UPF Discussion Thread

[sunlovingcriminal]

Hi all, wondering whether any of us here would be up for a UPF discussion/support group?

We recently watched the panorama documentary on UPF, as well as reading the ultra processed people book- and have decided to make a lifestyle change for our family.

So, out with the cereal, fruit yogurts, packaged breads, squash and pre-made sauces

And in with the homemade everything...

It is taking a lot of prep and cooking. We're both a bit exhausted and overwhelmed but quite determined.

We have 3 teenage boys- so it's going to be interesting seeing whether we can get them to enjoy both the cooking and eating.

We're one week in and I do already feel better. I am not as hungry- my urge to snack has gone- and my reliance on artificial sugar fixes seems to have diminished.

Still on the hunt for alternatives to stock cubes though! Other than making from scratch (which I fear may be inevitable!).

Would be great to hear some inspiration from others, or great non-upf swaps!

Thank you both! In terms of protein, your thoughts both seem to line up with what we’ve been thinking; add back in some fish and chicken for some days (husband and daughter already eat eggs, I just don’t particularly like them!), then lentils, tofu and maybe the odd quorn protein for the other days.

EVOO/spread with olive oil is a good idea, and I’ve had a skim of that podcast and it seems reassuring @UnaOfStormhold thank you (I will read it in more detail when it’s not 1:30am doing a night feed for the baby 😂).

In terms of oat milk, I think that will have to just be a UPF that stays but is hopefully balanced out by the rest of the diet, part of our 20% effectively. We’ve been advised it has to be Oatly Batista while she’s still so little because of the iodine, which she’d normally be getting from dairy sources. These are the ingredients, so it’s predominately water!

Water, OATS 10%, rapeseed oil, acidity regulator (dipotassium phosphate), minerals (calcium carbonate, potassium iodide), salt, vitamins (D2, riboflavin, B12).

Permission to rant. I know it's ungrateful, but no actually, I'm not delighted that you bought a special gluten free, dairy free vegan cake and the polite grin I'm giving you is only because I was brought up to say thank you.

Would it be unreasonable to start putting no UPF on dietary requests, I wonder?

Interesting article in The Times today. Great that the studies controlled for salt/sugar/fat levels in food so have been able to conclude it’s the ultra-processing that makes it so harmful to health. I’m prepared for all the comments about “cheese is a processed food”, orthorexia and willpower of course…!

Wave of ill-health coming from ultra-processed food, experts warn

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/248e1b5e-44fe-11ee-b1f2-68fee143d67b?shareToken=ae04987d3849fd13fb805efbb99c896f

I find myself seeing overweight people when I am out and about now and feeling annoyed on their behalf that they are probably eating cheap food promoted everywhere and becoming addicted to it.

I get very annoyed and frustrated when out and about when it’s almost impossible to avoid UPFs. I mean, of course you can be mindful and read labels and find something but when 90% of what’s in front of you is UPF it’s very hard, and if you weren’t tuned into it (which most people aren’t) you can see how it’s astonishingly easy to eat 3 UPF meals a day. As it is I know my DD eats way too much and that’s living with parents who eat hardly any! Cereal, brioches, biscuits, ice lollies etc.

Yes it’s awful how it is everywhere. I try so hard to minimise and even then the kids are probably eating a high quantity of upf. I am certain that school dinners will be upf. my eldest normally gets panini at lunch. My younger child sometimes has school lunch. Even the supposedly home cooked stuff like Bolognese is probably made from pre packet sauces.

We signed up to HelloFresh a couple of years ago thinking we were doing a good thing. It since I started reading about upfs I now realise a lot of their sauces they provide are actually upf.

And like you say things like brioches. many bread snacks. My kids love bagels, are all upf. And I previously thought these were healthy snacks and so do most of the population.

I got the ingredients list for our school dinners and it is shocking quite how much of it is UPF. I really don't want to make packed lunches every day, and our diet is pretty good otherwise so it's only a small proportion of what he eats, but it was still a bit shocking. I think I'm going to try to send in more packed lunches but not panic too much if there's a day when we don't have time to make one.

Yes I am the same, I do use school dinners some days. It’s pretty difficult packing non upf lunches. As I have to home bake virtually everything - oat bars, pasta salads etc.

it’s a shame when you think about how so many low income family’s are giving kids school dinners under the impression it is healthy for them

From memory, most school dinners subscribe to the low fat/low sugar healthy eating propaganda. So yes, even meals prepared in the school kitchen are likely to be UPF.

