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 ?

Yes, with no kitchen it’s difficult. I used to have an allotment for growing.

not won Euromillions, spend £60 on food a week for me as my calories are so low

We actually add vitamins/minerals to flour in the UK @Clockface222 . I avoid pasta because of my capacity to eat my own sizeable body weight in the stuff , I have no off button when it comes to pasta !

What generation and upbringing are you? I'm curious.

CortieTat not healthy, just healthier if you’re going to eat them. I’m always going to eat fried potato but better fried potato than wotsits or those ‘baked crisps’ which are touted as healthier but are a UPF.

We have tried to eliminate as much upf as possible. It actually tastes pretty grim when you cut it out for long enough.

A few ideas we use.

With my children’s food we initially made two meals upf free. We did however buy a bread machine so we make homemade bread each day. We mix tuna with Greek yoghurt rather than mayo. Cheese salad sandwiches. Cucumber and butter sandwiches. 100% peanut butter. Cook an extra chicken and use for sandwiches - no magic Mumsnet chicken here.

Omelette is good for breakfast as is overnight oats or porridge or yoghurt with nuts and dried/fresh fruit.
pancakes with lemon - personally I no longer add sugar and they are still nice especially if you add blueberries or strawberries. The kids use honey.

It’s very easy to make home made wraps.

Aldi sell frozen burgers just meat and salt and pepper if you don’t want to make your own. Great with home made chips and veg.
Jacket potatoes with various toppings are popular.

We do use frozen veg for speed.
We do make soups.

Dinner is the easiest really.

I couldn’t live without bread. Our bread maker was a game changer..Not saying the flour is not upf (I haven’t looked). Use a mix of white, wholemeal and malted flour with added sunflower, pumpkin, sesame, poppy seed. Put it in to soak overnight and turn on on the fast bake first thing in the morning. Comes out mid morning and cooled enough to eat for lunch. This means I can control the amount of sugar and salt. The overnight soak means it’s not too dry and dense. Yumm and really not much work especially as my husband does it😋

I eat a non upf diet and have done for years.

Over the weekend I thought id treat myself to a Greggs chocolate éclair! I just fancied one. My belly ballooned up in minutes, making me look 6 months pregnant and giving me painful bloating and digestive issues. I'm sure it's because of all of the processed crap that the éclair contained.

So yes, I think it makes a big difference not eating it.

I actually agree with you. I had a friend who thought that some illnesses were brought on by not having the right mental attitude. Complete bs.

Watch for orthorexia please OP. Your zealous commitment to one weeks change of food, does seem a little extreme.
I mean. Good for you, lovely, well done. But, it is just food

Oats aren't good for you if they spike your blood sugar. I'm hungry an hour after eating them - even healthy jumbo oats.As is my slim DD. Whereas a protein filled breakfast fills me up for hours. It's the difference in metabolism between people.

I like Tim Spector & his advice is generally good. I don't like the increasing monetisation of everything he's doing.

I read his book and he described some artificial bulking fat like substance used in the food industry (can't remember what it was called.)
Anyway, he wrote that in tests 'dogs wouldn't eat it', well, I found that very hard to believe considering some of the things my dog has eaten, which include stair carpet, my favourite socks and a bucket. Well, that was it for me, he'd ruined his credibility.

Lol, no, have you seen teenagers after school near shops? It's all Doritos, doughnuts and sweets. McDonald's/ KFC/ Takeaway pizza eyc

Yes not quite so dramatic but I found cutting down upfs helps but I think this is because there is often a lot of hidden sugar and fat in upf, and when you shift away your whole foods include so much more variety of fruit and veg, beans pulses and seeds.

It is surprisingly easy to shift some things - eg snacking on apples or homemade trail mix. Eating natural yoghurt and adding own flavours.

I found home made soup one of the most helpful ways to shift - went back to my childhood for some good bases to soup such as barley or beans or lentils. Packed with flavour and easy to make!

But really hard to shift other habits so I’m not perfect

Definitly worth a try

Thank you needada, that’s kind. I work in camhs with a lot of yp with eating disorders so I will keep an eye out if it turns to obsession.

Frozen veg is fine - and sometimes cheaper (and fresher!) than fresh. I always have a supply of frozen peas, sweetcorn and broad beans.

,
Not to rain on your parade- I do think less UPF is good for you- but I am a bit suspicious of these types of thimgs and the shoehorning of turmeric into everything.

I am Indian so I have been eating turmeric since I was 6 months old, plus 30 plants a week naturally as part of my diet. We eat mostly veg, lentils, eggs and rice because we are vegetarian. I am healthy and I was very slim until I hit menopause, but now I have a belly at 53 .No aches or pains certainly. The UPF we eat is crisps, chocolate, bread and Bombay mix type snacks occasionally. We don't eat stuff out of a packet mostly as everything is cooked from scratch.Both kids are very very slim, almost skinny.

