fad and will change later, but I don’t tend to eat much stuff considered UPFs.

Please educate me …what is UPF? When I googled it i got this explanation: UPF stands for ultraviolet protection factor and is the sun protective rating measure for fabrics. Genuinely never heard of it !

Tomato sauce is now considered a UPF, however many eons ago I could only eat my dmils food if it were dowsed in the said Tomato sauce

UPF = ultra processed food

@elliemac209 https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/nov/13/some-ultra-processed-foods-are-good-for-your-health-who-backed-study-finds

Butter instead of spread
Plain meat instead of processed meat
Avoid anything labelled as low fat or low sugar
Avoid vegetarian meat substitutes or vegan dairy substitutes
Fresh, dried, frozen or tinned fruit are all fine, as are fresh or tinned or frozen veg
Make your own cakes and biscuits
More expensive versions of houmous are fine, cheaper ones aren't
Longley farm flavoured yogurts are the only non UPF flavoured yogurts I've come across
"Fresh" supermarket bread is fine rather than the sliced loaves
Ready salted crisps or salted peanuts rather than other flavours of same
Shredded wheat, posh muesli, raisin wheats, porridge are all fine
Milk and cheese and plain yogurt fine
Pasta and rice fine
Avoid fizzy drinks or squash
Ice cream is generally UPF even the expensive ones (may be some exceptions?)
Use olive oil/vinegar/lemon juice as salad dressing rather than ready made dressing
Make your own soups and pasta sauce rather than a jar or tin

For us I think it's condiments and sauces we can't swap out easily.

Jason’s bread is good as pps have said, also look for Bertinet Bakery, and Crosta and Mollica for the wraps/ flatbreads - they’re all much pricier though but I fall back on them if I haven’t got the energy for making my own. We’re also lucky to have a bakery at the end of the road - I did ask for their ingredients list once though (as was catering for someone with a lot of allergies - nothing to do with UPF) and he does use some soya flour and vegetable oil in some of the products so that might count as UPF. But probably still better than the supermarket ones.

The organic Heinz beans don’t count as UPF whereas the normal ones technically do - although I don’t think they’re too terrible either way.

Greek yoghurt and add own fruit/ bit of honey.

Tinned tomatoes to make batches of pasta or curry sauce. You could use the frozen chopped onions and garlic to make it quicker/ easier - Im
lazy and use my food processed to chop onion, carrot and celery then soften that, add garlic and other herbs/ spices depending on what I want to make, tinned tomatoes and blend for a basic pasta sauce. Or use it as the base of a soup.

Porridge instead of the more processed cereals.

Make own pizzas - could use one of the Crosta and Mollica flatbreads as a base or make a really simple dough with plain flour and natural/ Greek yoghurt. Top with a bit of the batch sauce mentioned above, or mix tomato purée with a tiny bit of balsamic, some dried herbs and garlic powder and use that as your sauce, then top with cheese and whatever other toppings.

My best tips are don't go too fast too soon. Just do it in increments. Get used to certain foods and then add some more. If you change everything at once you'll have a war in your house!

Meal plan. Give some thought to the families needs and what you are doing now. Eg Friday is pizza night, instead of ready made pizzas, make your own.

Try to eat food as close to its natural state, potatoes instead of frozen chips.

We use a lot of grains such as Pearl barley, freekah, spelt and buckwheat. They are filling a d mostly relatively cheap.

I've never bought snacks such as crisps and biscuits as a routine. We bought them occasionally but don't have them to hand. That's not a new thing, even when the kids were small we didn't have snacks on demand.

We've never have cereals such as Cheerios, crunchy nut or Krave. Only as a special treat on holiday.

I don't think it matters if you don't get it right all the time, I think only some one like Madonna could manage that but it's about being mindful of what you are eating.

Eating non-upf food doesn't mean you have to go all organic and fanatical. Im a single parent of two dc, working full time so both time and budget are limited, so i think common sense is the key.

My shopping basket has always looked pretty similar: fruit and veg (cheaper stuff like onions, potatoes, carrots, apples, bananas and some other ones if they are in season and cheap price per kg), milk, plain yoghurt, margarine, pasta, rice, flour, eggs, oats, tinned tomato/passata, beans, lentils, plain nuts and seeds, popcorn, oil, spices and herbs, sugar, minced beef, chicken, salmon if i can afford..

You can cook/bake a lot with a basket like that and it contains a low amount of upfs. I dont think ill ever stop buying bread or pasta or completely swap margarine to butter. Too expensive. Its not a case of all or nothing imo.