If you are not reducing your intake of UPF…

[maybein2022]

… with all the media attention on UPF at the moment and so much research coming out about it. Interested to know. If you’re NOT reducing your intake of it, is it because you’re not able to (finances/accessibility/time), because you don’t want to or don’t think it’s a problem, you and/or your kids are neurodivergent and a lot of ‘safe’ foods are UPF or other reasons.

YANBU: I am reducing mine/my family’s intake
YABU: I am not for reasons listed above (or other reasons)

Hey daily mail!

We are reducing it where it's easy but not being overly strict. We are an allergy household so we have upf milk and while I can get non upf milk that means my DC won't get enough calcium because it's not fortified and they're out the house 10 hours a day so I can't physically get calcium into their diets through food alone unless they eat 10 oranges and a whole bag of green beans a day.

The way I've seen some people go to extremes over banning all upf is actually an unhealthy mindset. It's about moderation and a balanced diet.

Most things are processed if they are not in their whole food state. Eg anything that has something done to it e.g heated/ground/canned etc and are fine such as some cheese, pasta, yoghurt etc. UPF is when chemicals, additives, emulsifiers etc are added and you wouldn’t be able to make it yourself at home if you looked at the ingredients list. Crisps, supermarket bread, cakes, ice cream, sausages, packaged precooked meat, chocolate, orange juice, ready meals, sauces etc (most anyway)

I haven’t really given it any consideration. There’s constantly some new theme in the press about what food is good or bad.

We cook some things from scratch, and use some convenience items too. It’s a case of balancing the health aspect with time, cost, taste, availability and convenience. Overhauling the way we do things isn’t really on my radar at the moment, we’re happy as we are.

I cook from scratch most of the time so we have plenty of veg and fresh meat and fish. We eat some processed foods some of the time. I buy packaged bread and cereal for example, though none of us eat loads of it. I also have pizzas and chicken goujons in the freezer for emergencies- although the teenagers often treat that sort of thing as a snack 😂

The teens eat more UPFs than DH and I do, simply because we’re not always in charge of their food choices so what they buy at school/college or when out and about with friends with their own money is usually not what I would consider a great choice. We’ve talked about it and I expect they’ll gradually reduce that intake as they grow up.

We’re all very active and none of us are overweight or drink much alcohol.

@OurfriendsintheNE I have always cooked from scratch for the most part, but have always always struggled with weight and after reading/listening to so much about UPF I realised I was addicted to it. I used to kid myself I could have ‘treats’ in moderation but through all my reading I realised these (for me) weren’t ‘treats’ at all and I was in a binge, restrict, binge cycle. What’s also really interesting is I’ve been able to make sweet stuff myself (ie baking) and not binge on it, which is groundbreaking for me. I recognise though that I have the privilege of time and resources to do this. I have lost over 4stone since I started this way of eating.

We don't eat a massive amount of upf, and im not prepared to give up the ones we do eat. It's either chocolate, or convenience that we end up upf.

BUT, it's also not a consistent list. I mean - orange juice is mentioned above. Maybe I do eat (drink) more processed stuff than I think, because thats not one that would hit my radar.

Crisps, supermarket bread, cakes, ice cream, chocolate, orange juice, ready meals, sauces etc (most anyway)
Borrowing this list from pp. Nope, not cut back/down at all. Multiple reasons, I'm disabled, H cba (does shopping/cooking), convenience and finances. Although didn't realise orange juice is upf.

If your nan is in her 90s she wouldn't have been raised on the kind of UPF that exist now because they didn't exist then.

I eat very little of the stuff that is supposedly “UPF” anyway and I think the distinction between “UPF” and everything else is essentially arbitrary and bogus.

I’m trying to reduce UPF but it is costing me more and it is more time consuming. I’m not doing as well as I’d like but we do eat better than probably a majority of families. It’s hard to avoid UPF totally

I just don’t have the energy to worry about a slice of toast and glass of OJ for breakfast!

I already lead a very healthy lifestyle and take health and fitness really seriously. Like fuck am I going to start wringing my hands over bread or a tin of baked beans, life is too short!

I've always cooked mainly from scratch, but once a week we have a "beige" meal (something with oven chips) and I'm not stopping that. I need a night off from cooking!

The other thing we could / should do is reduce intake of bread, cereal, crisps etc. Again - not really planning to reduce those. It's too much hassle to start making my own bread!

@Toblerbone we do that! Weekly supermarket bought pizza night and sometimes beige 'easy' night too so some weeks only 5 out of 7 for 'proper dinners'. Not changing it for anything or anyone. I have raw spinach every morning, run 5-15 miles every week and haven't had any alcohol in over 7 years... So the occasional crap is staying!

I don't eat many anyway so I'm not making a massive effort to change - yes I could make fresh pesto instead of having Sacla but I really don't have enough time or care enough considering I eat maybe a tablespoon full a week.

We aim for balance and moderation. Most meals are cooked from scratch, porridge for breakfast, plain yoghurt etc. so I'm not going to stress about an occasional dinner of fish fingers and beans or a bag of mini cheddars or whatever.

Stressing over 'UPF' is just the latest fad / craze. In a few years time it will be forgotten about and people will go back to worrying about low carb / low sugar / calories / some other health thing. These things come and go in cycles.

There's enough to worry about. I'm not changing anything. Life without chocolate and OJ would be even harder than it is, for one thing.

We have a cow too.

It feels like the latest fad that will cause disordered eating for many. Endless restrictions, blaming themselves for a transgression, yet more guilt to be heaped mainly on the women in a family. I cba with any of that.

Everything in moderation still seems to me to be the way to go. As long as I’m having to plan the food, shop for the food, cook the food, eat the food, I’m going to buy the occasional pizza and cooked chicken if it makes that process easier each week. Add in a ND child with limited food options and little time, I don’t think it’s the hill I’m prepared to die on.

If I win the lottery I will hire a chef and they can do all that for me. Then I will ban the upf foods but not before. Apart from ds, who needs to eat something.

Even cooking from scratch is quite likely to involve processed or UPF foods. It's just the way that food is available to us now. Unless people are genuinely making their own stocks, pulping fresh tomatoes at home for passata, making fresh pasta dough themselves, making their own bread, fermenting their own yoghurt, making their own pastry, own tortillas etc. It's hugely unlikely, inconvenient and expensive for most people.

We do eat processed and UPF foods for all the reasons mentioned on this thread. Convenience, cost, flavour, enjoyment, don't really care that much. We have as much of a variety of food as possible with 3 young kids and limited time/skill. I don't need yet another thing to feel bad about tbh.

I don’t like cooking and rarely cook from scratch. DH is a good cook and we eat out regularly. I like the pots of pasta sauce, Weetabix minis and fruit yogurt. I hate porridge. We eat a balanced diet but don’t restrict anything.

Just to add to my previous list, not all orange juice is UPF (e.g freshly squeezed 100% orange juice isn’t).

We are sticking to what we can afford which means a lot of UBF.