To wonder how the UPF quitters are now?

[MyDogsPaws]

I remember when the upf book came out last year loads and loads do people (me included) went crazy removing UPF from their diets, there were countless threads about it on here.

I have been making better choices some of the time but overall still struggling with sugar craving and binge eating. So still overweight and struggling with pain issues, I also feel like I always feel just as tired and awful no matter how healthily I eat but I struggle to be strict with my diet.

I would love to know if anyone managed to stick to a low/no UPF diet and if you have seen any major changes to your health or general well-being/ tiredness health conditions etc. of if anyone has made any other dietary changes that have had a big impact what were they?

The recent 30 veggies a week hype also annoys me, because it is hardly pathbreaking science and again, other cultures have been doing this for centuries. I wish they were acknowledged. Ignore me!😂

I wasn't eating much UPF before so I've not seen a drastic change health-wise but I do find UPF really unappealing now; I see adverts trying to make it look appealing and it is really not tempting at all.

I eat crisps and chocolate once a month. That's my only UPF. I dont eat much bread, but when I do I eat sourdough bread which is not UPF.

I think this shows that giving up UPFs is unrealistic- but even reducing has so many benefits. I’ve eaten a fairly low UPF for years, it’s hardly rocket science that whole food and home cooking are healthier. I’m very rarely ill, sleep well, have energy, currently pregnant with no issues at all and haven’t put on weight apart from bump. It’s sustainable if you have some treats but realise the majority of your diet should be non UPF.

But why does that matter? It’s not about quitting it’s about reducing

I agree with this. A lot of very sporty people I know eat a lot of convenience foods as well as veg and fruit but they don’t tend to be into cooking. I think being interested in doing a lot of outdoorsy things like skiing, cycling, sailing doesn’t usually overlap with a desire to read cook books. They tend to eat a lot of things like bought quiche with veg or easy cook chicken bought in foil trays.

Omg you’re right but it’s soooooo hard to completely cut them out and still have a social life / lead a busy life when some food cannot be eaten or packed at home.

Also the cost is pretty horrifying. (I haven’t perfected the art of one chicken lasting all week yet 😉)

Also when my period is due I need chocolate and that’s just a medical fact that cannot be called into question.

Didn’t even finish the book babes 😂

I wouldn't go back that's for sure. I don't mind the extra cooking as I always cooked a lot anyway, but will admit the meal planning can be exhausting.

I still drink wine at weekends, use bought mayonnaise, stock cubes, and eat some chocolate. I also don't worry if we are eating out. Other than that, I am UPF free and we eat a lot more veg and whole grains.,

My weight is stable, and my skin seems to have benefited. Another bonus is that the supermarket shop is quicker as I do fewer aisles.

I don't eat UPF or foods with added acid or preservatives in because I have silent reflux.

So, what I eat is natural, organic foods made from scratch. Once you get into your momentum, it's not difficult to keep it going.

It does require self-discipline.

See Acid Watchers Diet which is more a lifestyle change. Dr Jonathan Aviv. High proteins & low fat, so you should have lots of energy. Also filling food.

I eat very, very little UPF now. I’ve lost two and a half stone but I’m stuck now and still need to lose another stone. I haven’t noticed a massive difference overall health wise, but if I do eat a lot of something ‘bad’ I feel absolutely dreadful afterwards, usually get diarrhoea, headaches and ache all over.

I think you're right in that it's not really new. But I for example, in our case, I hadn't consciously thought about it and while we ate PLENTY of fruit and veg, we had got into the habit of largely eating the same fruit and veg, day in and day out. sort of 5 a day tick box, without considering whether it should be 5 different each day, if that makes sense?

And certainly, growing up, my family had a very basic, not-very-exciting-western diet where vegetables were largely (at best) - onion (white), carrots, corn, broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beans, potatoes and perhaps cabbage (again, one type only - white). Salads were lettuce, cucumber, tomato. And then maybe we had the odd squash/pumpkin or perhaps some beetroot or other root vegetables in season. Herbs and spices were, not to put too fine a point on it.... limited to the odd splash of mixed dried herbs or a bit of paprika or garlic. I mean, my dad was a child of WW2 and my mother grew up in a small landlocked African country - they grew up eating the few veg that were available and in season and neither of them were hugely adventurous eaters. And I think lots of people are similar. Plus it's easy to get into a rut.

I love that at any moment in time now, my fridge has a much wider variety of fruit and veg than was ever in my fridge growing up.

We eat as little upf as possible and gave been for a year. DH has found his IBS has improved alot and he has prostate cancer and his PSA results have reduced dramatically. We still eat sugar and fat etc (although I use half the recommended sugar in any baking recipes) but very few upf ingredients.

It is alot of work, I am constantly baking or cooking and our food shop has increased in price alot.

However I don't crave the upf at all and I find the thought of eating them of putting now I know what is in them.

I have not really seen any health benefits but I am hoping benefits will be longer term with a reduction in the risks of getting chronic health conditions

I've stuck to it pretty religiously. I now make all my own bread, ice cream, lollies etc. Cereal is banned and I even make my own cordial instead of squash. We have also gone completely organic and local for dairy. We were vegetarian anyway but getting rid of UFPs has resulted in no more IBS for me which I struggled with since I was a child. Yay!

It's about cutting down, not out. I can say that the thing I have noticed most, straight away, and I have started, lapsed and restarted on this, is that cutting out wheat has got rid of nearly all my joint aches (I'm in my early 60s). I would not have believed this if I hadn't experienced it. Although I do still eat some wheat I am never going back to the point where it's 75% of my carbs.

