Anyone else cutting down on UPFs?

[AtomicBlondeRose]

I recently listened to the podcasts by the van Tulleken brothers and it really convinced me to try cutting down on UPFs. I never ate much of them when it came to meals but do have a weakness for biscuits/snacks. As my DC are away with their dad for a couple of weeks and I’m not at work it seemed like the perfect time to try.

So, I’ve been baking my own bread - this suits me as I don’t eat much bread and enjoy the homemade whole meal style. I make a small loaf and it lasts DP and me most of the week. I’m not so sure how the kids will react to this.

I made some biscuits but we weren’t bothered about them tbh. I have been baking fruit loaves such as a courgette tea bread (we have a glut of courgettes!) as we both like them a lot and they’re hard to binge on. DP is a gardener so gets really hungry and needs some filling stuff but doesn’t like junk so the tea loaves suit us well. I’ve also made granola/granola bars which are easy and which we like a lot. Cereal bars were one of the main UPF foods I ate.

Meals aren’t really an issue as I’ve always preferred to cook from scratch although I worry a bit about how it’s going to go when I’m at work and don’t have all afternoon to potter about! I made chicken kebabs with homemade flatbreads that were very easy and tasty. A good air fryer really helps too.

Yesterday we had sausage rolls from the freezer and baked beans for lunch - I really didn’t see any problem with the beans as I’ve always thought they weren’t so bad and the sausage rolls were decent M&S ones - but I had a terrible stomach all afternoon and evening, really gassy and uncomfortable and I really think it was the baked beans. So I might even have to cut those out. I never intended to go 100% hardcore (I would really like some crisps!) but it’s crazy how my body is getting used to the more nutritious food. I find myself snacking a lot less as there just isn’t anything to snack on and I’m not really hungry anyway. I’ve had one slice of whole meal toast and a poached egg for breakfast and it’s filled me more that two slices of white toast and two eggs did previously.

@RobertsRadio i need instant pot tips, I think I used mine about twice and then the valve thing did something weird and now I don’t know what to do!

I agree Quorn is very processed, we rarely use it.

It's very easy to make your own tofu though, lots of advice on it in Google & yiu don't have to use soya beans either.

Mince can be made easily with finely chopped veg, make sure to include flavour absorbent veg such as aubergine, courgette etc & lots of chopped mushrooms & a mix of other veg for good nutrition & to use up any bits you have. Add seeds & pulses for protein & texture & add your gravy, which I make with marmite, dark soy sauce, a splash of red wine vinegar & spices such as a hint of garlic & white pepper. This freezes well & with added flavouring will make anything from Bolognese to shepherds pie

Yes it is ultra processed. One of the reasons I won't go veggie - I need a lot of protein. There was a whole thread on here about ultra processed veggie food the other day. Will try to find it

Considering vegetarianism. Is it bad to eat too much Quorn? - www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4597230-considering-vegetarianism-is-it-bad-to-eat-too-much-quorn

If you type in Trouble Shooting Instant Pot, or Common Instant Pot problems you will get a list of problems and how to fix them. Hopefully that will help you get your IP going again.

Sorry to everyone else for slightly derailing the thread.

I make my own baked beans. It’s so easy. I can put the recipe here if anyone wants it. I think the kids would prefer Heinz still but they happily eat them.

Yes I'd like to try your homemade baked beans please @Fluffruff !

I would say the advantage to me of this way of eating is that there’s no real rights or wrongs - it’s just being aware of UPFs and deciding for yourself what proportion you’re happy with. It’s not a diet and you can’t mess it up! I don’t really buy much sliced meat but I’d aim for the best quality I could afford. Of course if it’s a choice between the cheaper stuff with additives or none at all only you can decide if it’s something you need (eg you have a child who won’t eat anything else!) or if you could swap for something else like cheese or peanut butter in sandwiches. We all have different amounts of time, money and energy. You choose the balance that works for you.

@AtomicBlondeRose it's also a case of choosing where you shop. Some brands are much better than others for being chemical additives free. I think in general it's easier now than a few years ago too

Ah thanks so much I will look into that!

Yes please.

I’d also be careful what people push on you is considered processed.every food you eat is processed nowadays and most actually totally safe.
podcasts,diet industry,brands are all pushing an agenda,their agenda.podcast,influencers certain cooks often sponseeed or ads for company’s.again biased agendas.
fruit,carrots all foods are processed.
we have these processes as part of coming over the decades to come up with ways to preserve food.so you can keep your butter for weeks.so I can keep your chicken for more than a day or two.and some of those preservatives are NOT BAD AT ALL.and simple science.just because we don’t recognise a ingredient doesn’t make it bad.it’s actually sometimes amazing that we’ve come up with ways to keep foods longer.no damage would come from these to your health.
the current pressure to become a clean eat is become quite damaging.and sometimes dangerous.
if your having to cut out food groups from your usual diet,don’t. You can be aware and try and make good choices without needing to be militant and miserable and maybe even unhealthy.

@kateandme

We're not talking about normal processing though.

