If you try your hardest to avoid “ultra processed foods”….

[ReeseWitherfork]

There’s an article on the BBC website about “ultra processed foods” and it’s got me wondering if I can make some easy swaps on things. I am sure there are some people out there who’ve explored this before. I cook from scratch, eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, but I’m wondering if I need to start looking at things like a bread maker (we’re a fan of a sandwiches my house!)…

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-65754290

We've cut a lot of it out of our diets but not entirely - probably eating on an 80%/20% basis now. DH and I both have lost a fair bit of weight and the kids don't seem to want to snack half as much!

We've never been big bread eaters though which probably helps

I'm trying to cut UPFs but finding it hard with the fussy eaters.

Bread - I make rolls and freeze them.
Ham - I'm trying not to buy it, I use cheese, peanut butter, egg mayo, leftover chicken instead.
Stir fry from scratch, not sachet sauce - eg. Peanut butter and soy sauce.
Omlette instead of processed meat.
Nitrite free bacon as a treat once a month
Trying to make kids snacks myself eg. Flapjacks instead of shop biscuits
Attempting to buy "better" food - plain crisps, low ingredient frozen chips, wraps made with olive oil.

It's more time consuming, and the low UPF products cost more but I buy into the science that it needs to be done.

We had already ditched a lot of UPF for evening meals and now it's just an occasional emergency frozen pizza.

I find DCs packed lunches much harder. I'd got into the habit of buying them pepperami, sausage rolls and that kind of thing but the last few weeks have just refused.

They are grudgingly taking leftovers or home made pasta salad (but it includes Mayo), but I'm struggling with a bread replacement.

I make sourdough which they will happily have for breakfast but they don't like it in their lunchboxes. I also make wraps but can't find a recipe that is still nice the next day, they have to be eaten as soon as they're made.

Breakfast was a bit easier because of the sourdough and they like banana bread made with oats and I'm planning to make granola, just haven't got round to it yet.

If anyone has any miraculous lunchbox ideas I'd be grateful!

I make bread in with my stand mixer and oven ( I have a bread maker but I find it makes quite dense bread). I’m v lucky to work from home so often make dough in the morning and cook it at lunch time. It’s really nice.
I try to make cakes etc instead of buying (I make a tray of fairy cakes / banana muffins and freeze them so I can bring them out when needed)
I’ve invested in loads of herbs and spices so I rarely buy sauces and pre made mixes. I also have jars of olives in the cupboard for snacking with wine, rather than crisps (I’m sure just as fattening lol). I make stuff like jam, hummus, salsa, soups, pastry from scratch. And cook most nights, I’ve recently mastered making rice in a casserole dish, and often do whole chicken pieces or fish fillets in the rice. I use the slow cooker a lot too.

we do eat upfs but I’ve just tried to reduce the amount. I noticed on the original bbc programme the doctor said that in the 70s people still ate a proportion of upfs but it wasn’t enough to cause the obesity epidemic. So I don’t stress about removing them all. I buy and cook ham for example, still have sausages, fish fingers (with mash and peas!) and we eat chocolate sometimes.

i quite like cooking though so for me it’s not a source of stress to make things, I think it’s really hard if you haven’t got time or don’t like cooking to avoid upfs

@CornedBeef451 mini pancakes go down well here, they freeze too.

Also cold chicken nuggets - make by chopping chicken into chunks and coat with yogurt, blitz up a slice of your homemade sourdough and mix with parmesan cheese - toss yogurt coated chicken and airfry. Mine like these with a splodge of ketchup (I'm keeping ketchup and mayo I'm afraid)

Cold Fritatta slices made into 'pizza'

Cold chicken and cheese Quesadillas (bought wraps but again, only making up a small part of the diet)

I’ve almost eliminated UPF from our house. Here’s what I’ve learned:

• anything with seeds oils is UPF - biggest offenders are palm oil, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and the generic “vegetable oil”
• you’ve got to squint hard at labels and be prepared to find clean alternatives to lots of food. It’s also pricy

• bread - real bread should only have four ingredients (flour, water, yeast, salt). Crosta & Mollica fit the bill if you can’t make your own

• spreads, honey and jams without palm oil and emulsifiers, preservatives - Pip & Nut, Meridian (I think), Tiptree, Thursday Cottage

• milk delivered in glass bottles. Only plain full fat Greek yogurt - we buy Fage, if children want it sweet I add fruit or honey or jam in

• dried fruit - without sunflower glazing and added sugar. I buy Sun-Maid raisins as it’s the only brand without oil

• dark chocolate with only 3-4 ingredients- this one’s difficult as even expensive brands add soya/sunflower lecithin

Forgot to add, “safe” fats are:

butter
clarified butter (ghee)
animal fats like duck, goose etc
avocado oil
olive oil
coconut oil

Thanks for all the rational and realistic responses, I was half expecting a lecture from someone about my diet (you know what mumsnet can be like!).

I have always found time to prioritise cooking an evening meal and don’t use a lot of jar bought sauces etc (I don’t really like the flavour of a lot of them). But I do grab a lot of convenience foods during the day which is were I might struggle. I’ve got three smsllkids (three and under) which means things move at a fast pace during the day. But I’m happy to prep stuff in advance. It had never even occurred to me to freeze things like cake. That’s an easy one for sure!

