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?

@justsawjohnny "I bit a McDonalds burger last week and it felt like foam in my mouth and went all gummy when chewed."

This should be a clear indication that it's a psychosomatic effect not a physiological one. You presumably don't believe that your mouth biology has changed and now turns bread into foam/gum. You feel differently about the "bad" food so your brain experiences them differently and they feel "bad" to you. Good foundation to lose weight as you'll be mentally repulsed by food you believe to be bad, but not evidence of their evil contents.

If you cook mainly from scratch you probably already have a fairly healthy diet (unlike OP who cut out crisps, ready meals, etc therefore unsurprisingly lost weight), so for you changing the ingredients slightly but basically eating the same food won't make much difference. If you want to lose weight then eat what you're eating but slightly less, or move more, or both.

Oh I most definitely do eat crisps..! Everything in moderation.

If you cook mainly from scratch you probably already have a fairly healthy diet (unlike OP who cut out crisps, ready meals, etc therefore unsurprisingly lost weight), so for you changing the ingredients slightly but basically eating the same food won't make much difference. If you want to lose weight then eat what you're eating but slightly less, or move more, or both.

Ok so you're eating less stuff like crisps, ready meals, etc. That's still restricting fatty, sugary food and explains the weight loss.

Same experience here. Sometimes I wonder if I've convinced myself I feel better, when I'm not entirely sure I believe I do, if that makes sense? Almost like a placebo effect.
It has made me reflect harder on the snacks and cereal I offer my little ones though.

This thread has reminded me I keep intending to make soda bread again!

@AusBoundDD check the actual ingredients in the M&S bread. Just because it’s unwrapped in the ‘bakery’ section doesn’t mean it’s UPF free.

We eat low UPF at home, not perfect but doing well. However, DH is currently in hospital and I can't believe the amount of absolute shite! Not just what he gets offered, but what is for sale in the cafe. An egg and cress sandwich on wholemeal bread surely doesn't need 60 ingredients FFS.

I can’t speak for any of their other breads but I just buy the Collection seeded sourdough which is definitely UPF free.

Doubtful, babe - I ate a Pot Noodle last week and it was feckin' LUSH 😂

'Factory' bread is defo weird, tho. Just weirdly fake.

Fresh baguettes are still lush.

Nice try tho.

Yeah, read the ingredients 😄

Here are three healthier supermarket breads:
Sainsbury's Soft Multiseed Farmhouse, 800g, £1.50.
Hovis Granary Wholemeal, 800g, £2.00.
Sainsbury's Wholemeal, 800g, £0.75.

None of them are exactly as you'd make them at home. But ...

• Sainsbury's Multiseed contains absolutely nothing that isn't recognisably food (Ascorbic Acid is Vitamin C).

• The Hovis features three E-numbers, which are two types of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acids and calcium propionate. Not items found in any normal kitchen.

• Sainsbury's Wholemeal has the same E-number ingredients as the Hovis, only this time their names are written out in full.

All three are somewhat more processed than home-made bread, mainly because they're made quickly in a factory and have to be very consistent with a decent shelf life. But two of them are made with industrially-processed substances that are not recognisable as basic foodstuffs.

I have the Sainsbury's Multiseed, it's nicer than my home-made and lasts longer.

Bread in some countries can contain cellulose fibre, made from wood pulp. It's not harmful, but neither is it proper food! It's illegal in the EU & UK.

... bugger, I labelled my screenshots wrong! You can work 'em out, though 🙃

Ok so you've never liked white bread so no change then and nothing to do with a new UPF diet? Strange that is the case when you said "I can't believe how disgusting white bread is now" but perhaps you'd not tried it since the 70s. It's still not great.

I love pot noodles too. Especially the green one.

I was one of those out to play all day and come back before dark children in the seventies - we didn't take snacks and there was always a queue for the water fountain in the park.
When I collect DGC from school it shocks me to see the amount of packaging and part eaten food in their lunchbox.
At least they have fresh cooked food at home

I'm 64 and I recall a lot of well upholstered women, as my grandad called them, from my childhood. Admittedly, I don't remember people being morbidly obese, but I don't remember people being stick thin either.

My grandmother was 5'. She was always a 16/18, probably the equivalent of a 14 now. She always wore a long line bra and a girdle/corset. She was extremely physically fit. She rode and mucked out every day and pitched in on the farm.

@AusBoundDD I agree - I did similar a couple of years ago giving up: refined carbs, sugar, bad fats and wheat (and cutting down red meat). I lost 2.5st and every bit of eczema disappeared along with aching joints.

I haven’t lost weight since I cut it out for the most part, but I feel SO much better. My brain fog is gone. It comes back when I eat it as a “treat”, making me not really want it anymore.

@AusBoundDD can I ask what your diet used to look like? What UPFs did you eat? Which were the hardest to replace?

Yes, since being treated for cancer 4 years ago, I make my own bread, cook from scratch and eat 30 different fruit & veg a week. I am 61, size 10, feel great. Loads of energy, glowing skin.

I can't bear crisps now, horribly salty. Most preprepared food is heavy, nasty and makes me feel sluggish.

It's great 😊

Yes, it's good nutrition not to have UPFs. If you eat too much to lose weight though you won't lose weight. Avocados, nuts, oily fish etc are really good for you but I could eat them until they come out of my ears, frankly, and I certainly wouldn't be losing weight if I did that.

I could never not eat crisps and chocolate or consume alcohol. Has to be everything in moderation for me. If I cut things out totally I'd crave them.

So can someone list what is upf? Even wraps ??

The Yuka app is good and eye opening! You scan barcodes and it tells you the good and bad stuff in food.

Hovis granary wholemeal is my favourite bread. I've never found a fresh bread to match it and there are no bakeries nearby.

The fact that homemade roast potatoes cooked in goose fat would be no upf makes me think I could easily get fatter by avoiding upfs

Yes they are better for you - you sound like you are in the zone with dieting - I know this feeling - losing weight, feels easy and effortless and it feels impossible to be any other way.

The key is if it lasts - I have put on weight recently and its down to this sort of eating - its engineered to make you want to eat more.

Quite, yes.

I think having a few UPFs in a diet with lots of veg and food cooked from.scratch is pretty good. Mostly it's the amount you eat which is important. I seem to be an odd person who doesn't find protein very filling unless it comes with a bit of toast at least. Everyone else on MN seems to find meat fish and veg filling. My problem is I need to eat less than 1400 calories to lose weight effectively, whatever those 1400 calories consist of.