Avoiding UPFs at breakfast

[Ayechinnyreckon]

After breakfast we eat virtually no UPFs but the kids breakfast is a huge issue.

They wake early and are hungry. They're 9&6 so can be trusted to go downstairs, get themselves some cereal and occupy themselves in the morning until we get up.

They eat cereal and pastries mainly until we get up and make a more substantial breakfast if they want it) 90mins - 2 hours later.

AIBU to want quick and easy breakfast that the DC can get themselves? So I don't have to get up at 5.30!

I'm not sure I would be ok with my kids being up for 2 hours without adult supervision.

I would happily make my own but always assumed it was a faff

Just to add balance to the 'so easy' pp (not being unkind to you pp, I'm jealous of your ability and your loaf looks delicious) I sadly find it a massive faff. Just reading the instructions posted shuts something off in my brain (the same thing happens in wordy maths equations, golf and football)
I adore cooking and baking and have loads of spare time but I absolutely don't have the long term brain that finds it easy to think that in 20 odd days of measuring, feeding and discarding I'll bake my first loaf of bread.
I can bake a regular loaf myself but I'll merrily pay the bakery £5 a loaf to mess about with sourdough!

All very interesting points thank you!

I think we perhaps need different or better terminology as UPF can be misinterpreted. For me, I like to avoid chemical additives (emulsifiers / gums / E numbers / preservatives etc)

No one has to buy anything he sells if you mean Zoe.

He was doing this research decades ago and it's being suggested in some cancer treatments.

Don't forget about all the aggressive marketing on the other side for UPFs.

No, I wasn't referring to that. You could replace foie gras with oysters or caviar. Or yacht ownership: people who own yachts live far longer than people who don't own yachts, but it's not the purchase of a yacht that does it.

My understanding from epidemiology friends (I am a publishing scientist, but only have one article in an actual epidemiology journal) is that the French Paradox is mostly down to differences in culture among doctors when certifying the cause of death. Even within countries you can get that. The percentage of people "dying of heart disease" (according to the ICD-10 classification of diseases) is 10 times higher in some parts of the US compared to others.

Again, this brings me back to my main point. Science is hard, epidemiology is harder, nutritional epidemiology is even harder. I recently read a history of the post-WW2 research into the link between smoking and lung cancer, and while some of the deniers were being paid by the tobacco companies ("Type A personality" is an invention of those times), plenty of others weren't. It took the development of new statistical techniques to convince them. There really is no scientific consensus about UPFs and where they might fit in to overall health.

Yes that's definitely its Achilles heel. I get the no added sugar version: but that's still high in "sugars" of course because of all the raisins.

The point is that the direction of travel is that UPFs are not good for us.

Your own work isn't relevant. Many people in my family have PhDs in science/bio topics . You are giving an opinion.

Sorry to be negative but toasters are not great either - we had one catch fire early last year, not a cheap one but didn’t “pop up” - huge amount of damage to kitchen. Would not have another and would be reluctant to have children using one unless also capable of aiming a kitchen fire extinguisher and using a fire blanket. Stick to overnight oats or cereals.

For me, I like to avoid chemical additives (emulsifiers / gums / E numbers / preservatives etc)

Well, a lot of those are in UPFs, but a lot of them are also in ordinary "non-U" processed foods. E-numbers identify additives that the EU has recognised as safe. Salt has an E-number. Parmesan cheese is naturally 1.2% E621 (monosodium glutamate). The most common emulsifier is corn starch.

Another thing to remember is that the principal target of the UPF people is American food. And there I think they might have more of a point. You can buy some truly horrible stuff in a US supermarket, and many of their additives are banned in Europe. But whenever I see a package in the UK that says "No artifical colours", I try to remember the last time I bought anything that does have artificial colours. Apart from maybe the very cheapest sweets (candy) I can't thing of any major processed, or even "ultra-processed", food brand that contains artificial colours. 🤷‍♂️

Oh no - I could give you starter and you'd be baking a loaf tomorrow 😂

I don't weigh or measure when feeding my starter- cup (ISH)of flour, cup (ISH)of warm water, stir.

2 hours later make dough, prove, shape, prove, bake!

But yes, buying is definitely easier. I just begrudge chucking out bread, and we are either feast or famine on the stuff.

Currently waiting on my yogurt to finish cooking.

Get a toaster. A 9 year old can safely use a toaster....

I bet you wish you'd never asked OP!

Or just buy two good breads, a couple cheeses and some fruit. Surely the adults eat that too.
Don't need a toaster for that either.
I really wonder if some people really know what an easy and healthy breakfast is I mean bacon and eggs...🙄
I eat a lot of crap myself but at least I know it's crap.

But yes, buying is definitely easier. I just begrudge chucking out bread, and we are either feast or famine on the stuff.
You can easily freeze bread though.

I'm not too phobic about UPF but I won't touch anything that has "no artificial colours" on the label.

I translate that into "this is total junk with no nutritional value whatsoever, so we've desperately looked for something we can say that makes you think it's not actually poisonous". It's like terrible "Energy" drinks advertising themselves as being low fat.

We can't have cheese unfortunately. I also already use leftovers for main meals so can't really spend time or money making more meals for breakfast. I freeze potato rosti type things and heat them up sometimes but generally breakfasts are a complete pain. I fast now purely to avoid having to bother with it but the DC need something.

@Ayechinnyreckon

what about Greek yoghurt and fruit maybe with some granola, nuts and seeds, that kind of thing? Ain’t nobody got time to actually cook a meal at breakfast time!

"Hovis does a wholegrain preservative free bread at Sainsbury's, and they also do an own brand organic whole wheat bread"

Are they really not classified as UPFs?

What about leaving fruit, cheese and high protein yogurt easily accessible for them.

No. Still upf. Longer shelf life slices bread has preservatives etc. my friend passed on her old bread machine to us after I read the van tullekin book as she makes her own sourdough now (I tried and failed, it was flat as a pancake!) and I gave my husband the job of doing a loaf overnight each night. It's really nice and I'm pleased we are avoiding the upf stuff.

Had a holiday in France this yr for the first time with the kids and it's easy to eat a diet with less processed crap there. They really enjoy and value food & mealtimes don't they.

Hard boiled eggs
Peanut butter sandwich (nice with a banana)

Overnight oats: let them add fresh fruit in the morning

Also, cereal like weetabix isnt too bad

Make some kind of breakfast bar - call it a cookie

Lots to chew on (pardon the pun) here.

1. OP, I think it’s great you’re trying to come up with ways to give your DCs healthy foods they can prepare themselves. Who cares about the UPF debate - wholesome, nutritious food that has been cooked at home has always been more desirable from a health perspective than food with gums and emulsifiers to keep it shelf-stable. You’ve got some great suggestions- good luck implementing them!
2. You know your DCs and their propensity to get into trouble (or lack thereof) if they get up before you. Having performed your parental risk assessment you are entitled to sleep later than 5:30am! And as for reprimanding you for having the 9yo prepare his 6yo sister’s breakfast, 🤣🤣
3. Sourdough baking does sound like a huge faff, but I’m inspired to give it a go myself now. I bake my own artisan bread and if I do say so myself it’s pretty damn good but it’s REALLY easy, MUCH easier than sourdough. I use a no-knead recipe from Sally’s Baking Addiction and when my DCs are around I can easily get through a loaf per day. The total hands on time is about 8 minutes, if that.

"No. Still upf. "

That's what I thought.

"I gave my husband the job of doing a loaf overnight each night"

Every night? Poor guy.

Actually, I don’t think I can do sourdough because I’m not around a few days over the next 10 to feed it. ☹️