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 say go for it... just avoid shit like coco pops and Frosties and offer rice crispies or shredded wheat - one of the more whole food marginally lower sugar and less UPF cereals

Just stick the starter in the fridge. It'll be fine for a couple of weeks. Just give it a good stir when you get back as it'll have separated a bit and this grey/ black liquid will be on the top and you'll think it's gone off, but it hasn't - it's the ferment!

Bake your own bread

Ooh really? @AhBiscuits implied you need to repeat Day 3, ie cutting off 50g and adding 50+50 every day from Day 4. It sounds like what you’re saying is that Day 4 of preparing a starter doesn’t necessarily have to be the day right after Day 3, ie you can do the Day 3 50/50/50 and leave it in the fridge a day or two and come back and pick up where you left off. Is that right?

You can pause the process by sticking it in the fridge and just continue when you return.

Ha! Poor guy 🤣. You know us mums have the mental load of most of the things. All the kids. All the stuff. He just pops some ingredients in the machine and turns it on. But it's one less thing for me to think about!

Thanks, that’s really helpful to know! I’ve been looking online and all the blogs and recipes imply you HAVE TO tend to it EVERY DAY AT THE SAME TIME OR IT’S RUINED which just puts me off. It makes the whole process sound so temperamental.

i will start a jar tonight!

(Sorry OP not meaning to hijack the thread…)

It really isn’t. Read the book ultra processed people.

So a few ideas would be bread - Jason’s bread is the closet you can get to a upf free bread on the super market, comes in lots of different options - the white ciabatta loaf is quite small and a hit with our 2 and 3 year old. Spread with real butter (get a butter dish to have at room temp) and local honey or nut butter - it would be better toasted but doesn’t have to be. Or even avocado - my little ones love avocado atm. Greek yoghurt with nuts and dried fruit and some honey or maple syrup if needed. Yeo valley thick Greek 5% is a good option if avoiding upfs. Make your own granola which can be added to yoghurt or just have with milk. Lots of recipes online - try deliciously Ella or em the nutritionist if you need a starting point for amounts and what to include. Overnight oats is a good one too as you can prep the night before and all they need to do is get out of the fridge. Tried my best to think of things children can get themselves with minimal assistance / mess / safely!

Those tempted by sourdough. I use the bake with Jack methods as recommended by another Mumsnetter as there aren't any discards. I make 2 loaves twice a week and as others have said, it isn't time consuming as you mostly leave it to do its own thing.

Not sure if this is any help on UPFs exactly but have you tried the Yuka app to scan foods? It tells you how a food scores based on a number of things, including additives, and categorises any present by how risky they're considered. It's been a big help to us to be more aware of what it is we're consuming and picking healthier/safer alternatives.

My son likes natural yoghurt or Greek yoghurt with honey, Lizi’s low sugar granola and blueberries or dried fruit on top. He’s 6 and makes it himself x

Porridge or weetabix are fine. weetabix is a upf but have seen many experts recommend it. Not all upfs are created equal e.g bread is one but so are haribo?!

Surely if all their other meals are good and nutritious then do you really need to worry about breakfast?? One meal that's not quite perfect doesn't ruin the whole day.
I personally think cereal is fine!! Go for the lower sugar ones like Weetabix or plain rice Krispies and it's fine.

Honestly we all grew up eating Coco pops, frosties, and pop tarts and we are perfectly healthy almost 50 something's. What exactly are you worried about specifically? Are the children overweight?

Overnight oat was my first thought- looks like it was everyone’s!
how soda bread or Homemade Flatbreads (yoghurt and flour only ingredients) and fruit.

Oatcakes with cream cheese, butter, hard cheese or peanut butter.
Yum.

Yes, if they put "No artificial colours" you do wonder what else they aren't mentioning. Although of course maybe the one that doesn't say "No artificial colours" actually has artificial colours and all of the other stuff too? What would we think of a product that said "Guaranteed free ot botulism and plutonium"?

(I remember in the 70s seeing ads for cars, where the new Rover XYZ would have "better MPG than the Ford ABC and a bigger boot than the Renault 123". From which you could tell that it got worse MPG than the Renault and had a smaller boot than the Ford!)

I have a fatty liver, and whilst it would help if I lost weight, my consultant hepatologist said the most important thing is to avoid UPFs. Are you saying he is wrong?

OP told us that already - they're hungry again a couple of hours later.

Why do you, and so many others on here, feel the need to completely ignore OP's actual question and instead pick apart her motives and impose your own opinions onto her? What is the actual problem with people wanting to increase the proportion of healthy food in their kids' diets and why are so many people hell bent on convincing them not to?

cold overnight oats are a bit eugh in Winter - cold breakfast of any description not great.
can they maybe help themselves to a banana when they wake up, then you heat overnight oats for them a bit later?

If that's not possible, bircher muesli with yogurt is more palatable than overnight oats.
Bircher muesli recipe - BBC Food

Most adults are overwheight so no growing up eating Coco Pops wasn't healthy it just led to unhealthy eating habits.

Homemade muesli breakfast bars or muffins, something they can just grab and put on a plate. I wouldn’t want my 6 year old slicing a loaf of bread.

What is the actual problem with people wanting to increase the proportion of healthy food in their kids' diets and why are so many people hell bent on convincing them not to?

So interesting isn't it @Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice? Some of the posts are really defensive too. It isn't hard to understand that real food is mostly better for us than concocted chemical products and yet apparently we're supposed to be reassured by food industry sponsored "research" aimed at convincing us it's completely fine. Look squirrels.

He probably isnt wrong but its worrying the amount of posters on this forum in general say things like 'my therapist said this, my consultant said that, my GP said this - are you saying s/he's wrong'

You know professionals get things wrong sometimes dont you?

Ive had years of medics getting things wrong for me.

If you think UPFs are not good for you, then cite the research, theres plenty, but dont make a blanket statement because your consultant said so.

I think it’s because (some) people feel called out or ashamed that they’re not making these changes for themselves or their kids.
They see it as you judging them when you’re actually more focused on yourself.

But I think it stems from the fact deep down they’re not comfortable with their diet either, so they take criticism of it as a judgment on them. And some people don’t like others to be living healthier than them as again it exposes their perceived flaws.

It’s like when I say “I don’t drink any alcohol ” some people seem to get a bit defensive and rush to say “a bit of drink is OK and won’t hurt you” etc and I‘m just like ??
I didn’t even criticise alcohol in these discussions, I just stated I choose not to drink because it came up in conversation or they offered it to me etc. I always wonder why are they now urging me to “have a few drinks now and again”??

Or I get “why don’t you drink alcohol” as if I need to justify why I don’t drink! I always turn that question on its head and say “why DO you drink?”

I go through phases of eating too much UPF and probably still eat too many frozen pizzas etc, but I applaud those who consistently mainly eat whole foods.