The whole UPF concept is an artificial distinction and very unhelpful

228 replies

Interestingnamesuggestion · 15/10/2026 14:03

I understand that it's healthier to eat foods that are more natural/made with natural ingredients. I have no issue with that.

My issue is that putting so much food that people eat regularly (especially people on lower incomes) into one category and labelling it all as if it were all equally bad just removes all nuance and can make healthy choices feel unachievable to people who have less money or less time to spend in the kitchen.

Literally, cheap sliced wholemeal bread is a UPF in the same category as cheap white sliced bread. Same category as a bag of Quavers or gummy bears.

Wouldn't it be better to have one or two more categories to reflect the benefits of eating food that is higher in fibre (e.g. wholegrains, not that weird stuff they add to "healthy" processed snacks) and lower in fat and sugar? Or food that has some additives but is made with a higher proportion of whole foods?

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Kingdomofsleep · 17/10/2026 21:50

MumofCrohnie · 17/10/2026 19:43

"The key cause of bowel ailments is not this or that bad ingredient, it is the very limited range of sources of fibre in modern diets"

I hope you aren't dismissing all the very high quality studies into paediatric onset IBD that point the finger clearly at certain additives in the modern diet. I don't doubt that a wider range of fibre is supportive of gut health fwiw.

I'm not dismissing anything, and i should have said "in my opinion".

Paediatric bowel problems are clearly different from adult ones because babies naturally have quite a limited and repetitive diet (mostly a lot of milk) and an immature gut biome. They have a totally different makeup of microbes in the gut to adults, and can't handle a lot of fibre.

I was obviously talking about adults when I said they need more fibre.

Rosegla55es · 17/10/2026 22:19

Kingdomofsleep · 17/10/2026 17:24

Just to illustrate this, already some people on here are talking about eating organic ice cream or organic (sweet) chocolate, because they aren't UPFs.

But actually if you just fill up with lots of veg, high fibre staples, and meat and cheese and tofu and such like, you lose your sweet tooth and you don't tend to crave any ice cream or chocolate.

The key cause of bowel ailments is not this or that bad ingredient, it is the very limited range of sources of fibre in modern diets. We eat so little fibre in our modern diets, and often only from a couple of different foods on repeat. Restricting your diet further is not the answer.

I eat all that and do crave a sweet treat at the weekends so go for home made or good quality ice cream.

Only 28% of bowel cancer is due to lack of fibre .Higher consumption of ultra-processed foods, red and processed meats (such as bacon, sausages, and ham), and sugary drinks are linked to it and they’re also looking at environmental chemicals.

Rosegla55es · 17/10/2026 22:26

Kingdomofsleep · 17/10/2026 17:20

But that's the point, it is hard for many to understand. Many people don't know what things like "ascorbic acid" are, so they feel fear when they see it on an ingredients list, but then eagerly take vitamin C supplements when they have a cold.

It is not effective messaging at all.

I still maintain that messaging about adding fresh veg to diets is better than messaging about restrictions. People don't know what to replace things with.

Take sugar for example. The messaging was: coca cola is bad for you because it's high in sugar! Then behold, sales in sugar-free coca cola rockets, with not much health benefit.

Better messaging: "plain water and diluted fruit juice in moderation is good for you, drink more of that." Result being, you are not pushing people towards franken-cola.

See also: cheap sugar cereals are bad for you because of emulsifiers! Pay loads more for organic sugary cereal instead...! Hmm.

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People have been told to eat 5/10 a day for decades and it has not worked.

Nobody is saying eat sugary organic cereal. You can get lower sugar up free cereal.

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