We're talking about ultra processing. Where a food is basically no longer made out of normal foodstuffs and is a combination of ulta processed ingredients and chemicals. The longer the list of ingredients, and the more unrecognisable the ingredients - the more processed the food is. Especially if many ingredients have been processed separately before becoming an ingredient.

Eating it I am now realising has harmed my health and could even have led to my autoimmune condition. I am saying this based on being ion total remission since being careful.

And it's not miserable at all, I've actually really enjoyed making my own flatbreads, scones, biscuits, bread and pizza dough. I've used Aldi own flour at 55p for 1kg (which makes 2 loaves or 1 loaf plus 2 pizzas and 16 flatbreads (wraps), and regular yeast free from the bakery. It's been so much easier to do than I realised and hardly takes any time - bread = 2 mins weighing and mixing, leave to rise, 2 minutes to knead, leave to rise - oven 30 mins. That's the longest thing I've done. The other tings I've started making take minutes, are delicious, and CHEAP!!

Oh and by the way, I'm a single mum and work full time so I don't have the luxury of time - I was actually really surprised how quick it all is. I try and do the bake all in an hour once a week so I don't use lots of energy having the oven on.

@ticktickticktickBOOM I agree completely with you, it’s not “clean eating”, you could stuff your face with cake, biscuits, pizza, all day every day! It’s not about obsessing over processing. The NOVA scale takes into account the fact that most things are processed to some extent and as humans we are well-adapted to eating some processed food (eg grinding wheat and making bread, making cheese etc). But what we are not adapted to is large-scale, industrial processing that strips food of nutrients and then adds that back in an artificial manner. Or that adds flavourings that encourage the body to expect food that isn’t coming, or articulate sweeteners that mess up the body’s response to sugars.

So a packet of basic crisps is highly processed but at heart is fried potato and salt so basically OK. You could make them at home. But Pringles…they’re designed so every aspect makes you want more. The flavour, the way it’s distributed over the surface, the shape, the sound the tube makes when you open it even!

@CarpeVitam Thank you

So I get things like Pringles, frubes, pepperami, etc are designed to be addictive and are basically processed beyond recognition. But is bread really in the same category? I’ve never eaten a sandwich and been compelled to eat endless bread (whereas I certainly could eat a whole tube of Pringles if I didn’t pay attention!)

I was listening to a different podcast with the van Tullekens on today and they were talking about an experiment where the researchers made two cheese sandwiches- same calorie content, fat etc. But one was white sliced bread and processed cheese, the other whole grain bread with cheddar. And when they looked at how the body dealt with them, it got more calories from the processed one than the other, even though they had the same amount of calories in. Because the whole grain bread takes more effort to eat, you eat it slower, and the energy is less available to the body. Now this is what the body wants because it doesn’t know we’re not in a famine! So we do crave the “easier” food as the body knows it’s an immediate source of calories - but without realising that also means a lack of nutrients and the risk of putting on weight.

At the end of the day nobody’s telling anyone what you have to eat or give up. It’s just people looking into the fact that food is more complicated than calories in/calories out and how it affects your body and mind as a whole. You can do with that information what you want.

Wow that's amazing!

It's long been known that these "edible food-like substances" are not good for you and people should be eating "real food, not too much, many plants".

There is now more and more research coming out to support this a lot of which is explained in the podcast.

It has absolutely nothing to do with "clean eating" or faddy diets/cutting out food groups. And as PPs have said it is not about processed foods, lots of foods are processed and that's not necessarily problematic. It's the ultra processed foods that are being shown to be problematic.

I'd have a listen to the A thorough examination podcast and maybe check out some of the studies of you are that way inclined before forming an opinion.

@riotlady

I always though bread was pretty innocent but I must admit that if you'd asked me 2 months ago what my biggest vice was, it was toast. I couldn't stop eating it. Now that I make my own bread without the extra additives I just don't crave toast. I enjoy it but I don't need more, more, more!

The Tulleken Bros said their research found that artificial preservatives and additives turned off the hormone that signals to our brain we are full and actually turned ON the hormone Ghrelin which signals that we need to eat. Therefore UPF's could be a major contributor to people overeating - as well as being unhealthy.

I just wonder what other hormones and bodily processes these additives are altering. We may have been eating them for 50 years but that doesn't make them safe, it just means we haven't yet noticed the harm they might be doing. Allergies, cancers, mental health problems, addiction and autoimmune diseases have been increasing for 50 years too. Could there be a connection? Are we turning things on and off in our brains that we really shouldn't never have been playing with?

Could you please link to this podcast? I’d love to listen!

@TooManyPJs isn't it!

I have Mumsnet to thanks as someone started a UPF thread and I tried changing what I ate, not cutting anything out at all, just changing. I only joined Mumsnet 6 months ago and I'm so glad I did. People are so knowledgeable!

@YoungBritishPissArtist It was from Dr Giles Yeo chews the fat.

I aim to make at least 50% of my diet raw fruit or veg. Some of the rest is cooked veg. I'm vegan so no meat products.

By no means do I eat really healthily, homemade cakes and biscuits feature, as do things like crackers and vegan burgers. But when I eat a lot of junk, for example crisps at a family get together, I definitely feel different for a day or two.

Thanks 😊