Sorry if I’m one of “those” but I found children can be redirected to healthy snacks very easily if you prep them small bowls with 3-4 things in, e.g.:

• a slice of cheddar, a small carrot (peeled, ends chopped off), 3-4 strawberries, a few blueberries

• cucumber slices, Babybel (or cheddar slice/cubes of Appetina white cheese), half an apple, 3-4 olives

• half a peach/nectarine, a few walnuts/pecans, a few cherry tomatoes or grapes

I find they prefer variety over quantity, so offer very small portions of lots of things. Slightly painful and takes a little time to get into rhythm and keep supplies in, but it’s worth it! Otherwise it’s a constant stream of, eating a banana, eating a bowl of blueberries, then rummaging in the pantry again.

OP, you might also find this thread helpful

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/4820240-ultra-processed-people?reply=126664805

I've posted some links to a Guardian long read I listened to the pod cast of recently. I don't know if I was amused, saddened, or what that one of the adverts in the podcast was for McCain, who sell a really good range of UPFs.

https://uk.openfoodfacts.org/cgi/search.pl?search_terms=mccain&search_simple=1&action=process

I read an article in the Times a couple of weeks ago by Chris van Tulleken who wrote the Ultra Processed Peoole book and for bread he recommended this. There is a white version too - that might work for lunches? He also recommend Gail’s white sourdough.

M&S has what I think is a real sourdough on it's fresh bread counter. It should be, given the price (£4 for a big loaf, or about £2.50 for a small one). Most supermarket sourdoughs are 'made with sourdough' not full sourdough apparently.

I don't eat much bread but DP eats a lot of crap bread and says he wants to stop but can't. I think he has a real problem with UPFs so I'd be happy if our weekly 'bread ration' was a single loaf of proper sourdough and none of the crap stuff.

I have been thinking a lot about UFPs and trying to have healthier snacks (nuts, plain crisps along with fruit and veg sticks/hummus etc). For me though it's bread that is a real issue - I do make my own sometimes but I don't understand why manufacturers can't make more bread with fewer additives etc, even if it is more expensive.

I started making an effort in January, however I don't have packed lunches or small DC to think about.
My downfall is pastry, sausage rolls and pies.
I gave them up. No breakfast cereal I just have oats and seeds with milk. Cut out ready meals and bread. Bake my own cakes and biscuits.
What I still eat are crisps and chocolate and ice cream.
I really miss a good flaky Lincolnshire sausage roll.

I’m partly place marking. I’m making an effort to to reduce our UPFs. The biggest issue I’m having is my DCs won’t drink cow’s milk and have Oatley instead as they were previously allergic to cow’s milk.

I had to buy a bread maker at the start of lockdown as I couldn’t buy bread without soya (another allergy) and I’m going to dust it off and start using it.

I’m thinking school lunches will have to go to.

@Summerishereagain I also have thought about giving up school meals, but my DC eat a wider range of food because of the school meals they are served so I'm reluctant to limit their palates.

Thanks to the poster who said cutting down is needed, not necessarily cutting out. Makes me feel much better about what I can realistically do.

Thanks @QforCucumber. They do like home made nuggets so that's a good idea and the mini pancakes sound good. Do you just defrost and eat them or do you have to reheat?

Maybe I'm stressing too much and bought wraps would be fine. I've tried two different sorts that had minimal ingredients but DD didn't like either.

Anyone found a nice peanut butter without palm oil?

We were having Whole Earth but I have just bought a Meridian to try and it desperately needs some salt!

I've tried a few sourdough recipes but currently using this one.

I like that it doesn't produce lots of waste and after some accidental experimentation it seems the second day timetable is quite flexible.

www.bakewithjack.co.uk/blog-1/2018/7/5/sourdough-loaf-for-beginners

I think you need to separate upf and processed foods. We eat things that are processed aka made from raw ingredients like cheese, yogurt, pasta, sliced bread, canned tomatoes, cured meats but we rarely eat ultra processed eg ready meals, noodles with flavour sachets, fake meats etc. if it was available before the 1970's in my mind it's ok. Mostly meals are fresh veg, meat, a scratch and scratch made sauces

I avoid UPF and have for maybe 5 years….but very easy to do when at home. I cook everything and read labels. But out and about, it’s almost impossible.
I end up doing a lot of fasting if I’m travelling because it’s so hard. And eating out at restaurants becomes a bit pointless, it’s always cooked in seed oils and full of crap, however expensive you go!

it’s worth it though, I do feel good and am never ill. AND the tan you get in this weather is like the old days, I don’t burn at all now, just a golden tan. It’s a ‘thing’ once your body is working properly.

@CornedBeef451 I highly recommend Pip & Nut peanut butter - it’s delicious.

I haven’t eaten Meridian recently, but out of their range I only loved the almond butter.

I found this quite useful to distinguish between the different degrees of "processed food / ingredients"

It's all a bit of a muddle but I'm trying to reduce consumption as much as I can.

Thanks for sharing. I think I will give this a go!

I feel like I've cut out a lot of upfs from the family's diet but still a long way to go.

I can also recommend pip and nut. It's delicious!