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 ?

So far, I’ve only done cabbage/carrot and I’ve just started doing cukes but I’ve done three batches now and the best one was the first one. I used the same recipe three times, too…and it was loads of stuff. Think I’ll simplify the next batch. I’m still at the point where I’m wary of poisoning myself, lol. I put my sauerkraut in the fridge and left it there. It was filled to the top with brine but not there’s no brine in it…seems to have all be read sorted. Is it still okay to eat, do you think? There’s a saying that ‘below the brine is fine’… is it still fine when the brine does a runner?

I agree. Fantastic summary… I’m in the same boat as you.

If there’s no visible mould and the smell is fine then it should be fine. The sweeter vegetables have a tendency to become overpowered by yeast and you can immediately smell that, the smell should be clearly sour, not sweet, not like acetone, not malty.

Thank you… I’ve been to have a sniff and it doesn’t smell of anything really, so I have just had a mouthful. Tastes fine. Thanks for all the advice, much appreciated.

F

The lower sugar with be MUCH worse as it’s got sweeteners.

Tinned tomatoes are not upf.

its important not to get obsessive

most foods we eat are processed. It’s the one with long lists of ingredients to watxh out for

🤯

Totally agree.

Its added sugar OR things you don't keep in your kitchen ( like emulsifiers and E numbers).

We "process" foods when we make them into a wholesome stew or blitz them into soups etc. But we don't add e numbers.

Also, trans fats are an issue.

Is this the Anna Jones recipe from earlier in the thread, sorry I cant work out how to find that poster

My advice is dont buy low sugar versions of things unless it literally is just lower sugar and not replaced with sweetners.

I posted some of what I ate, but previously I ate similarly but upf versions.

So still yoghurt, granola and fruit for breakfast but it'd be flavoured upf yoghurt, and commercial upf granola.

Still cheese sandwiches for lunch but it'd be shop bought white bread and margarine instead of made in the breadmaker with block butter.

Etc.

I'd say my diet was OK before. I don't feel different. But I don't like certain food anymore, like cheap chocolate bars.

Yes, usually I don’t. Even Coca Cola, I would prefer to drink the normal version than diet. I would always go for sugar (and consume in moderation) than go for these fat free and sugar free things.

Honestly, I don’t think OP is quite correct in her definition of UPF. A lot of what she’s now eating is still UPF.

@LaurieFairyCake glad it's working for you. I'd love to know of any more non upf foods and recipes you have. I really want to make these changes but am finding it all overwhelming

Can you tell me a bit more about this please or let me know where I can read more? I only ask because I have a liver injury condition and doctors still haven’t found the cause. Thank you

Is it, just shop bought and prepared isn't always UFP?

Upf dinners we used to regularly buy included supermarket quiche (ate with salad), the fresh stuffed pasta in bags (I did make the sauce), frozen battered fish (ate with veg and potato wedges), ready to cook meat with sauce etc. We also regularly got a supermarket dessert. Breakfast and lunch were heavily upf bread based too and becuase I was hungry all day on this diet I used to also buy upf snacks (cereal bars, crisps etc).

www.theguardian.com/food/2023/sep/06/ultra-processed-foods-the-19-things-everyone-needs-to-know

Oh yes, that's helpful; the quiche especially I can envisage.

I'm probably "lucky" in that I'm a bit picky with meat, poultry or fish and tend not to like it in pre-prepared foods ( eg a shop-bought curry or pie often has gristly bits or can be slightly rubbery). I therefore tend to buy meat fresh, which I guess knocks quite a bit of the potential for upfs out of lots of our meals, and might explain why I was struggling to envisage consuming it every meal. But a shop-bought quiche I would eat!

Does anyone know of an artificial sweetener free chewing gum that is easily available and not wildly expensive please ?

Stick to sugar or honey.or just give it up! Nobody needs gum.

I had forgotten filled pasta is UPF ( if I knew it). We eat that at least once a week.

I agree. We are beekeepes and we eat the raw honeycomb and 'chew' on the leftover wax occasionally. I've never eaten chewing gum since I was a child and I wish it was banned as it is in Singapore.

There's a lot of talk re artiticial sweeteners on here. I hate the taste of them and it's now much harder to avoid them in fizzy drinks. I prefer to consume sugar in moderation. IMO the sugar tax has been a bad idea. Many soft drinks have had some of the sugar replaced by artificial sweeteners - pepsi, iron bru, fanta and san pelegrino. I don't mean the diet versions which contain only artificial sweeteners. Some European countries have real fanta but not here. The only proper soft drink left in the UK is coke. This has to be bad. Loads of people are now ingesting much higher levels of chemicals. Moreover, it's illogical that fruit juice isn't subject to the tax. Huge amounts of sugar, and being sucrose it's an even less healthy kind. I never touch fruit juice, preferring to eat fruit instead, eating around four portions daily together with two portions of veg. So I don't see what's wrong with having soft drinks, and feel resentful that there's now a choice of one. I'm not overweight, and even if some people manage to lose weight with sugar tax, it will be at a cost.