Removing/cutting down UPF

[RedRobyn2021]

Anyone else trying to remove / significantly cut down on UPF?

How have you found it?

I've just finished reading Ultra Processed People and over the last week have been beginning to make changes and remove things from our diet.

I've been making homemade bread every couple of days, have just realised there are emulsifiers in the yeast! Can't believe it. Have been trying to find some without any in but I'm struggling.

Would all dried / fast action yeast not be processed to a degree? If doing this I'd probably end up eating more whole foods instead of going to the trouble of baking bread. You can buy fresh yeast but I don't think I'd bother. But my carb of choice is potatoes anyway, which are conveniently not processed!

Try and buy fresh yeast. Keep this whole UHP thing in perspective. Do you have a bread maker? If not, this rate of production isn't sustainable. Try sour dough bread

I've got a Ninja Foodi so I bake the bread in that

I am half way through the same book and finding it horrifying! All these "diet" products I have bought for years are actually worse for you. I've thrown out the low fat mayo, stopped buying low fat crème fraich and switched to small amount of full fat and single cream. Even my muesli is considered UPF so I have switched to yogurt with berries or oats.
Bread was my next one on my list to sort. I have bought some Wholemeal rye flour but I had no idea yeast had emulsifiers in.
I think cutting out completely is going to be unrealistic for me, but definitely will be cutting down. Will be following your thread with interest!

@LouLou198

Yes it is horrifying isn't it!

I don't think it will all go for me either, but surely reducing it as much as you can will make a difference?

Ive stopped buying crisps, chocolate, cereal, cereal bars, cordial, fizzy drinks

I intend to make my own Mayo/cream cheese/jam and slowly try to minimise it as much as I can.

I made homemade granola and banana bread this week and going to try my hand at some other things next week. Had a roast dinner today and actually made my own gravy, did you know even stock cubes have rubbish in them? It feels impossible to completely eradicate it

Good luck! I'm about a month in to reducing UPFs and loving it. There is a dried yeast called Bioreal on Amazon which is UPF free. Also some products are better than others - Philadelphia cream cheese is UPF but some own brand are fine, so check the labels. I don't have the time to make everything from scratch so am identifying those products that I can buy and not stress about

Yes I knew about stock cubes, I always used to put in my homemade soups but won't be anymore! It's on my list to make some granola. @Turtleoo I will look for that yeast, thank you.

I work on the basis that cutting out UPF entirely is difficult and can become obsessive, but cutting back so it's only 10-20% of your diet will make a big difference to most people - you've taken huge strides in cutting out lots of high UPF products already, don't be so purist that it's unsustainable. Homemade bread with a little bit of emulsifier in the yeast is vastly better than bread where emulsifiers and various other additives are ingredients in their own right. I will order some instant yeast without emulsifiers when I next get some (I have specific reasons for avoiding emulsifiers) but I wouldn't worry too much.

BTW if you search there are already a couple of threads where people have been sharing tips and recipe ideas.

The book doesn't recommend you go to extremes of eliminating every trace of additives. Home made bread is 10x better than factory bread even with a tiny amount of easy bake yeast. To be honest I think it counts as a processed ingredient rather than upf.
Don't sweat the small stuff. A bit of sauce, mayo or stock isn't the big issue in a diet that's mostly real food.

I agree with others - don't overcomplicate things and don't sweat the small stuff. I think the main concern relates to things such as ready meals, snacks and confectionery, sodas etc - i.e. where the entire thing you are eating is ultra-processed rather than UPF being just one small ingredient of a meal

Some 'quick' things I buy in the supermarket that are non upf:

Some brands of sourdough (eg Bertinet Bakery, Joe's, Aldi)
Some brands of plain ready salted crisps
Lindt 70% dark chocolate
Crosta & Mollica margarita pizza
Heinz organic baked beans
Mr Organic ketchup (I believe Heinz is also OK)
Mr Organic pasta sauces - some Lloyd Grossman ones are also fine
Shredded wheat

The quitting ultra processed food group on Facebook is really helpful :)

Do you recall which of the Lloyd grossman ones are fine?

Turns out I was mistaken - LG has lemon juice from concentrate 🙄 UPFs are everywhere! Sorry. I would recommend Mr Organic.

I do think you have to be realistic - home made bread is still much better. And recognise the difference between processed and ultra processed. Cutting out fizzy drinks, crisps etc is already a massive help.

I would consider lemon juice made from concentrate to be processed rather than ultra-processed. Unless it contains other stuff like preservatives, emulsifiers, sugar or artificial sweeteners, E-numbers, 'flavourings', et cetera.

I’m amazed anyone would think a hard cube of dark brown stock isn’t processed! It looks like nothing actual stock ie boiled bones.

Tesco bakery and other bakers will give you live yeast for free. Not sure how unprocessed that is. It’s only flour and water left out that makes sourdough starter. Any of the grains will be processed to some degree as the are cut in the fields, dried, taken to be ground, cleaned, whatever. Still better than buying porridge ready made up or ready made bread.

Re fizzy drinks, sugar is a processed food not UPF. So make your own cordial using fruit, elderflower etc and sugar and add fizzy water. You can make your own cola which is fun and tastes nice.

Come & join us over here! The more the merrier.

UPF Discussion Thread http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/foodandd_recipes/4830215-upf-discussion-thread

That is so helpful thank you!!

I didn't realise some own brand cream cheese was ok, I shop at Sainsbury's and couldn't find any when I last looked, I will try again. And I will look up that yeast thanks so much

Thanks for saying this, because you're right it's not realistic for me to cut it all out

THANK YOU!

I have been looking for a Facebook group to join. Thank you for the list, I have made a note.

Yes you're quite right, it obviously is processed, I think it's just that I use it in cooking so much that when it occurred to me I thought... well what am I going to use instead? Of course I can do my own (I am going to shortly actually with the chicken carcass from yesterday) but I use stock so much, would I be able to make all my own?

I’m probably being really dim here, but what’s the issue with Mayo and cream cheese op? Thanks.

It never occurred to me I could make my own cordial, I'll look into this more thank you

@PlainOldEmmaJane

I've not checked all the ones in the supermarket so I might have missed a good one, but I usually buy hellmans and this one has antioxidants in it (to extend shelf life). I'd also heard making you're own isn't hard.

I didn't think that there would be a problem with cream cheese but when I went to buy some for a recipe it had stabilisers in it. So I looked at mascarpone as I thought it would be a good substitute and that had it in too. Another poster has said there are some supermarket own brands without this though so I will be looking