UPF.... WTF - I knew it was addictive but didn't realise...

[PaminaMozart]

... how quickly things can fall apart!

I'm a self-confessed health nut. Love exercise, lots of walking, and my diet is normally supper healthy. Lots of vegetables, lean protein, a smattering of complex carbs, healthy fats and dairy/mostly yoghurt.

It has stood me in good stead. At 70 I am really fit and my health-MOT suggests a biological age of 53 or thereabouts.

BUT...... for the past 10 days I have had relatives staying with me who seem addicted to UPF, carbs and sugary 'treats'. They sleep till 10, so I've given my usual morning workouts a miss so as not to disturb them. No point cooking stuff they won't eat. Or we eat out at places with limited/no healthy options.

Slowly but surely I've fallen into a pattern of eating what they eat, drinking wine daily (as opposed to a glass once or twice a week), and taking the bus instead of walking.

And, even after such a short time I have gained weight, my belly is definitely more prominent, and my lovely muscles seem sadly diminished.

A salutary lesson. Use it or loose it. I wonder how long it'll take me to get back to where I was...?!!

I buy Braeburn apples but it’s difficult to find pineapples that are not “supersweet”

It’s about your microbiome. You now now have bacteria craving that crap. Candida albicans. Starve the bacteria in your gut for a couple of weeks and they will die off. You’ll be back to normal soon enough

Nothing wrong with UPFs?

Are you having a laugh???

Ultra processed food. Also see book Ultra Processed People.

Well they are not great, tbf

There’s a book Ultra Processed People by Chris van Tulleken.

Dramatic much!

It’s a bit of bloat that’s all. Get a bloody grip.

I hear you .Also holidays ….you loose fitness so quickly

Re fruit being too sweet. Not sure I buy that. There’s a huge natural variety in fruit. Like berries out of season aren’t sweet at all, but British berries are sooo sweet and tasty.

I agree that it’s really, really hard and that’s why I agree with the op. It is awful. Before all this processed and sugary food existed we didn’t have this problem. I’m not blaming you I think the op’s point was that she’s lucky not to have got into that previously.

There's stupid, and then there's verging on suicidally stupid. This UPF is just really really desperately unhealthy. There's no reason to eat it.

That does depend on the sort of holidays you have, of course!

What a lot of weird replies on this thread!

I'm similar to you OP and avoid UPF and try to look after myself in general. It's about staying well long term for myself and family, and I just feel better when I eat proper food and move a bit. No idea why that upsets people! I hope I'm as active as you at age 70.

I live abroad in a country where eating well is a bit easier and more affordable. UPF exists but it's not ubiquitous/default. Whenever I visit family in the UK I also end up adopting some of their eating (and lack of exercise) habits - that's the food they buy and I'm hardly going to refuse it. At first I always find the UPF bread and biscuits etc taste pretty weird. But after a week or so I develop a real appetite for it, and then find normal food a bit bland for a while when I go back.

This type of industrially produced food is pumped full of salt and sugar and additives designed intentionally to get us eating more of it, so it's nothing to do with willpower sadly, for you or for the millions of people who eat it day in and day out.

Consider it an experiment and I hope you enjoy getting back to your normal routine.

Are you for real?
there is everything wrong with UPFs!! Loads of research coming out to support this and take a look around you at the state of every country with a westernised high UPF diet

I don’t eat junk food and takeaway food is rare in our house .
I also don’t like fizzy drinks , and don’t drink alcohol.
I like the odd chocolate and homemade cake ( not necessarily made by me 😆)
But I do think it’s really tricky to completely avoid all UPFs if you’re short of time and you're the only person who cooks and cleans up .
Eg I might make risotto but I’d use one of those stock pots , i might make a curry but use a bought paste + tin of coconut milk

Gosh some people have really gone crazy about this 'UPF' nonsense haven't they. I suspect it's people who spend too much time online. The rest of the world are just cracking on eating a bit of whatever they fancy and living normal lives.

Not all processed foods are 'UPFs' though, @Packetofcrispsplease - I wouldn't have thought all curry pastes would be, nor coconut milk.

I work with old people and it’s utterly shit seeing them age and struggle with their health. Honestly I would rather drink wine every day and eat what I want than live past 80.

Surely if you live that life of indulgence your health will just fail at an earlier age?
I have relatives (parents generation) in their 80s who are still enjoying life and they are the ones who've stayed active and looked after their health.
Up to you though, you pay your money & take your choice!

This ☝️

Doesn’t everyone in the western world who has ever celebrated Christmas know that you most definitely absolutely can put on weight in 3 days?? Who are these people saying it’s not possible in 10? What mysterious elite regime are they on?

Really? I’d rather be healthy, do strength work and maximise my life. My grandpa died at 94 still engaged in his life’s work and that’s what I want. My parents and in laws are all still very happily living a fulfilled life.

Precisely. What is more, I actually enjoy eating healthily and working out! I feel so much better when I do. Hence why I posted this thread LOL...

PanimaMozart I feel for you. After two weeks of eating dreadful food, too much booze and not moving as much, I’d look and feel like a lump of raw pastry. What we eat affects our physical and mental health pretty rapidly, maybe some more than others. And maybe some don’t appreciate how much better they’d feel if they made changes.

You sound like one of the amazing women I see at my health club. In their sixties- seventies, active, healthy and looking pretty hot! Don’t worry, it’ll come back soon enough, once life is back to normal.

Except they’re not stopping at a bit, they are eating far too much of what they fancy and that’s why we have an obesity crisis.
Make your own choices about what you eat but don’t pretend there isn’t a wider problem.