Ultra-Processed People

[Fairislefandango]

Anyone read this? I'm currently listening to it as an audiobook and it's really enlightening, if depressing! After spending years on and off various diets and ending up back where I started, I'm thinking that cutting out UPF is the only sane thing left to try.

I agree - it's just the latest fad. At the end of the day, everything is ok in moderation (processed food, fat, sugar). We all know the things that are bad for us really, it's the balance between healthy & unhealthy that makes the difference between being slim or not.
I think it's unrealistic in the long term when people get obsessed with particular diets. Hence so many of us lose weight then gain weight then lose weight then gain weight.

I think the people who are saying it’s a fad (understandably!) need to read the book - the science explains how UPF causes overconsumption and weight swinging.

it’s not a weight loss book. It’s about food that has been proven to increase cancers, blood pressure and all-cause mortality (aka early death), and an exploration of the capitalist production methods that have led to our high consumption of stuff that isn’t food.

There is also science behind why sugar is bad for you & why fat is bad for you. There is no doubt that these things can be bad for you if you eat them to excess. I'm not sure it's realistic for people with busy lives to give up processed food, or even necessary as long as there is a balance between processed and unprocessed food.

I'm sure some people can manage it, at least for a few months but not everyone. It feels fadish and the sort of thing that people will be raving about now but will have forgotten about in a year or twos time, but I guess time will tell.

You say it's not a weight loss book but @Fairislefandango is linking it to various (other) diets they have tried and has posted it in Weight Loss chat. So I think people are seeing it as a weight loss strategy, even if that is not the only message in the book.

But all these things seem to come with books and science and evidence and the lot.
It's almost guaranteed that in a year or two there will be another slightly different version telling you the same information in another format, or another idea to try to lose weight.
As previous posters have said, it's always something. This is nothing new - just a new word for it and a new book or two for the experts to make money from.

Eat less, eat more stuff made from scratch where you can, eat your 5 a day, drink less, don't smoke, move more,

They are all a version of the above!

I haven’t but I will now!

I have been on the UPF bandwagon for years. It is slowly but surely killing us off.

I still have UPF foods, but cut them right down and have a real awareness now.

I cut them out completely for a period and the weight fell off. I need to do it again.

Respectfully, you’re both wrong.

humans have been eating fat and sugar for many years with no ill effects.

the problem now is the chemicals and fake shit we eat. People were slim and healthy as recently as the 70’s.

we’ve got lazy and use convenience everywhere. We are turning into the wall-e movie.

I am reading this too and trying to make changes. Would love a thread to share ideas here. I thought I was doing a good job making my own bread in bread maker, until I looked on the yeast packet and it said other ingredients like emulsifiers . So not sure what I am going to do now. Need to get down supermarket and find a more natural yeast product.

my biggest winner for the kids is frozen raspberries in food processor with plain Greek yogurt. I am going to do this instead of pre packets yogurts now

also trying to give up stock cubes and don’t like the look of all the ingredients on them. Just used dried herbs instead. Hope that’s better but maybe that is processed too?

I think what the author says is very true that the point of the food industry is to make money. They want to used the cheapest possible ingredients and convince us to buy lots of it. The industry isn’t there to make us healthy it is there to make money. It is so frustrating when you look on “healthy” eat natural type cereal bars and discover so many other ingredients. It is eye opening for sure

I have the book but haven’t read it yet. It’s next on my pile.

I have long had the thought that overly processed foods lead to cravings because they are so lacking in actual nutrients and our bodies are crying out for proper food.

I think we all know that a diet high in overly processed foods isn’t great and cooking from scratch with whole healthy ingredients is best but we are all very used to the convenience of shortcuts. And anyone who has tried to lose weight has used all the low fat and low sugar stuff and they are some of the worst offenders in terms of basically being an utter chemical shitstorm.

Is it a fad? I don’t know. This book seems to have caught on but there are lots of other similar books out there. There is the whole ‘clean eating’ way of eating. And the Whole 30. They have been around for a while. But are more aimed towards weight loss. This just seems to be more promoted I suppose due to the author’s background. Tim Spector has written some similar books I think. And I think Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall wrote one a few years ago - Eat Better Forever. He also did a tv programme about nutrition wastelands in certain areas around the country where people were dependent on local shops who basically only sold cheap processed foods and it was difficult to get fresh healthy ingredients.

For me I’m definitely interested in eating healthier. And yet I have a definite tendency to buy convenience foods. So I’m definitely interested in knowing exactly what is in them and what they are doing to me and what swaps I can make to minimise the unhealthy stuff. I want to eat food not chemical formulations.

I have read a few articles in the Times recently about this book and noted a few recommendations for things - for bread he recommends Bertinett seeded sourdough which I had been buying anyway from Waitrose or Gail’s Bakery white sourdough. And an article yesterday by someone who had tried the way of eating for a week with her family recommended a pesto swap - Deliciously Ella vegan pesto apparently is ok.

