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?

Yesterday looked like:

• Banana or two in the car on the way to work. Never been a fan of breakfast so it’s just something I can quickly & easily get down. Might have some Weetabix if I’m particularly hungry
• Chicken Caesar salad, usually with something sweet afterwards like a homemade cookie or brownie
• Fish tacos with sautéed peppers + onions (and any other veggies in the fridge that need used!) guacamole, cheese, lettuce & corn on the cob. If I have time I’ll usually do some breaded mushrooms as well
• Snack plate in the late evenings - usually just some nice olive crackers with a bit of cheese, grapes and recently I’ve also been loving frozen chocolate covered raspberries

I’d much rather have proper sugar (and the calories!) than those awful artificial sweeteners! Taste horrendous and they’re so unhealthy. Surely you could just drink less coffee/put less sugar in it?

I have only skimmed this thread, but I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this.

Giving up ultra processed food won’t necessarily make you lose weight. If you swap ultra processed foods for their less processed counterparts, you may be consuming way more calories.

Surely you could just drink less coffee/put less sugar in it?

I don't think she wants to.

I did wean myself off sugar in coffee and tea but I tend to have more milk - so calorie wise not sure it actually helps.

I could stop drinking entirely but I don't want to I enjoy them as beverages. I have tried various other teas - fruit teas dentist dislikes - but fennel tea, occasional nettle or mint tea or green tea is nice but not the same as proper tea.

Several PP said they have sugar craving after meals - I do too and find tea is about only thing that holds them off. I also avoid sweenters in things like low fat yogurts because they set of a sugar craving that is worst I experience though do get it same way with those in soft drinks.

I thought it was obvious that UPFs are not good for you, I never thought someone would say it's a discovery. The average UK/US diet is horrible, people eat crisps for lunch like it's normal and feed this to kids. But if someone was born and brought up in a country with their own cuisine based on fresh ingredients, they are usually horrified by i.e. the quality of bread in UK shops or school lunches.

I don’t think it’s particularly surprising that UPF is inherently bad for us and our body. What I think is surprising is the extent in which it’s slipped into innocuous products, like breaded chicken, ready meals, cereals that seem relatively innocent like and how heavily it’s all marketed for health etc. I think we always knew chocolate and crisps were shit on the main.

And separately but related is so many parents insistence that their DC will only eat that shit. So many people lack the skills and knowledge to make a nutritious meal.

For those saying it’s obvious UPFs are bad I don’t think that fact was super clear to everyone believe it or not.

I’m an older millennial and I feel some of it was due to the culture of the 90s, people were so obsessed with staying skinny that it didn’t matter (to some people) if you achieved it via UPF type foods marketed as healthy in supermarkets or even worse - meal replacements shakes etc (which I even succumbed to a few years ago)

Even now some find it hard to believe that me at 10 stone, might well be healthier lthan someone my height who is say 9 stone depending on our diet and other habits.

Eg. I don’t smoke or drink at all and I’m eating less and less UPFs but I am still a few pounds overweight (lost 3 stone earlier).

I know someone who is vegetarian, very slim and also very unhealthy. Smokes, takes drugs, lives on toast, sweets and crisps.

Now that I’ve lost most of the excess weight I’m increasingly focused on what I eat and how much of it rather than being fixated on if I have lost another couple of pounds yet.

I only have two cups a day but 4 teaspoons of sugar adds up to quite a lot of calories!

@Pickingmyselfup

I don’t add sugar to my coffee or tea apart from what may already be in the store bought oat milk but four teaspoons is about 80 calories a day which isn’t necessarily that high.

But 4 teaspoons is also about 16-20g of sugar and the recommended maximum daily sugar intake for “free sugars” is 30g.

So I guess it’s not too bad if you’re having no other free sugars outside of the sugar you add to hot drinks, so no Cakes, pastries, jams , chocolate bars and fruit juice etc

I would cut down, my friend used to take tea with 3 teaspoons of sugar now she just has one which is an improvement.