Same exact thing here
I need to work on portion control!

Yes, I've stuck at it. I'd been encouraged to move to 30+ different fruit & veg a week as part of recovery after chemo so I combined the two.

I've carried on cooking from scratch but with a much wider mix of fruit& veg. I swapped biscuits for handfuls of nuts - hazels, almonds, cashews. Puddings are fruit & single cream.

I make vats of veggie soups and home made bread (thank god for bread makers), using flour from a local heritage mill, which is ground up whole wheat grains and nothing else.
The sugar cravings have gone, and I haven't had a cold since. I've got much better at turning out fast healthy meals too.
My ds still eats shop pepperoni pizza and garlic bread 🙂

We still are mostly upf free after reading the book. My son has coeliacs and I was horrified by the ingredients in his gluten free convenience food. The thing I am most proud of is the wide variety of food my kids eat and they dont constantly pester me for upf snacks or cordial. They drink mostly milk or water unless we are away and I have introduced different breakfast foods like porridge, home made healthy pancakes with flaxseed and stuff in, smoothies, eggs, fritattas, apple slices with nut butter etc. So far they are growing well, a healthy weight, sleep well and rarely get ill (touch wood).

My diet was always ok in terms of the main meals I ate as I do like to cook and so we mostly avoided UPF in our breakfasts, lunches and dinners but I did have an issue with snacking on crap so things like packets of noodles, crisps, cheap nasty chocolate bars and gallons of cola every week.

I did join the gym last year and started going three times a week and I did lose a bit of weight but I just couldn't kick my junk food snacks and drinks. What changed that was starting one of the GLP-1 injectables. To be honest the cost of the injections is about what I was paying each month in crappy snack foods so money wise it wasn't too bad. Also I am vegetarian and most veggie ready meals are poor anyway so I've always found cooking from scratch better because I love tasty food!

After 2 months I am on the lowest dose and managed to totally kick my cola, crappy chocolate bar, crisps habit. I am still eating plenty of food but am logging what I eat in an app so I am not eating more than 2000 calories a day and often it is a bit less. I also use a fitness tracker to track my steps and workouts. I have lost about 2 stone in 12 weeks and haven't felt too deprived. I still have chocolate but I'll have a few squares of good quality dark chocolate (which is my favourite anyway) with a cup of tea or have an apple with almond butter as a snack or a homemade oatcake with a little cheese. I now drink lots of water and herbal teas.

Every day of logging my food and seeing the nutritional value is helping me to make little swaps here and there so I now start off my frying with a little avocado oil then use water to help my veg sweat down and honestly I can't tell the difference taste wise.

I am not sure I would say I'd never eat a anything processed again because I don't think restrictive rules are that helpful but I'd lean to 80/20. I'd also say that my previous issue with binging on crap was because I was too all or nothing about eating habits so thinking if I start a diet I will have to practically starve myself to lose weight and I'll not be able to eat anything sweet so I would always treat myself to one last hurrah except that one last hurrah was every week then every few days then it just became a total habit. I have some nice raspberry and pistachio hotel chocolat chocolates in my drawer right now which were a gift from my aunt, I might open them and have one while I relax with my book at the weekend!

I follow a no/very low UPF diet along with my husband and young children.

Definitely noticed less minor illnesses, viruses, etc and feel like i have more energy. Whenever i fall off the wagon i feel noticeably suboptimal

I've been UPF free for about 18 months - feeling fabulous on it. Just had a delicious brownie with my afternoon coffee, having home made soup and bread for tea, maybe ice cream for pudding. All made from scratch and whole food (but not vegan)

I might have had some UPF when eating out, I do eat out with friends, but it would be insignificant compared to the rest of my diet. One of the biggest shifts is to drop shop bought bread, another is I've discovered the joys of beans and pulses, flatbreads and Dosas.

My food is so much more interesting than it was 18 months ago. Like someone up thread I signed up to Zoe too and it's really helped me made major changes - and have lost about 20lb in weight, dropped two clothes sizes, without dieting or ever feeling hungry. If I do snack then it's on nuts and interesting roasted pulses, which - unlike biscuits - actually satisfy my appetite!

I’ve been minimising UPF since the beginning of 2024. I’ve lost 16 pounds and have much more energy than I used to. I also feel like my tastes have changed (e.g. I can’t stand flavoured yoghurts as I find them much too sweet).

I am keen to enjoy social occasions and not feel restricted so I will still have fish and chips etc during the odd weekend. Nothing is off limits really but I probably eat 90% non-UPF and that 10% UPF feels like enough for me!

Still trying, with pretty good success.

Some things I've been really really turned off. A lot of ice-cream for example. I've had some since, as a treat, and I really didn't enjoy it. I can't imagine liking it again.

I have lost weight without trying, I suspect largely due to reducing orange juice intake (I'm trying to squeeze it fresh but often can't be bothered, so I just don't drink it).

I definitely feel better having a higher amount of fruit and veg in a day. Helped by the veg box.

I do still eat some occasional takeaways, but I don't really crave them. I have them because DH wants them.

I’m low UPF and have been for a year, I’ve particularly ditched all UPF for sweets/chocolate (just have green and blacks dark chocolate). When I try sweets/biscuits now they just taste too sweet and I’m far more aware of the sugar crash and hunger that comes after - the same with McDonalds which I used to see as a treat. Weight loss wasn’t a goal but I think my immune system has been better and I feel mentally fitter!