I’m not too worried about (primary) school dinners as I know my DC’s school cooks on the premises and does a fair bit of “proper” cooking. Secondary school food I agree is terrible even with healthy schools guidelines. And I work in a college and the only thing I will eat from the cafe is the salad. Maybe a packet of plain crisps! There’s a whole hot cabinet full of chicken nuggets, burgers, curly fries etc. A wall of chocolate bars, cereal bars, packaged flapjacks, protein bars. Fizzy drinks, cans of iced coffee, packets of crisps/snacks and Pringles. Reheated pasta with sauce from a pot, Chicago Town pizza, pre-packaged toasties…all UPF.

Older staff tell me wistfully of the time before they got modernised when the canteen dished up meat pie, spuds and sponge and custard, all made fresh on site. I’d have eaten that every day!

For teenager school age I would probably try and reduce how many school dinners they are having.

If they are willing to take a thermos pot, then hot pastas, minestrone soups, rice dishes from home sometimes might help. Stuff like homemade tomato pasta sauce with meatballs freezes well, so it’s a fairly quick cook fresh pasta and heat sauce type thing In morning. Or leftovers from night before if in habit to make extra portion.

I try and make (and freeze) things like cake or muffins so nobody feels they never have cake, but better ingredients. School age could just take say homemade muffin to school and it would be defrosted by lunch

Yes I can’t imagine how bad the secondary school stuff must be. My dc has such a heavy bag though with all the folders he can’t manage a lunch box too. Although maybe this year will be better as he has more double periods so hopefully less folders required

I've just finished my first week without any UPF and finished reading Ultra Processed People. I'm now reading Tim Spector's Food for Life, bloody fascinating.

I have realised a lot of my food issues have been from addiction to UPF. I've been getting frustrated as I couldn't make sense of why I couldn't lose weight and was always starving, and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason behind my weight loss at slimming world - I can see that UPF seems to be a massive contributor in why I tend to overeat. I feel a bit embarrassed it's taken until I'm aged 40 tbh to work out what I need to avoid when I'm filling my plate.

Gillian mcKeith was right all along !

On ‘Zoe’ don’t you have your stool tested? So Gillian Mckeith was right about, how important your gut microbes are!
Finding out coffee has good amount of fibre, probably explains a few things.

She was all about eating whole foods wasn’t she. Lots of colourful food on the table . Salads, nuts, pulses etc. I do remember it being a bit different to the main stream advice of low sugar and fat.

I'm a week in and I am starting to feel good. I am not sleeping brilliantly (for other reasons, mainly that my cat keeps disturbing me!) but despite that I have quite a bit of energy and feel well. Normally I'd be crawling to work when I'm under-slept but today I feel good, I've finished the book but I'm actually going to re-listen.

I'm having a weird thing going on - wondering if anyone else has had this? It could be a coincidence but since ditching UPF three weeks ago I've developed a sore throats and a rash. I'm actually thinking that it might be a kind of withdrawal from what I've been eating?

I've had terrible eczema at points in my life and as a kid had food allergies and I wonder if it's anything to do with that.

Ive got a good way through the book, it's interesting in parts. The experiments on the babies weaning was very interesting, the fact babies would actually take the cod liver oil if offered until they no longer needed to take the stuff - thats impressive of the human body!

@OttoGraph that part blew my mind!

Is milk chocolate totally impossible?

Asking for a friend... A 6 year old friend!

I haven’t found non upf milk chocolate. You can do home made chocolate ice cream or hot chocolate ? I think with kids you may need the occasional pack of chocolate buttons !

Waitrose 1 - not all of them but some of the milk ones are Upf free - from memory one plain milk one and one nut one

@beachdays27 you superstar - just found the Waitrose Dominican milk chocolate and Hazelnut, pistachio and cashew is emulsifier free! OK, they still has milk powder but that's a compromise this a-number-also-ending-in-6 year old is willing to make!

Article in the bbc today talking about how upf affects obesity. It says in uk we get 40% of our diet from upf. Whereas France is 28% and Italy is 13% I was just thinking 13% is pretty incredible. I am not sure my family are at that rate even with all my efforts and constant time in the kitchen cooking from scratch. I would also think 40% in the uk is probably a low estimate. It’s just so easy to eat upf. You could have cereal or toys for breakfast (upf) sandwich, crisps and cereal bar lunch (all upf) and unless you are really careful to eat all sauces cooked from scratch at home a lot of dinners would end up upf too. it would only be maybe the odd apple or banana that would be ok?