I’ve gone non UPF, I just can’t believe the difference it’s made in a week

[LaurieFairyCake]

I feel like such an idiot. I can’t believe how well I feel, how much I’m ready for bed and how much better I sleep.

this shit is radical. I was eating 40% upf (a teenagers diet is 80% 😱) and I feel brand new.

i have zero pain in my joints, during the day loads of good energy

does anyone else do this ?

And she's been intermittent fasting for the past two years.....

There is a small amount of herb extract in heinz, but frankly that can stay on the basis my kids would revolt. A bit of ketchup once in a while, isn't going to kill anyone.

We are almost UPF free, but salad cream and ketchup made the cut for the kids, icing sugar for the odd cake, and a bit of chorizo has made it for me.

Yes. I eat close to zero UPF and also very low sugar. I feel fantastic - more energy, fewer migraines, more regular periods with no period pain etc.

I know how annoying it is when people evangelise but I have to admit I secretly judge people for eating shit (or giving their kids shit food) and then taking mountains of pharmaceuticals to deal with X Y or Z problems. I feel like screaming "just change your diet! It's so much easier and cheaper!"

How is icing sugar a UPF

obsessively on to some slightly random "rules"

I agree, OP clearly has an unhealthy relationship with food. Calling it Frankenstein food and wanting to be disgusted by it so she stops eating it. Also find it quite funny she’s taking advice from computers - AI, youtube etc instead of speaking directly to a nutritionist.

No, Mornflake is a long-established company selling oatmeal, oatbran, rolled oats and products made from oats. Been around as long as I can remember. I used to see them mostly in wholefood shops but they must have expanded as I get ours from Ocado. I wish we lived nearer an Aldi or Lidl.

I just buy coconut block and add water. It does have more 'bits' (er that'll be the coconut kids) but it's just coconut. I'm a bit tight but won't eat crap.

@ReignonyourparadeI buy coconut block too.
It works out cheaper than tins and is only coconut! My daughter went to the shop and could only get a tin and it was crap!

I eat low UPF but I'm at around 70/80% rather than 100% UPF free. Here's what I tend to eat in a day as people seem curious:

Greek yoghurt, frozen berries, and a mix of oats/linseed/chia seeds soaked in a jar overnight (I tend to prep 3 days at a time). I add honey if the berries are a bit tart.

Some kind of salad for lunch, with either chickpeas or tofu but sometimes meat or fish. Sometimes soup, or veg crudites with houmous or tuna mayo.

A veggie or meat curry for dinner. Also potentially: Jacket potato various fillings, or recently I'm very into making pho broth from scratch when I have the time and having that with all the various accompaniments.

Recently for a sweet treat I'm doing dates stuffed with a nut butter and a square of chocolate wedged into it.

I have a Panasonic bread maker and use it about 4 times a week (no upfs), make my own meusli and cook from scratch apart from tinned tomatoes. Still have an arthritic body and discomfort/pain. I have not found any commercial or independent bakers' bread as nice as my own. Bread ingredients take under 5 minutes to assemble, but the bread doesn't keep: Lovely first day, fine the next but 3rd day for toast only.

Ah, I got muddled, their name is Harvest Morn.

Cheeky arent they!

I wouldn't say jars of pasta sauce is cooking from scratch. I agree about the other things though. There seems to be huge confusion about what is and isn't UPF. 'Ultra Processed People' is a very helpful book.

Ive been wary of doing this as I dont know how much block to use to get the equivalent of the can. Also if I dont use a whole block how long does the block last?

I have little tubs in the freezer of spare coconut milk because some recipes are really annoying and dont use a whole can.

@soupyspoon half a block is a tin. I just wrap the other half up and keep it in the cupboard. Probably use it every two weeks or so, never seems to go bad

Ok I might do this as I am also tight!!

I might freeze the block then because I wont use it within 2 weeks.

Tinned tomatoes, are ingredients, I use Mutti and there is nothing in them except 99.8% tomatoes and then salt.

I just google how much coconut block for cream/milk (every bloody time 🤦‍♀️) but seems about right.

I leave the block in the fridge when opened so it keeps very well (sealed in a tub), but means I need to melt in boiling water. Much easier out of a warmer cupboard, but I’m happy with the hassle to avoid all the gums and shit.

And could I use the block as the fat content in recipes then, in place of butter perhaps?

A lot of people on this thread have posted what they eat now, but I'm really more interested in what people used to eat and drink, given that some have said they now feel much better for cutting out UPFs. Also, when people say they are now 'sugar-free', what was the sugar in? Tea, coffee, hot chocolate, fizzy drinks, squash, jars of pasta sauce, biscuits, cakes, ice cream, fruit yoghourt and so on, as well as confectionery? I'm overweight and not very fit, but I've never eaten all that much sugar except in fruit. I've also been in the habit of looking at labels for as long as it's been possible to do it, I think. Maybe I'd be in even worse nick if I hadn't!

I just slice lengthways and use the fat too.

Ok I think its the block for me from now on

Well obviously the ones made of gums and other shite are UPF but normal dried pasta you buy in any supermarket is not. The cheaper ones are just flour and water, you also get egg pasta which again is not usually UPF.

I eat 95% upf free most of the time. Some days it’s 100%, other days not.

Yesterday I had cheese and tomato on rye toast, some rye crackers with m&s expensive hummus with peppers, then a ‘budda bowl’ for tea - roast sweet pots, kidney beans, peppers, leaves, avocado, roast aubergine and pepper dip, pickled onions and a blob of Boursin.

snack was a delicious Ella cacao and hazelnut bar.

so some processed foods, but nothing outrageous.

thinking of stir fry for tea, or maybe risotto. Almost made some bread this morning (bread maker!)

I love the m&s choc posted earlier and will be really upset if they now sell out 😂

Personally, I need to lose weight and have been following slimming world. I didn't like it, but I had bought into the whole ethos of artificial sweeteners - mullerlight yoghurts, diet fizzy drinks and 0 calorie fruit squashes, sugar free coffee syrups, low fat yoghurts and so on.

Since I've got more resolute and decided that I really do want to cut artificial sweeteners out and eat mainly wholefoods, I've actually lost more weight, despite the fact that I'm eating more nut butter, nuts, seeds and dried fruits. I'm not blaming the artificial sweeteners for my lack of earlier weight loss, but I do think it's interesting that I'm doing well whilst eating higher fat foods and eating real sugars (I am mindful of how much sugar I consume and try to keep that low). So where I used to order a coffee shop iced coffee with sugar free syrup and light cream, I'll order it with plain whole milk and no cream or syrup. Instead of squash at home I buy small cartons of good quality fruit juice, and have a dash of that in a large glass of water if I want it to have a little flavour. Coconut water is good for flavouring water like that too. I have nice, just fruit, sugar and water cordials that I have with fizzy water occasionally, if I'm feeling really fancy. This summer I have experimented with chilled herbal teas - that's been a fun if mixed bag of success!

As I said in my earlier post, I'm only around 70/80% UPF free. I really fancied a can of fizzy lemon recently, so I've actually had two (zero sugar, UPF laden) cans in the last few days, and I don't feel remotely bad about it - for me, depriving myself of what I want means I only end up bingeing on it later. Given that I'm not sure I'm done with fancying it, posting this has reminded me that I must get some fizzy water, and maybe I'll attempt to make a simple syrup with lemon so I can recreate it non-UPF at home.

Obviously I'm not a sugar free person - but I do try to keep my consumption of the sugary things low.

Used to eat loads of quorn, pizza, Linda McCartney sausage, frozen chips etc. it’s taken a couple of years to fully get the hang of it tbh