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.

Greek yoghurt is far nicer than greek style yoghurt, thicker and creamier. It may have the same ingrediants but it has lower quantities of the more expensive parts of the milk and tends instead to be bulked out with milk powder. I would recommended everyone at least tries greek yoghurt to judge if it is worth the extra cost.

Anyone watched the recent panorama programme on upf? I have not watched it but thought it might be of interest to some on here.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001mp67/panorama-ultraprocessed-food-a-recipe-for-ill-health?page=1

I usually get Aldi or Lidl Greek style yogurt. It tastes exactly the same as proper Greek yogurt but is half the price.

It doesn't have anything in it except milk, the only difference is that it has slightly less protein, which I expect is a deal breaker on MN, but it doesn't bother me as I'm well aware that pretty much no-one in the UK is short of protein except people suffering from malnutrition due to an extremely inadequate diet for whatever reason.

I have not tried the aldi version but the lidl one is very sloppy and has a completely different texture to proper Greek yoghurt. Although this is generally more expensive it is far more satiating you you will find you need to eat a lot less of it. The difference in texture is the proper stuff because it has been strained multiple times and the whey removed. The whey is high is sugar and low in protein so its removal makes the yoghurt a lot better for you.

Thanks for answering @Bubbles254

The Tim's Dairy 'greek style' Kefir is absolutely wonderful and not thin and lacking texture like other greek style yoghurt and nor does it have additional ingredients/thickeners etc so I wonder if it's ok? Does the fact it's Kefir also mean it has more cultures in it (this one has 12 different ones).

If you enjoy it I am sure it is fine, there are no nasties in it. I do question the need to add probiotics to products, the zoe research seems to suggest it is mainly a marketing ploy and you are better off eating a wide range of food including fermented food to get probiotics into your diet. All (non heat treated) yoghurt will have cultures anyway as part of the production process.

Kefir isn’t something that has had probiotics added. It’s basically just fermented yoghurt. I used to live in Hungary and we used Kefir a lot.

I've been buying Yeo valley extra thick organic yogurt which I think may be made the same way as traditional - it has an explanation on the pack of how it's strained to make it thicker .

It is true that some low fat Greek style have thickeners added to them - not sure if that is just the flavoured ones.

One of my exes was Spanish, they eat jamon serrano for breakfast with toast (baguette from the bakery and they try not to eat ultra processed ham (like polish or british ham, I'm polish)
His family made a big salad to share in every meal and then they eat protein fish or meat but mostly fish with the salad. They also eat lentils,chickpeas as main dish , soup made of bones and meat.. rice (paella and other rice dishes) , vegetables roasted aubergines with bell peppers, brocolli, peas with jamon, ...and sometimes pasta. As snacks they eat olives,fruit,big tomatoes with salt and olive oil (never saw them before going to Spain) and of course sometimes they eat chocolate etc but is not so often as in UK.

All his family were slim, not super skinny but smaller than UK people. I don't think is just the food is also the lifestyle, at least in his home city most of the people go walking everywhere and just use the car at the weekends if they go outside the city.

Is it fine to say that sodium nitrite & potassium nitrate are NOT UPF. Because they are in the jamón serrano sold by El Corte Inglés. I imagine that those are typical ingredients in Spanish jamón serrano.

I think awareness is also growing in Mediterranean counties of the harms from nitrites in cured meats
https://news.italianfood.net/2021/07/29/nitrite-and-nitrite-free-are-unstoppable-in-cured-meats-consumption/

Interesting, from that article:

"Historical nitrite-and-nitrate-free products are the long seasoned raw hams such as Prosciutto di Parma PDOO and Prosciutto di San Daniele PDOO..."

I have just started reading this. I recently switched from milk/yogurts to almond milk and Alpro yogurts. Quiet shocked to find out these are UPF's as I thought I was being healthier. It's a minefield!

@LouLou198 you can get almond milk in tescos that isn't upf, just almonds and water. Oat milk too.

I’ve started to listening to it on audiobook. Interesting about the studies in Brazil, they have been able to clearly see the rise of obesity with the introduction of cheap ultra processed food and the decline in eating the traditional diet of rice and beans.

The problem in the US and the UK is that the food companies have so much power and money. They can pay for their own ‘studies’. Also we spend less money on food then other countries where as in countries like France and Spain they buy good quality, fresh ingredients. Its still important to
sit down and eat together and take the time to cook together.

if you read the book the author clearly says obesity has always been around- there’s fat people described in ancient times, depicted in paintings etc. They are not claiming that people have only been fat since eating UPF food but there is more and more evidence that is is contributing to the obesity crisis and numerous health problems.

I try to cook our meals from scratch but I know my children eat way too much UPF- cereals, snacks etc, which I am hoping to cut down on. It’s so hard when it’s everywhere.

@CountryStore thank you, I will look out for those.

This is clean eating rebranded. It works, you feel great, PROVIDED you don't freak out if you do eat something processed. BUT I agree it's bloody time consuming, nay impossible at times!

we did the Greek yogurt and flour flatbreads today with soup and they we so so popular with kids

Was tempted to buy the vegan plant-based steaks at Waitrose yesterday for a treat but not sure about these ingredients? Plant Structure 70 % (Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Wheat Protein Isolate), Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavours, Beetroot Powder, Thickener (Kappa Carrageenan), Emulsifier (Methylcellulose), Ferrous Gluconate (Iron), Vitamin B12.

There is literally not one unprocessed ingredient in that list @shumway . I can't tell whether you're being genuine or having a laugh!

@shumway

ultra-processed foods tend to be low in protein and fibre, and high in salt sugar and fat - can you post how much is in them?

ultra-processed vegetarian or vegan foods, faux-meat burgers, almost have an aura, a halo of health around them. They’re still ultra-processed foods - just have really good PR.

Typical values per 100g Energy 175kcal, Fat 7,2g of which saturates 0,8g, Carbohydrate 1,8g, Fibre 5,9g of which sugars 0,9g, Protein 22,8g, Salt 0,8g Iron 4,2mg Vitamin B12 1,7µg

The rule of thumb is that if it's not an ingredient you'd find in your home kitchen, it's likely to be UPF. I've been eating non-UPF food only (mainly) for several weeks and feel so much better with much more energy 🙂

Was tempted to buy the vegan plant-based steaks at Waitrose yesterday for a treat but not sure about these ingredients? Plant Structure 70 % (Water, Soy Protein Concentrate, Wheat Protein Isolate), Sunflower Oil, Natural Flavours, Beetroot Powder, Thickener (Kappa Carrageenan), Emulsifier (Methylcellulose), Ferrous Gluconate (Iron), Vitamin B12.

Wow - that's the very epitome of ultra-processed food. I wouldn't be touching that with an extra-long bargepole. Quite apart from the health aspect, it sounds extremely unappetising!

Just starting this book and realising how much UPF we are consuming as a family having thought we were doing pretty well is scary. Continuing to eat them and read on.

At least breakfast is OK with overnight oats and saves on electricity instead of porridge. Just Aldi frozen berries, oats and milk. Lots of recipes online for variations too. I like the idea of adding chia for protein.

I see Tesco and Sainsburys are selling ‘Better Naked’ nitrite free bacon which claims to have 99% less chemicals than conventional bacon. Anyone tried it? Any good?