Thursday 8 June 2023

Ultra Processed Food

It's almost a year ago when I wrote a post about Ultra Processed Food after hearing Dr Chris Van Tulleken talking about UPF's on the radio. The post is HERE. Despite what some people thought when I spent a month using Value Range Brands - it  made me cook more from scratch and cut out some things that were made from strange ingredients. 
I felt well and although I didn't realise at the time  I actually seemed to lose a bit of weight - only a few pounds so it might just have been coincidence. 
These were my main meals...........Almost all home made from the basic ingredients
  1. Home made Fish Curry and rice
  2. Pasta Salad with Feta
  3. Quiche (Home made)
  4. Quiche
  5. Quiche
  6. Quiche
  7. Pasta salad with Feta
  8. Corned Beef Hash
  9. Tuna, Pasta and Broccoli Bake
  10. Roast Chicken Thigh Joint etc
  11. Ready made Beef Pasty
  12. Chicken Stir Fry
  13. Omelette
  14. Fish Curry and Rice
  15. Minced Pork Patties 
  16. Chicken stir fry with Fajita seasoning over Pasta
  17. Tuna, Pasta and Broccoli Bake
  18. Pizza using home made base and home made topping
  19. Potato, onion, bacon and tomato layer bake
  20. Roast Chicken thigh joint etc
  21. Fish Pie with mash topping
  22. Toad in the Hole
  23. Fish Curry and Rice
  24. Sausage Rolls (Home Made)
  25. Leek and Bacon Pilaff
  26. Baked Potatoes
  27. Leek Fritters
  28. Tuna, Pasta and Broccoli Bake
  29. Roast Chicken Thigh and Roast Vegetables
  30. Pizza
  31. Vegetable and Cheese Pasty
and I had mainly toast (home made bread) and marmalade for breakfast with Rice Crispies or grapefruit some days.
My other meal was a sandwich/crumpets and fruit. Snacks were mainly home made scones or home made biscuits and more fresh or canned fruit.

After the month finished I went back to my normal  eating which is mainly from scratch but also things like frothy coffee sachets instead of plain coffee, Pringles or Wotsits instead of a sandwich, bought biscuits instead of homemade, vegetarian frozen things like mini onion bhajis with a home made curry, frozen vegetable spring rolls instead of chicken with my home made stir fry and cheap bought pizzas topped with home made topping so although I wasn't eating more than I did in the 31 days, I was eating slightly different and the weight went back quickly to my normal steady amount of over-weight -ness!

Then I heard Dr Chris talking again on the same subject about how ill he had become and how much weight he gained eating 80% UPFs. I wasn't eating anywhere near 80% of my food as UPFs but why had the weight gone up again after my month of eating differently and why did I sometimes feel bloated.  So I went out and bought his book and started reading it - although it's very wordy. An early chapter is about one of the first UPFs when coal was once turned into a spreadable margarine.



There was more about UPFs on the Today programme on Monday and Wednesday mornings and I heard that in this country we eat more UPFs than any other country in Europe - up to 60% of our diet. And then the BBC Panorama programme on Monday was all about the same subject.
It's certainly stirring up  interest in many places and worrying a lot of eminent scientists.

This is the link to the Panorama programme  

if that doesn't work the link is below

 https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001mp67/panorama-ultraprocessed-food-a-recipe-for-ill-health

So is this just a new health fad or is it something we really should be worried about. 

(Thanks to everyone for comments yesterday - apologies for not replying)

Back Tomorrow
Sue


36 comments:

  1. I've recently had to make quite a radical change of diet which has involved cutting out most UPFs. It's involved quite a lot of other changes as well. I've had much better "gut health" and feel better. I too have lost a little weight.

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    1. It's worrying to know that perhaps one strange ingredient in something could stop a person losing weight

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  2. My husband decided some time ago that he will no longer eat what I cook and now wants everything shop bought. This means his diet is full of upf's. I won't eat the food he likes as I prefer my food to be real food, not an assortment of weird ingredients.

