Ultra Processed Person going cold turkey

[Fluffyflipflop]

Hiya!

I’m halfway through Ultra Processed People and feeling completely disgusted at my own dietary habits for the majority of my adult life.

My UPF consumption has gotten worse as I’ve got fatter, due to eating more and more ‘diet’ and ‘low fat’ foods which I now realise were full of CRAP! (I think I knew this before but was so obsessed with calories in/out that the content of the food was irrelevant).

Suffice to say I’m now switching my focus entirely to non UPF food. It’s virtually impossible to be 100% non UPF but in my usual all or nothing style, that’s what I’m aiming for!

Is anyone else doing this?

one thing I’m struggling to find is a really good flavoursome beef stock. I’ve tried the Pots one (in what looks like a beer can) and my cottage pie was very bland according to my husband who I think would inject MSG into his eyeballs given the chance.

Also, what do you do for treats???

We buy this stock locally. It’s a German brand. But you can buy from this website in the uk. The whole alnatura range is pretty good tbh. I buy a fair amount from that range. The cashew butter and ketchup are also good

www.piccantino.co.uk/alnatura/organic-chicken-bouillon

Yes that looks good! Thank you. I’m looking for a nice UPF free ketchup. The heinz organic one has spirit vinegar in it, not sure about that 🤔

Il trying to cut the upf too so this thread is amazing! I’ve swapped to 100% peanut butter, olive oil, block butter, no packet/jar sauces. I get Jason’s sourdough bread.
is weetabix classed as a upf? Sometimes I’m not sure where to draw the line?
snacks I’m getting nuts, dried fruit, peanut butter on oatcakes, cheese and crackers.
tiny tums recipes is a great insta account (aimed at kids but good for adults) who tell you the best pesto etc to buy that’s minimal upf

@Fluffyflipflop - I recommend the alnatura ketchup you can buy on above link. My Ds is super fussy and he didn’t like the roasted taste of others we tried but this one is good

I’m really pleased at how many people on MN are trying to do the same!

If something does have UPF in it, I ‘be been thinking to myself: “has this product been made to drive over consumption, to make me eat it mindlessly in large quantities?”

INGREDIENTS
Wholegrain Wheat (95%), Malted BarleyExtract, Sugar, Salt, Niacin, Iron, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1), Folic Acid

This is mainly, 95% real food. Malted Barley Extract might be a UPF but it sounds fairly harmless right? In the book he does talk a lot about how cereal manufacturers use cheap, heavily process grains to keep the cost down and then add vitamins to be able to maintain the healthy image. He talks a lot about cocoa pops. So weetabix are right down the other end of the UPF spectrum. Lots of people on this thread have been saying there needs to be some flexibility in order for this to be a sustainable lifestyle change.

However, I’ve switched entirely to porridge now tbh thanks to my all or nothing mentality!

My latest non UPF meals was a 5 bean dip whizzed up in the blender and some flat bread made from Greek yoghurt and flour. Very yummy and so easy!!

Thank you!! I’ll explore!

Ah thanks- yes I think there’s some flexibility needed. Busy working mum with 2 kids I’m not going full on good life lol! Could you Amazon link me to the book please? I’d love to have a read. Yes in an ideal world I’d make my own pesto, but if I need to buy jar sometimes I like to know which is minimal upf. I suppose it’s finding the balance between processed and ultra processed, I guess 100% peanut butter is processed, but not ultra. if you’re looking for ‘savoury’ flavour I use a splash of balsamic, a smidge of brown sug, and a bit of miso to replace the bisto. Dried porcini mushrooms blitzed help too

I’d recommend a bottle of Worcestershire sauce to liven up your stocks and sauces. 😀

Belazu Pesto is worth looking at.

We use tiptree tomato sauce. It's available at big Tesco. Looks upf free to me.

Technically there’s UPF in Worcestershire Sauce

• Malt Vinegar (from Barley),
• Spirit Vinegar,
• Molasses,
• Sugar,
• Salt,
• Anchovies (Fish),
• Tamarind Extract,
• Onions,
• Garlic,
• Spice,
• Flavourings

But we’re talking a squirt aren’t we. So tiny amount of ‘flavourings’

Not sure if spirit vinegar is a UPF. Never really heard of it?!

Yes that looks spot on! Thank you!

Spirit vinegar is a processed ingredient. It’s pretty normal- I have had it in my kitchen for pickling before now.
It’s just vinegar made from spirits, same as wine vinegar is made from wine and cider vinegar from cider etc.

I must say I think we eat well but we don’t avoid all upf. I’m a good cook and snacking upf free is… not an issue, nor is it low fat! This week I’ve had lots of homemade cornbread and chocolate mousse and choc chip cookies, if you make it it’s not upf.
things we do use regularly- store bought puff pastry, bread although about half is from the bakery so I don’t think it’s upf (I will try that quick bread but I have 3 Chaos spreading dc and a busy ft job and can’t make the family bread), Asian sauces, stock cubes. sometimes commercial salad dressing. Some biscuits and snacks for the kids, icecream, chocolate sauce. Mayonnaise, perhaps curry paste. We do eat ravioli , frozen chips, things like that from the supermarket too for quick meals (not together). That’s ok I think, it doesn’t happen too often and we are all well fed.