Couldn’t you gradually cut it down to one spoon and then half?

But that is the point why a lot of us are doing it . Not to live to 90 but the time we are alive to try and stave off diseases which significantly alter the quality of your life like Alzheimer’s and dementia. You may get to ‘ look after your self ‘ for longer.

4 teaspoons of sugar do not contain loads of calories. They probably contain about 70-80 calories. 😂

They will be fried in rapeseed oil, so yes it’s UPF.

Also the bread (Sainsburys etc) mentioned up thread had rapeseed or sunflower oil in it, so regardless of other ingredients it is UPF. Crosta changed their recipe and I believe their wraps now also contain seed oils, so UPF

I was speaking to a dietician at our large teaching hospital the other day and she said we are living in exciting times . There is a lot of breakthrough science about illness and the gut connection. I was seeking advice about trying to put on weight healthily as I had lost it while at the same time trying to improve my inflammatory arthritis.

Loved it too. Knew a lot of the info but it really brought the message home in a way that it hadn’t before. Especially the marketing tactics like Nestle changing the eating habits of previously healthy isolated communities and increasing obesity and health issues. Awful.

of course medics like Dr Chatterjee have been banging on about clean healthy eating for years but I hope mainstream medicine will catch up and take the more holistic view to disease .

Try Crosta and mollica - both white and wholemeal and they are delish

Honestly I admire the people who do it. And i am really not trying to be negative.

I am just saying it's not for me. I am getting more and more disheartened at losing weight and having no pleasure . I did lose 20kg in 10 months a few years ago, and I know what i need to do. but it was miserable.

the weight came back in bloody freaking lockdown and i never got my mojo back. then with the aforementioned parent issues and being the sandwich generation and feeling like i can't split myself more, cooking meals from scratch that i can't batch cook as i only have a small under counter freezer that kids won't eat (SEN means I can't just 'make them eat') - is the last thing on my mind...

Good luck everyone

Which is a lot when you don't have many to play with as it is.

Tues-Fri I have 2 coffees, one at home and one at work. I've just weighed out 3 teaspoons of sugar which is what I would have at home because it's a big mug and it's 20g. Add on 15 to account for 15g at work and that's 35g which Google claims is 135 calories.

I get 1700 on non long run days because I'm trying to lose weight. That gives me enough calories for my coffee with sweetener, breakfast, one banana snack, lunch and then dinner.

Yes I could eat more food if I never touched pasta and just ate vegetables and lean meat, no cheese or anything but I would just end up binging constantly.

I've tried to cut down the amount of sugar I have in my coffee but I can't, I might as well just not drink it and then we are back to limiting myself too much.

I do understand Tiny tear really I do . I was craving treats at the weekend so much I gave in in the end . I just try and swap some foods when I can and do my best . Life is hard and food is a comfort in whatever form.

How long did it take to not feel sluggish? Weeks or months?

Rapeseed oil is not UPF.

There are people who claim that refined seed oils are inflammatory, but on the basic UPF scale, rapeseed oil does not score a 4. It's a separate concern. It's a common claim, but I looked into it. The seed oil issue is big news in the US as our esteemed health secretary is a crackpot.

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. may I ask what you were eating before as opposed to now? I have coeliac disease so I've never really eaten bread and things like that. My meals have always been (whilst basic) vegetables, carbs such as rice/potatoes/rice noodles, sometimes meat but very occasionally. I eat pretty cheaply and not everything takes ages to make. I don't buy cereals as they're expensive so my kids will have a really easy breakfast of mini frittatas (so quick to make and can be refrigerated for later in the week), or fruit, yoghurt and nuts/seeds etc. I make stir fry which is super quick, things like that. Homemade soups feature a lot (thanks to my nana who gave me a soup maker!) Am I eating a UPF diet like this or does it sound OK?

I have coeliac too so cooking at home and not relying on convenience food has always been the way I’ve eaten.