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!

Some people definitely demonise perfectly fine foods- I'm on a Facebook group where every couple of days someone says "don't use greek style yogurt, it's full of added sugar" which is total bollocks - some greek style yogurt might be made with added sugar, but "greek style" simply means made outside of Greece given it's a protected a title! I make "greek style yogurt" in my yogurt maker - I don't add sugar, I just strain my yogurt so it's greek style.

I've not seen that. And I've not seen it on this thread so I'm not sure why it's come up as an argument. I wonder if those people were American? Wouldn't surprise me if their Greek style yogurt was in fact laden with sugar.

Got to say the clash of looking for options to exclude stuff from your kids diet, with not wanting to get up and make them something, with feeding them two breckfasts is an interesting one.

Just give them cereal and be done with it Op, life's too short for this level of stress

Answered before realising there'd been so many posts, so have deleted. (you can still read it if you must)

But this thread is quite balanced as far as UPFs go, there haven’t been any obsessive comments. The reality is UPFs are unhealthy/bad for you and there is no way of sugar coating it. Someone confusing a processed food for UPF doesn’t change the fact that the actual UPF is unhealthy

I don't want to get up at 5.30. I don't necessarily want them having 2 breakfast s either, so if I can give them 1 more nutritious breakfast that sees them through, then that would be better all round. They can have cereal and pastries at the weekend then when I know we're all having brunch anyway.

I think there is some evidence that highly processed food can be harmful, but it does seem rather like the fashionable food fad of the moment.

We've been here before with the 'E for Additives' phase a few decades ago. Definitely a class element there too.

Toast/bread (get a toaster, they're not expensive) plus peanut butter/honey/jam/cheese.
Drink of milk or small glass of orange juice.
Fruit (fresh or dried or tinned).
Plain greek yogurt with berries simmered with maple syrup (you could do the simmering the night before) or with honey.
Cold Spanish omelette.
Homemade muffins.

Mine help themselves to greek yoghurt, bananas and milk if they're up early.

Most doctors and scientists would argue you’re wrong. Ultra processed foods contain toxins that contribute towards obesity, associated illnesses and cancer. Avoiding UPFs where you can is absolutely the right thing to do for future health.

Overnight oats, homemade muffins, smoothies made the night before, yoghurt and fruit, hard boiled eggs.

Just don't buy it in. The only cereal I buy are original Weetabix original shredded wheat and all bran. Mine are healthy eaters though both have autism. All bran is lovely with plain Greek yoghurt. Just have to put the all bran and yogurt in a bowl and mix. Overnight oats as well. Better if you mix the oats with the yoghurt. I mix some chia seeds in put some frozen fruit on top lovely.

What do they eat for lunches and dinners? I don't understand the obsession with certain foods being limited to particular mealtimes. If they like a chicken drumstick with cheese and grapes, leave them that for breakfast.

If you like baking maybe breakfast muffins? Lots of recipes for savoury ones online, here’s an example: https://www.dinneratthezoo.com/breakfast-egg-muffins/

Obviously you could also do sweet ones like blueberry muffins. Banana bread might also be better than pastries, either a loaf sliced or you could bake banana bread cupcakes.

Cornflakes or shredded wheat aren't upf. 9 yr old could slice a banana in.

Or bake a batch of muffins (many recipes don't contain added sugar)? Store in freezer and get 2 out before you go to bed.

We have porridge. Or pancakes (home made, scratch, no packet mix). If we’re short on time, eggs! Toddler loves scrambled egg or coddled egg.

Weetabix
porridge
eggs
ftuit & yogurt

Or if you're feeling fancy - smoosh handful of raspberries in a cup, one tablespoon of oats, one teaspoon of chia seeds, a bit of honey or maple syrup to taste, then fill with 50:50 natural yoghurt and milk. Stir then cover and put in fridge.

I get accused of having a tin helmet but the ‘food industry’ isn’t just Kraft and Heinz; it’s meat and dairy producers as well. These are huge industries which lobby hard.

I find it very convenient that they’re now on the side of health. Quite a turnaround from just a few short years ago when it looked like oat and soya milk were about to take over and red meat was evil.

I don't disagree with you. I'm lucky that a) we have a great local butcher who stocks locally produced, independent farm meats and b) can afford to use them.

greek yogurt
hard boiled eggs

soaked oats - there are some great recipes to be found, peanut butter and banana, with dates for banoffe, cinnamon and apple for apple tart overnight oats

chia puddings, again some interesting recipes and batch make them in glass jars for 3/4 days

so Good to hear this - I was about to ask about this brand as it’s the only one I buy but haven’t really looked at the ingredients. I just prefer the way it tastes compared to other ones I’ve tried to far.

I’m no expert but anecdotally UPFs made me unwell in my 20s, or at least contributed to my feelings of extreme fatigue and painful gut /digestive issues. I was living in a flatshare with selfish flatmates who would hog the kitchen with their boyfriends and I resorted to eating all frozen pizza, microwave food etc just so I’d be in and out quickly.

I think there were other contributing factors to my feelings of illness, but it’s likely this played a large part. I went to Thailand for a month and only ate freshly cooked pad Thai, rice dishes smoothies, banana pancakes and didn’t touch any crisps, chocolate or highly processed foods and immediately felt better. Like a lot better! No fatigue, I was walking about 20k steps a day and the guy issues had vanished too. Again it was probably the weather and getting away from work too, but I think the relative lack of UPFs in my diet was a key factor.

My own home baking doesn’t leave me feeling as sluggish as when I buy supermarket stuff.

simple-veganista.com/banana-chia-pudding/

Or do like the rest of Europe, where children have cakes and biscuits dipped in milk. We are so obsessive about food in this country, and still never get it right.

https://www.themediterraneandish.com/spanish-tortilla-recipe/

make ahead Spanish omelette