I don’t agree that people have been eating sugar & fat for many years with no ill effects. My MIL for example, has always been a stickler for cooking from scratch and has only recently moved to ready meals for convenience now she is late 80s. She is very overweight and so is my FIL, and they have been for as long as I have known them (30plus years). It’s because they both love food with a high fat or high sugar content- home made puddings after every meal as an example.

They both have diabetes and multiple other health problems so high sugar & fat have not been good for them. Would have been ok in moderation, I’m sure.

Can I ask - does the book differentiate and discuss the different components of UPF and which components in particular have what impact. While intuitively I find the argument compelling, all the articles I've read just talk about UPF in a generic way - I think to be convinced I'd want to see research on what specific ingredients lead to weight gain / other negative factors.

yeah I love my raspberries topped with natural yoghurt and chopped Hazlenuts!

Was sorry to note that one of my fave simple snacks - olive tapenade on sourdough toast - the tapenade has rapeseed and sunflower oil in it. Instead of olive oil. I mean, just why, just for cheapness sake? Maybe I shall try and make my own!

Yes that’s exactly what it does, so you can get more “label literate” and know for example why something like Maltodextrin or Soy lecithin has been added, what that ingredient is and how it’s produced. Many of these ingredients are either there to be a cheaper version of something whole (replacing real eggs with emulsifiers in ice cream for example) or to give food an unnatural shelf life. He also explores each UPF additive and ingredients studied effects on the body, so you can say, “I know this ingredient caused excessive bleeding for the guts of rats, so I will cut that out completely, but I’m happy to have certain stablilosers now and again”.

it’s really about knowing wtf we’re all eating, arming yourself with that. Because a lot of this is marketed as health food or healthy kids snacks - enough to make you beyond furious!

I have cut out all UPF and it has made a huge difference to my health. My weight has dropped off despite not restricting calories, I have an big increase in energy and feel so much younger.

I think UPF has addictive qualities and I not longer crave it. I tried some recently as a 'treat' and found it to taste nasty. I think my taste buds have adjusted and whole food and fruit and veg now tastes 100% nicer now UPF is not in my diet.

I have found it easy to do, bread is the hardest but I have swapped supermarket bread for bread made with 3 ingredients from a local bakery.

why is olive oil better than rapeseed oil / sunflower oil?

There are lots of good reasons to cut emulsifiers from the diet
https://theconversation.com/food-additives-and-chronic-disease-risk-what-role-do-emulsifiers-play-38492

Also in processed food where the food matrix is broken down calorie uptake will be higher causing weight gain.
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/325194

Olive oil has higher levels of polyphenols which are antioxidants. When cooking though it loses some of these which makes the choice between that and rapeseed less important. Use extra virgin olive oil for dressings.

I would avoid sunflower oil as it has a poor ratio of omega 6 to omega 3.

'Load of rubbish that worked fine for 3.5 million years', you mean?

@TellKingTutIWantMyMummy

humans have been eating fat and sugar for many years with no ill effects

How many years? What proportion of their diet? What sort of fat? What sort of sugar?

Do you think we're healthier since the dawn of UPFs? Why? When do you think they became prevalent?

What on earth are you basing your opinion on?

I think it’s because rape seed oil, like sunflower oil is made from seeds. It is very difficult to get oil out of seeds. So usually the only way to do this is through a very strong (industrial) heat process. So i think that makes it ultra processed. That’s my understanding anyway. Of course one shouldn’t get too worried about everything and and I’m not saying that rapeseed oil is bad for you. Perhaps there is more writing about it in this book! It more annoyed me that shops say hummus made with olive oil, and it’s actually made mainly with rapeseed oil.

I’ve been pleased to note while reading this book, that since I started keto, I have inadvertently given up UPF!

my kids…. Are a different story.

Sorry if I caused confusion on this, I’m just a fan of olive oil rather than making any particular medical claims here!

I am sorry I haven’t actually read the book properly yet. Is cane sugar regarded ultra processed? Or maybe just processed? I know you are supposed to look at ingredients and ask yourself if you could make it from basics in your house. But I think refined sugar is still to be avoided generally in favour of more natural sugars?

I'm going to take a look. Sounds similar to the Harcombe Diet which is about stopping processed foods but also avoids mixing fats and carbs in the same meal. It was hugely effective for me iirc.

I really don't see avoiding UPF the majority of the time as a 'fad' or 'unrealistic'.

It's not that many generations ago that people we cooking all meals from basic ingredients so I don't understand why people are so eye-rolly about it.

Due to a long list of food allergies meaning I can't eat most ready-meal type UPF anyway, I prepare our main meal from scratch pretty much all of the time (only exception is fish fingers once every 3 weeks ish). I don't have a lot of time on my hands. I'm a lone parent to a young child, I work 30+ hours per week and manage to find the time to cook (although other things like keeping on top of house work probably suffer a bit for it). It's not a 'fad diet' to chuck a bit of fish or meat in the oven and steam some veg to go with it. I have a very sweet tooth so make a cake/biscuits once or twice a week too.

My downfall on the UPF front is breakfast cereal. I just enjoy eating it so much and it is quick and convenient in the mornings when we tend to be running late. I like the crunch and can't really see how I could recreate it from scratch.