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    1. I'm going to try and list some of the weird things in foods to see what they actually are

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  3. O/D' ing on BBC channels is bad for your health.

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  4. I need to stop being lazy and make more from scratch. Most days I cook with fresh ingredients but I admit to using shop bought sauces such as pesto and sweet chilli etc.

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    1. It's the vegetarian frozen things that I must give up.

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  5. Back in the seventies I tried a couple of ready meals but they were horrid, so I just continued cooking from scratch. I never gave it much thought until a few years ago I was in a youth hostel kitchen cooking dinner when I young man said he had never seen someone cooking from scratch in a YH. His friends had all gone out for dinner, but he had been very ill and had been put on a diet of no processed food. His health had improved so much that in a few months he will be able to have an odd night off, but giving up a night out was no problem as a few months before he could not have gone out as he was to I’ll. The new craze in manufactured vegan food frightens me as it is a chemical process using things I do not recognise.

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    1. I'm not a fan of ready meals either but the vegetarian frozen things I've been using are possible not good

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  6. About 10 years ago a book came out called The Daniel Diet, (because Daniel in the Bible, and his friends, ate a very simple diet, ignoring the rich foods and wine consumed in the King's Palace, and became much healthier) and of course there was the Cranks wholefood/Veggie diet in the 70s. So avoiding processedfoods, and cooking from scratch isn't a new idea. But I think the amount of ultra processed food in the nation's diet has significantly increased of late. Part of the problem is that often UPF can be produced quickly and cheaply, so the poorest in society end upon the worst diets

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    1. Some very strange things have crept into everyday use recently - even in something as simple as shop yoghurt

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    2. I have a soya allergy and find soya pops up in all sorts of foods. The strangest was in yoghurts provided at a quite posh hotel.

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  7. I'm with the good Doc on this too. I've not knowingly eaten margarine for over 40 yrs, and as a coeliac I eat very few shop products anyway. I don't really understand why people don't realise that we are what we eat, and, if we eat rubbish food, it works its way into every cell in our bodies.

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    Replies
    1. It's frightening to find we are eating something similar to plastic

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  8. I recently heard something about ultra processed food on the car radio. The expert, can't remember his name, said it's ok to eat it now and again. By that I think he means once in a while, occasionally, not very often. I mostly bypass it in the shops.

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    1. I avoid most ready made things too - but perhaps even a few odd things are stopping me losing weight

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  9. I remember watching the programme Dr Chris vT made. The thing I remember most was how addictive he said all the 'beige' food was, and how sluggish he felt. The weight gain is certainly a worry. I don't eat ready meals anymore although the occasional pizza does pass my lips!

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    Replies
    1. Even the most basic of things have some very strange ingredients now - very worrying

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  10. I made a point of seeing that Panorama, and just wished it was twice as long and had a bit more detail. I usually watch whatever programmes the van Tulkeken twins are fronting.

    A big part of the problem is that the chemical companies, oops, sorry, the "food manufacturers" have millions to spend on lobbying & advertising and it is not in THEIR interests for us to eat differently.

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    1. The food and chemical industries are also involved in writing "scientific" papers too - worrying

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  11. It's not a new health fad at all, it's something that some of the professionals such as the van Tulleken twins, Zoe Harcombe and others keep trying to put out on the radar but sadly they get drowned out by the real fad diets and the massive amount of money spent on advertising etc by the fake food industry. When you realise that it's the big companies like Coca Cola funding health research you just know the results will always be skewed in their favour.

    I bought that book recently, I should sit and read it as I am not really into the one I am reading at the moment and I only saw the tail end of the Panorama programme. It's funny how programmes like that don't get the advertising they should and slip by without many people knowing anything about them isn't it!! I did see the bit at the end that noted the twin girls had widely differing results in only two weeks, so no wonder you felt the benefit of cooking from scratch for a whole month.

    Once you stop eating UPF shopping becomes a much more enjoyable experience, and quicker too as you can miss out half the aisles in the supermarkets.

