To be dismayed at how processed my diet has become

[MyFitMission]

I’ve taken a long hard look at my diet this week and I can’t believe how processed it is. Protein “yoghurts” that are just chemicals, bread that’s just plastic, spreads that sell themselves as butter but they’re mainly just chemicals.

where did we go so wrong with food? It’s so easy to make a load of bread rolls or a loaf of bread, even butter is easy to make. It just makes me so sad

There’s a difference between processed and ultra processed

It’s easy to address, switch to butter, buy proper Greek yogurt and have a variety of toppings like nuts and seeds plus honey, bake bread or buy bread with normal cupboard ingredients (they are fortified with certain things for health benefits but stabilisers etc swerve) cook food from fresh ingredients (frozen or canned are fine too as long as no weird things added)

Agree with the rest of your post, but this is the ingredients list for seeded wholemeal Hovis:

I agree that cereal bars need close inspection. I was horrified to see ‘beef collagen’ listed as an ingredient on a ‘high protein’ cereal bar - that’ll be pulverised cow tendons then. Strangely enough, I don’t fancy that in a cereal bar… not to mention all the pea/maize starch, soy lecithins, maltodextrin…. I’d rather go without.

@arethereanyleftatall

mcdonalds fries are just potato, rapeseed oil and salt.

This misconception, and most of the American food conspiracies, come from the incredibly strict labeling laws in the US. They label many things that we don’t and they must use the correct scientific name of each ingredient, which is why you will see something like “mixed tocopherols” instead of “Vitamin E.” Just putting vitamin E isn’t specific enough to satisfy the labeling requirement because there are many different sources of vitamin E. They require that the actual source be identifiable.

Similarly, every potential variation must be listed. The reason that McDonald’s fries have that many ingredients listed is because different locations across the (vast) US may use different oils in the fryers or other different preparation practices that mean that the fries could come into contact with something that must be listed according to law. So everything is listed because it is a possibility depending on the location and preparation, not because it actually has all of those things in it.

(Can you tell I fell down a rabbit hole when I moved to the States? 🤓😂)

I think it just takes a bit of thought. Just buy proper butter, not the stuff in a tub. Jason’s sourdough bread and rolls are lovely and never UPF, plain Greek yoghurt with fruit/honey/nuts etc. At first you need to check the labels on everything but then you come to know what’s best.

The only upf I’m having today is a lemsip.…scrambled eggs, sourdough toast for breakfast. Home made lentil soup for lunch. Making a curry for tea….
i don’t find it that hard to do….

Worth having a read of ultra processed people - it’s a great book and explains a lot

Just buy real butter and real Greek yoghurt.

Yes. I will also recommended Ultra Processed Women by Milli Hill.

It's really not that hard. Don't understand the point of any of the fake butter spreads. Buy a block of butter. Real food and no plastic packing, win win. Buy bread from a bakery if you don't want to make it.

Yes, including an 'inert' substance that's only purpose is to stop the bread sticking to the factory machinery and leave them cleaner!

If you do switch to Greek yoghurt, @MyFitMission buy some stevia to add to it. Plain Greek yoghurt is sour.

This! I use butter and (in bread machine) make bread.and eat natural yoghurt.

It is your choice to buy those products, but I don’t think the consumers are completely to blame, we didn’t ask for all the chemicals. For hundreds of years we were content with food that was grown within the local area and went off within a few days. But brands and shops wanted to make everything “better” and “easier” so have ruined food with importation, expansion and cost cutting. Now we have become used to being able to buy long lasting, yummy, exotic, cheaply made food because we’re busy and don’t have the time or money to make chocolate croissants etc. from scratch

It's actually getting harder to buy ingredients as shelves are now taken up by ready meals.

We pretty much cook from scratch.

I find it really disheartening too, and it's not as easy as just 'make your own' or cook from scratch either, because all of that's toxic too-non stick pans, plastic utensils, plastic storage tubs, chopping boards glued with toxic glue.. why isn't the default that food is edible and food stuff is food safe?! It should be a given!

No. Just eat yoghurt. If you want some sweetness (although why???) use some honey or maple syrup. Stevia is made in a factory - fake sugar is JUNK.

It's a choice. My diet isn't processed.

Stevia is a plant?

The vast majority of food sold at supermarkets is pretty processed but it’s actually quite easy to avoid them once it becomes a habit.

Plain greek yogurt tastes ike yoghurt is supposed to. We need to wean ourselves away from expecting sweet tastes, re-educate our palates.

What is wrong with wanting things to taste good? If you're weaning yourself away from sweet tastes, does that mean fruit is off the menu?

Not everything sweet is bad. I will say it again, Stevia is a plant. You buy it as dried, ground leaves from health/whole food shops.

You aren't wrong and it's depressing for sure. It seems we are always being told to eat better and the food we buy just gets worse. Even the organic honey you buy at the supermarket is likely just to be honey flavoured sugar syrup according to some reports. I invest a lot more effort in cooking now, making things from scratch. baking bread and any "treats" we have and spend more on better quality produce and pantry staples that aren't processed or a lot less processed. Its expensive though and something once fine will just change to being full of muck under the banner of a new improved recipe.

It's the same with lots of things it can be hard now to get natural fibre clothing or bedding for example as its all made of viscose or nylon etc.

It's a fake plastic world out there and I guess good quality natural materials and ingredients are just for the wealthy elites.