To ask how much UPF you really eat?

[CherryValley5]

Just that really!

I mostly try and avoid it but it’s definitely not a no go zone for us - I’m very much a believer of everything in moderation but am seeing more and more MN posts who basically treat eating it in the same way as drugs/alcohol!

For example: since reading Dr Chris van Tulleken’s book I never buy ready meals anymore and don’t see them as real food - it all feels a bit gross to me now which it certainly didn’t used to. I definitely do far more home cooking these days and am much less likely to just pop in to the shops on the way home to buy something quick that can just be shoved in the oven. I feel much better for it but it’s so expensive and time consuming..!

I really believe that the occasional treat doesn’t do any harm.

Just to reiterate my point, because from your reply I don't think it's come across, avoiding ultra-processed food categorically does not necessitate cutting out crisps, chocolate, ice-cream and "treats". There is non ultra-processed milk chocolate, crisps, biscuits and ice-cream. That was my point. It's not just you, there's several people who have made posts to that effect further up, it seems to be a common misunderstanding.

I agree it's the latest fad and will generally affect women more.as tbey do majority of thinking about catering fir families.

Seeing people (women) stressing about eating cheese strings...not that processed in reality...

Bloody love cheese strings. I have 2 a day as part of my slimming world cheese allowance!

Being quite old and retired, I find it easy to live virtually free of UPF, but I understand that it can be more difficult for working parents. By all means use the odd ready-made pizza or sauce out of a jar. I wouldn't lose sleep over shop-bought bread. Just make sure that vegetables and/or salads are a major part of all main meals, and limit 'snacks'.

I always cook enough protein - chicken, fish, tofu - for several meals. Ditto roast vegetables. I make large batches of salad dressings, marinades, tomato/red pepper sauce and pesto. Saves lots of time! Mashed cauliflower mixed with home-made pesto is delicious! Quinoa is an excellent substitute for rice, or use wild rice. Hummus is very quick and easy to make.

What I would urge, though, is to eliminate SUGAR as much as possible. Don't eat (ultra) processed food that contains lots of sugar. Manufacturers have a habit of adding lots of different forms of sugar - if it ends on -ose (glucose, fructose, galactose etc) it's sugar... Sugar is addictive and induces cravings for more UPF, but weaning oneself off it is totally life-changing.

We never have ready meals or any prepared freezer stuff. I do buy shop bought sourdough, not sure if that classes as UPF but it seems better. Always have plain yoghurt, do have muesli. Sometimes have bran flakes/weetabix. I think it's about UPFs being the minority of your diet, and weighing up the benefits such as the fibre in cereals. Expecting first baby and I do not want to feed them any of the snacks/meals marketed for kids, they're all so ultra processed, and expensive!

just have some cubes of real cheese, with actual taste.

Very little. We’ve never been big consumers of pre made food and the more that’s coming out about the health risks, the happier I am about that decision.

I’n now awaiting a slew of “studies” saying they aren’t bad for you as the manufacturers try and fight back

I don't need you to tell me what to eat. I'd say I have a pretty balanced diet anyway.

How could olives be UPF?

But we have no idea how you treat drugs and alcohol ! Total abstinence, weekends only, every day before breakfast ....

I'd also like to know why olives are UPF. I think it's something that's a big deal for some people on here. In real life, not so much. I've followed the 80/20 way of eating for years, and something you enjoy occasionally is absolutely fine. I don't feel guilty about the food I eat.

Loads. For the kids partly because autism means I don't have a lot of options to work with particularly around snacks. I would never buy or eat a ready meal and cook from scratch all the time but even the pastes etc I was using yesterday in a stir fry recipe had various of the ingredients the book categorises as UFP. We buy bread, bagels, wraps etc as well (not the cheapest stuff but probably still UFP) and cereals though I mostly have porridge. I do love chocolate and ice cream and eat far too much of that.

We do have UPF , I just try is to avoid really harmful additives Like Nitrates, E numbers ..etc .

Not much although I do use plain protein powder.

Very very little. Odd tin of baked beans, all the family bar me eat tomato ketchup & gravy made from granules. Shop bought ice cream, I often make my own (less so now no chickens for the eggs). Can't think of anything else we buy that would be UPF, I make my own sauces for pasta, make pies/pasties from scratch, we grow most of our own veg this time of year, meat from butcher. In winter I might buy frozen chips (is that UPF?)

I don't take any notice, some days it is hardly anything, other days it's a shit load.