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    1. The difference in just two weeks for the twins was astonishing.
      I already don't buy many ready made or strange food things but thinking even more should be cut out.

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  12. I'm not entirely sure what is ultra processed. But I only buy ingredients, cook everything from scratch. I like eating well and don't mind making it. So I'm guessing I'm avoiding the ultra processed, if they're largely prepared foods. I like to know what I'm getting! If I make it myself, I know!

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    1. Ultra processed is anything that has ingredients that you wouldn't normally use in a kitchen

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  13. For me, a lot of the reason I sometimes eat 'rubbish' is a combination of quick fix, craving for sugar or salt and also just the fact I can - we mostly know we should be eating fresh fruit and veg and cutting back on meat protein don't we but as a child growing up in the 60s when there wasn't always the choice - we ate a lot of plain, healthier food - mum , who remembered rationing saw it as a duty to feed us well....... haven't explained this very well but think you'll get the gist!
    Alison in Wales x

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    1. I'm thinking that eating some meat is probably better than vegetarian ready meals!
      My Mum didn't like cooking much she was a Very Plain Cook. I grew up with Meat and two veg - put me off cold meat forever

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  14. I do agree with Angela that food is expensive and those on a very low budget will be tempted to purchase UP food as some of these are so cheap. I can buy a pizza for about £3 which will feed four young children. Also, with both parents working such food can be cooked very quickly. I live on my own, but am batch cooking today to use the whole of my oven in one go, Lasagne, Lentil and Cheese Loaf, Liver, Bacon and Onion, Chicken Thighs in Creamy Tarragon Sauce, Rice Pudding. Yesterday I cooked a Moroccan style beef dish in the slow cooker. Four portions of each meal which will go in the freezer. But, it has taken me quite a time to prepare these dishes, not forgetting all the washing up. If I was working with a family I couldn't do this. I am very fortunate, my mother was a good cook, I had cookery lessons at school and I enjoy cooking. Portia.

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    1. So little cookery done in schools now and many live in areas with no real food shops - only takeaways. I dread to think how much worse things will get in the future.

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  15. I didn't catch the Panorama prog but, as a person who doesn't like meat, I do buy Quorn products and am afraid the programme might put me off them too! What on earth could I eat then? I would like to lose a bit of weight too so need to eat more salad, fruit and veg instead, I think. It would be far easier to change my diet if I only had myself to feed but G likes ready meals, despite my protestations :0/ and he hates salads (I LOVE them!). I would love to feel healthier and have more energy. Must try harder.....

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  16. The Panorama programme concerning. We think we do quite well, but those on low incomes and short of time would struggle.

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  17. Like you, I try to cook most of our food from scratch but stopped baking after the first flush of enthusiasm waned during lockdown. I am going to look more careful again at what we are eating eg tonight part of our chicken salad was couscous that I had bought instead if doing my own. I’ll have a look at the link, thanks. Catriona

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  18. I'm sure I"d be much healthier if I cut out all the processed stuff. I went through a stage when I only bought ingredients "my grandmother" would have recognised, but I've got slack. Time to start again with the basics I am telling myself.

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  19. I need to get away from a few of those over processed foods as well. I guess it is time to start doing so and see if I can lose some of the Covid weight.

    God bless.

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  20. We caught up on Panorama tonight on iplayer and it was a real eye opener. Our grandchildren eat a lot of chicken nuggets, mcdonald's takeaways etc and drink fizzy drinks far too often in my opinion. It's far too easy for families to go down that route due to all eating at different times and with lack of time to cook from scratch.
    I am determined that G and I will eat better this summer with all our home grown produce starting to appear 🤔
    Thanks for posting the link Sue.

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  21. How interesting!
    I find it easier to cook from scratch in the winter, just because in summer I don't want the oven on for long. I think, though, we eat better in the summer as we eat a lot more salads and fresh vegetables whereas in the winter it is heavier, more substantial meals especially if the men are working outside!

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