This entire way of eating is not new to many cultures, but I am not sure we are THAT much healthier. There are other genetic diseases in my family, like diabetes. So I am having to greatly cut down on rice and fried treats and up my protein.

Cereals, massive produced bread, ketchups etc have been around since the 40s/50s etc. so unless you're 80+ then your generation did indeed eat a lot of processed crap, especially in the 70s and 80s.

“Cooking from scratch” does not automatically mean meals are healthy and definitely doesn’t mean free from UPF.

OP - I get it, I’ve been trying to reduce UPFs in our diet but like you on work days I have to take food I’m going to eat all day, and I have to leave the house at 7:30am, so it’s not really practical for me to make a lot of stuff.

just as we were thinking of reducing UPFs, we were given a load of gift vouchers and spent them on a bread maker. 18 months later, I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve bought a loaf of bread for the kids (except for when away from home on holiday!). It really is less than 5 minutes to load up the machine in the evening, set it going and have fresh bread for sandwich making in the morning.

We try to do a roast over the weekends, and taken to buying a bigger joint /chicken than we need, so there’s left over cooked meat for sandwiches for the week.

A couple of days a week I have access to a microwave at lunchtime, so will try to cook extra at dinner for things I can reheat for those lunches. We’re coming into soup season, and I do try to make extra and freeze in portions, so some days I’ll take those to work and microwave with some homemade bread.

As others have said, most pasta is made with just wheat and water, so you can buy standard pasta. Prepared salads without a dressing are fine. You often can leave the dressing off, and perhaps buy some really good balsamic vinegar to add yourself (get good stuff that doesn’t have colourings /additives). If you want to be able to easily take it to work with you, buy those travel bottles for decanting toiletries, wash one out and you’ve got a good sealable and reusable bottle to decant your own dressings in.

I recognise this is an expensive way to feed myself. Being able to afford to go low-UPF is a privilege of having the funds for the more expensive options and/or the time to cook from scratch.

And we go low UPF not UPF-free, I just don’t have the time or headspace.

Well done OP.
I have also done this in recent months and was recently tested.
My GP has been genuinely stunned with my numbers.
All are now absolutely perfect.
I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease and stopped the strong meds and try an anti inflammatory.

Read up on keffir, kimchi, sauerkraut "night shade vegs.
Tomatoes and peppers are out for me

Eating walnuts/blueberries together are a great snack.
Almonds are an excellent nut.
Kiwi's are great for your gut and improve it every time you eat them.
Pineapples have Bromlin in them that helps inflammation.
Green tea every day is also recommended.

No pork or red meat for me.
Live yoghurts.

My diet was always good but now I only eat a little sourdough bread once twice a week.
I miss wine/beer, will try to stick to gin and tequila when i need a drink.

I really think it is worth educating yourself about seeing if it helps.

I am 90% pain free and it has made these changes easy.

Being in agory focused mh mind instantly on what I needed to do.

Yes there are lots of reasons why people are not able to cook from scratch, but it really is worth doing, or learning how to do, if lack of knowing what to do is the issue. The health of the Nation should be a real concern for the Government, who have allowed the most awful ready made 'food' to fill the supermarket shelves.

When I looked into this sourdough came out as the best/ lowest so ive been buying that. Any excuse for abit of SD!

When I looked into this sourdough came out as the best/ lowest so ive been buying that. Any excuse for abit of SD!

@LaurieFairyCake I worried about orthorexia a bit when I first got into this but for me it really isn't. I think it depends on a bit on reasoning doesn't it.

I heard saw him interviewed informally on a "reducing UPFs" Facebook group and when questioned about his personal approach and orthorexia he said that to him it's not restricting food as it isn't food. Whilst also not advocating that for everyone. I think he's quite good at not advising people individually what they "should" do but rather raising awareness of the impact of UPFs are on us as a population. He's also aware of cost of food, time it takes to plan and cook etc. I really do respect him and it seems he's well respected in his field. (Well this wasn't his field but it's become his campaign)

For me it's been amazing. I will now still have the odd UPF thing but truly don't really want it anymore. Overtime we've really overhauled our diet. I'd love to say I make sourdough bread or buy it from an independent bakery but we don't. (time. Money.) I don't eat it much though and do buy one of the UPF free versions. I don't do Tesco meal deal sandwhiches/pret/etc anymore.

If I was at a friends house I'd absolutely eat what they're offering (as would CVT he explains however as he's known for this I expect dinner parties are interesting!).

I'm so behind you Laurie. This has been hugely impactful for me on health and just as a middle aged taking care of my body type thing!

'cooking from scratch' is such a ridiculous phrase , I cooked a massive plate of chips from scratch last night, peeled the potatoes, cut them up and deep fried them, I also made a big pot of dhal for lunches, hand ground the spices and everything, both are cooking from scratch !