Low UPF diet - to think the experts weren’t lying?

[AusBoundDD]

Nearly 6 months ago I made it my New Year’s resolution to start eating a low UPF diet in hopes of losing some weight for a once in a lifetime trip, alongside just being healthier in general. Honestly it has been life changing! I’ve lost nearly 10kg without really having to think about it - no restricting or anything like that and in general I just feel so much better. UPFs like crisps, ready meals, even basic supermarket bread don’t feel like ‘real’ food anymore and no longer appeal. On the occasion that I do choose to eat something UPF (which for me is no big deal, im not strict!) it just isn’t as enjoyable as it used to be. I’d choose some sourdough over a loaf of Hovis any day when previously I used to hate it! I feel much fuller + satisfied for longer and rarely get the urge to snack.

Obviously it has its downsides - much less convenience food so cooking takes longer (PITA when doing lunch/dinner prep after a long day at work!), ingredients are more expensive so my shopping bill has gone up but all in all it’s a decision I don’t regret. Honestly I think that this way of eating should be the future.

Anyone else feel this way?

My Grandparents grew up eating lard and butter and bread etc, most women didn't work, exercise outside of cleaning was rare, but so were fat people.

People may not have been morbidly obese but there were definitely fat people. I think a lot of it is sedentary jobs & cars.

The biggest change for me (outside of weight loss) has been less migraines, better sleep and a reduction in symptoms related to my auto immune disease.

I'm also not sensitive to gluten any more (likely related to the increased control of my AID, as when this is really out of whack my sensitivities worsen).

I can't believe how disgusting white bread is now - I bit a McDonalds burger last week and it felt like foam in my mouth and went all gummy when chewed. Vile! Also how sweet Diet pop is. It's truly disgusting.

I don't miss most of the things at all but do admit to a bit of chocolate each night (sometimes UPF free) and the occasional utterly disgusting cupa soup, because Oh the powdery goodness 😂

I agree that you still have to have a life and eat out etc, but the small changes do make a difference.

I did state that the correlation is between obesity and introduction of UPFs, in fairness.

I do remember seeing 'portly' people in the 70's but again, it wasn't common.

The data doesn't lie - we starting getting bigger, at alarming rates, as soon as the UPFs arrived.

I do love crisps.

Bread is easy. Rolls/buns in a bread maker, for example, are simple, or just follow the recipe on the side of the bread packet.

Sourdough discard is also great for baking if the actual sourdough fails. Try heartbeat kitchen or vindi's kitchen for recipes.

It's basically good nutrition and biology, and eating junk with no nutritional value won't fuel your body properly.

My DM has always cooked nutritious and good food from scratch, with the odd treat. She's been as healthy as an ox, living well and she's probably going to get to 85 the way that she treats her body.

And I know that she probably has been doing for my benefit too, to ensure I got the best start being a prem baby.

And I know that she literally always was telling me about the awful toxic crap in things like artificial sweeteners, diet drinks etc. Now that I'm oversensitive to all that stuff more since being harmed by an off label antipsychotic (that gave me a permanent neurological involuntary movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia), i realised that I should have listened to her ever-growing wise knowledge years ago. My body definitely agrees with me more when I feed it "proper" real food.

I also think smoking kept people thinner in the past!

I agree with you OP. I was quite poorly a while ago and changed my diet to mainly cooked from scratch meals. It has made a huge difference. Big disadvantage for me is the time it takes but I have persevered. I wasn't a great cook either but have got better. I find it cheaper too, mainly because I add enough veg or pulses to make things go further. I do eat chocolate but in moderation.

@VeraWangTea Crosta and Mollica wraps are delicious and barely any ingredients

This. You’ve lost weight and you’re feeling better because you’re eating healthier food. There’s no specific UPF magic. Congrats though!

Really recommend listening to this interview with Dr Robert Lustig from a few years ago. They talk quite a bit about UPF - Really eye opening and some of it horrifying.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/feel-better-live-more-with-dr-rangan-chatterjee/id1333552422?i=1000555636677

The only chocolate I buy regularly is 100% cocoa, usually Montezuma’s Absolute Black, which is apparently fairly low UPF & which I discovered in my local Asda.

It’s very much an acquired taste & I worked up to it through the 70% & 90%. I enjoy it now & a couple of squares go a long way.

(I’m only buying for me though, which does make it much easier).

What has ‘no food in them’ got to do with being vegan?!

Common sense is very often a poor foundation for science. Just because one thing happens and another thing happens at the same time doesn’t mean one causes the other. Correlation and causation are fundamentally different concepts.

I've just been in the States and their food is PACKED with junk, including colourings that were banned in Europe in the 80s!
I've eaten non-UPF for about 2 years now and feel great, never get cravings and have a flatter stomach. I no longer recognise UPF as food.

I don’t think that the US is a particularly desirable place to travel in general at the moment but the food situation would genuinely scare me to the point that I’ve decided to put off my trip. My last visit was 5+ years ago and even then I found the food so fake and sickening. Chlorinated chicken🤢

I agree. I’d never go back.

This hasn't been my experience unfortunately. I think we've always cooked from scratch more than a lot of people but since January I've really cut back on UPFs. I honestly feel and look exactly the same. I'm trying to tell myself it's worth it but I'm just not seeing the benefits. Maybe you need to go 100% UPF-free to though.....

Emperor’s new clothes? Really? As in, avoiding UPFs is just a… trend?

There’s so much evidence they are worse for you than the equivalent home-baked cake/biscuits etc that I can’t believe you’re saying that.

Well done on the weight loss OP but its not rocket science, theres no clear definition as to what UPF is anyway, but essentially to cook and prepare your own food means you buy less food overall, have less 'instant' food in, so arent going to snack as easily therefore your intake is less.

I cook all my own food for various reasons, unfortunately Im still prone to overeating if unless Im careful, particularly my own baking which is far superior to shop bought, and therefore I want to eat more of it!

Try the Crosta & Mollica.wraps - only 4 ingredients.

I've always known about good nutrition as I bought a book on it in my early 20s.

I just thought everyone else had a better digestion system than me and didn't feel it as much.

The big eye opener for me though with UPF was bread. I had no idea that supermarket bread had emulsifiers in it.

my point is not that it’s a trend. My point is that is not a new trend. Anyone around in the 70s and 80s will find the messages of anti-UPF decidedly familiar. Whole foods are not a 2020s discovery.

Also, the evidence on UPFs is actually not at all strong. Yes, the evidence for individual components like trans fats is strong. There is no solid evidence that UPF in moderation is the cause of anything. If processed foods devoid of nutrients and high in fat, salt and sugar displace nutrient dense foods, then yes of course that’s a problem.

Exactly this which is why I laugh when people talk about their bloody stock cubes being UPFs for gods sake.

I can assure you that I am not this type of UPF avoider.. 🙈

You are restricting though OP. Not eating crisps (high in fat), ready meals (high in fat), etc. You're on a diet with the currently in vogue new name and you're losing weight by eating less crap. Not groundbreaking but well done