Today-an energy bar, protein shake, prosciutto ham, maybe the sourdough? lazy garlic, not sure about the sun-dried tomatoes or the Oxo cube...

Yesterday I had white bread, cake, pizza..

I eat as well as I can but some days I just ignore everything and eat whatever I want and a single bit of fruit or vegetable does not pass my lips. Not ideal but sometimes these things happen.

The kids eat way too much rubbish but it's really hard to feed them. Yesterday they had pizza for lunch but for dinner I made them homemade shepherds pie and vegetables so that felt like a win. I don't care about the UPF so much at the moment, my biggest battle is choosing fruit and vegetables they will eat!

My parents had a restaurant so I’m a confident cook and can cook quickly. I do not need to weigh anything. We are as DS says an ingredients household which he finds annoying. DH is also a food scientist. We do eat ham and cold meats that we have bought that to us is very processed. I mean we rarely eat take aways as the ingredients are shit usually, I’m fine with fish and chips probably least processed and a chippy near us uses beef fat to fry in. He is totally anti seed oils and sweeteners and there is some additive to many foods in America but I can’t remember what it is that he rages about.

We did get some free ready meals at the weekend, I mean they were free so why not but they tasted bloody awful really. I buy the occasional pizza if short on time and stuff like tinned chickpeas to make hummus as who has time to soak dried ones. As DH says unless a raw ingredient like a cabbage everything is processed. So I can see why olives are processed but do not understand why classed as a UPF, will ask him if I remember later.

My take on any cafe or restaurant is are the puddings and cakes home made, it’s easy to tell. If they are not then it’s not a good one.

For pizza, most Crosta and Mollica and some or all Pizza Express pizzas are non ultra-processed. There's also one of those mini pizzas in a basics range that is non ultra-processed, I think it may have been Aldi? I'll try and find out and update.

Edit: this one is non ultra-processed if you accept seed oils (some don't):

https://www.sainsburys.co.uk/gol-ui/product/stamford-street-food-co-cheese-tomato-pizza-309g

This Facebook page also highlights some non ultra-processed products which I've found useful, (they do allow seed oils):

www.facebook.com/p/Go-UPF-free-Non-ultra-processed-food-finds-61551827109379/

ham and cold meats that we have bought that to us is very processed. Majority of Processed meat have Nitrates which is a group 1 carcinogen.

Spot on 👍🏻

More than I’d like to think.

I make pretty much every meal from scratch, but I don’t make my own bread or bread products. We also use things like chorizo, bacon, stock cubes, lazy garlic and ginger, Thai pastes (I hasn’t realised that the one I buy is UPF but I’ve found one that isn’t), coconut milk (ditto) - there will be loads more.

My son with ARFID only eats UPF plus fresh fruit but there isn’t much I can do about that.

Honestly, I cook most of our meals from scratch so I don't get too worked up about ketchup, mustard, etc.

I would like to see DD eat less "beige" food but she's lactose intolerant and fussy so I try to compensate with lots of fresh fruit and veg, which she's pretty good about and we're slowly increasing her food variety. I also have swapped the rest of us to non UPF bread which I feel has made a difference.

I also, somewhat controversially (I was once accused on here of purposefully trying to reduce my children's lifespans) am quite relaxed about things like ham, chorizo etc. High quality versions are such a good way to get protein and flavour into things easily at a cost effective way - which, arguably, is why they were invented in the first place!

This. As a child DD wouldn’t even eat cheese strings - more like plastic than cheese!

I think bread is the one thing that stands out as having been ruined by industrial processes which is a common staple that is heavily consumed. This is just my opinion but if there were one thing that could be brought back to being non ultra-processed, I think it should be bread. It would have a huge impact.

Plain foods like white bread, potato waffles, plain pasta or with a little cheese are very simple and comforting in an overstimulating world.

There's no issues with strong flavours, foods touching and causing stress or weird textures.

I typically eat an extremely varied diet, but when in burnout I eat plain pasta with a bit of grated cheese or toast. It soothes my brain.

I will also occasionally go through phases where I will eat the same meal for about a month and then not eat it again for a very long time.

It is like I get stuck on a wheel and it is the only thing that will satisfy me and I will think about it all day.

There is also an aspect of a lot of ND people needing to nurture "the child within" and having aspects of things that are comforting like a soft toy, adult colouring books, Disney or simple foods.

The world is loud, scary, abrasive and stressful.

Simple, comforting activities and foods help us soothe and cope.

I can't explain it in technical terms sorry... and obviously not speaking for all ND people.