Ok thank you! I’ve never seen it on the shelf so wasn’t sure. This opens up a few things actually.

Yes absolutely, this isn’t about judging how others eat at all. So if you’re eating the way you want to eat, that’s of course your choice. UPF or not.

Personally, I have a food addiction and very toxic relationship with food. For me, food has been “good” or “bad”, but good = low calorie, low fat, low carb regardless of the nutritional make up of the food.

I was eating protein bars that met my diet requirements but were 80% fake UPF’s.

Since learning about UPFs my attitude to food is changing. Good = real, whole and nutritious. Bad = fake, made by a scientist rather than a chef, formulated to drive addiction etc etc.

I’ve been largely UPF free for 3 weeks now. My craving to eat has reduced dramatically. My joints don’t hurt. I’m sleeping better. I’m thinking more clearly. My weight hasn’t changed but I feel better.

I realise now that my addiction isn’t to food, it’s to ultra processed food. When it comes to
REAL food, I’m able to eat in moderation. However, give me the same volume of food in McDonald’s and I’d eat double, twice as fast and still feel hungry.

So for me, having this distinction is everything. I felt so much shame about my years of trying and failing to loose weight. Not realising that I was eating food that had been chemically designed to eat it quickly, not satisfy my hunger and make me crave it more! Even though the packaging was advertising it’s low fat/cal/carb content and it met my dietary requirements that I’d meticulously calculated to ensure weight loss. Low fat yoghurts are a perfect example of this.

This book has genuinely changed my life in that respect.

Your last post is very interesting @Fluffyflipflop . Quite amazing really . Well done.

Do alcoholic drinks count as upf?

I imagine it varies depending on whether you are talking about real ale or a Bacardi Breezer.
Alcopops would have all the characteristics- made with several ingredients you don’t find in a kitchen, designed to encourage you to drink more and maximize profit. But, say, the lovely home brewed lemon balm ale I drank the other week brewed using traditional methods and materials was definitely not.

Thanks @TheCountessofFitzdotterel

Alcohol is something I’ve not really looked into but going on holiday next month so will want a few drinks there. It makes me realise I have no idea what the raw ingredients are gin, wine or lager. Cider I know, as I’m a West Country girl 😂

Good luck OP. I lost 15kg last year going UPF free and I now eat more calories than I did before. I also found it made a huge impact on my mood and energy.

I mainly eat whole foods but there are a few time saving brands without the usual emulsifiers, preservatives etc that help save time.
Grom ice cream - from waitrose or ocado
Crosta and mollica - wraps and bread products
Jasons or Bertinat bakery for bread

You see, I wouldn’t call that ultra processed at all. You could buy those individual ingredients and make your own if you were so inclined.

My understanding is that if your great grandparents or grandparents ( depending on how old you are😆) would recognise it, then it isn’t ultra processed

Well done OP. Your journey is very inspiring and hopefully it will encourage others too. I haven't read the book but I've been low UPF for years. I've recently kicked out Oatly Barista as it's full of crap and rape seed oil, and I've replaced it with soya milk that is just soya and water (see Plenish brand). I might actually stop putting milk in my tea altogether soon.

I'm a big fan of 100% peanut butter, no oils or sugars added. Plain rice cakes are good, just rice and salt. Kikkoman soya sauce has already been mentioned. Don't go for flavoured anything. I only buy ready salted crisps where it's just potatoes, oil and salt. No margarine, just organic butter.

Things to definitely avoid: tortilla wraps - absolutely loaded with UPF. Almost anything that you find in a corner shop or garage, anything ready made, all sweets and biscuits. It's lovely (and a bit disturbing) to just saunter past whole sections of the supermarket!! I'd say 75% of it is UPF. The exception in the biscuit aisle is shortbread - there are one or two that are just flour, sugar and butter.
As well as avoiding UPF I also try and avoid plastic packaging.

Things I could get better on: baked beans, I buy them but don't usually check the ingredients. Trying to find a granola that doesn't have flavourings. Will have to start making my own.

Yes and all the ingredients are recognisable bar ‘flavourings’ at the bottom of the list. It’s impossible to know what they mean by that and exactly what flavourings have been used. Why not just say? The UPP book says that ambiguous words like this on ingredients lists are probably UPF or they’d just say what the flavourings are.

Proportionately, it’s barely anything (whatever it is) so a fraction of the overall squirt. So it depends how strict you want to be and why you are avoiding the UPF, and like many PP have said, in order to be sustainable, there needs to be some flexibility.

Thank you! I’m enjoying the process so far. We’re going to an all inclusive hotel in August so I’ll have to just relinquish control over a lot of the food there. But I think, instinctively, I’ll be more drawn to the whole foods.

Thank you for those food suggestions!

Yes I was the same in Aldi earlier this week. Whole sections where every single item had UPF! Even their dark chocolate had emulsifier in it!