r/ultraprocessedfood

Hi all,

I just started to read more about UPF - of course I was aware of that, but I am doing a lot of sport and recently lost the weight I gained last year. But I eat a lot of UPF, for instance I eat in the office and I doubt that the cheap sandwich or pasta is UPF free. At the moment I am living alone and sometimes I am tired and just eat a pizza or whatever. I want to reduce that but I am struggling with that. I am traveling a lot for work and yesterday I went to a bakery and got a bread + eggs, that was a try to cut off the bad travel food already. Not sure if it would already help (or be enough) if I reduce the pizza and other junk food at home and just do that 1-2x per week. So my main question is: Do I need to aim for zero UPF to have my body becoming more healthy? I read a lof of the 80/20 rule, but some parts of a meal can be easily processed and I also do not want to lose quality of live - if I go out with friends I don't want to think about getting this food as well or not. How do you deal with that?

I'm on a low residue diet currently for health reasons and low energy for cooking (let alone shopping!)

Do you have any fave go-to vegan or vegetarian low to no UPF finds, ideally higher protein?

Thanks 🙏

Forgot to add, available in the UK !

Hi!

I have a craving for some non-mozzarella cheese to add to my usual at lunch,

I’ve heard raw cheese is good, or organic and unpasteurised, so wondering if any Australian’s have any recommendations?
I saw Feta seems popular to add with scrambled egg, but is this not very “healthy” nutritious cheese?
I’m trying to avoid UPF and eat whole foods!
I quite like my mum’s Comte cheese

Thanks:)

Welcome to this week's 'What's for dinner?' thread!

Whether you're just starting to cut back on UPFs or have been at it for a while, this is a space to...

• Share what you're having for dinner
• Swap ideas, recipes, and tips
• Show off pictures of your culinary skills (or something r/shittyfoodporn-worthy)

So...what's on your plate this week?

Please feel free to post in here if you're not sure if a product you're eating is UPF free or not.

Ultra-Processed Food (UPF) is pretty hard to define, which is one of the reasons it's so hard to research. The general consensus is that UPF is food that you couldn't recreate in your kitchen, so as a rule of thumb if you're look at a list of ingredients and don't know what one or more of them are then it's probably UPF*. Typically, industrially produced UPF contain additives such as artificial flavours, emulsifiers, colouring and sweeteners (which are often cheaper and less likely to go off than natural ingredients), as well as preservatives to increase their shelf life.

In the past we have had a lot of questions in this sub about protein powder, so if you search for the specific protein powder (pea, whey etc) that you're unsure about then you might be able to find a quick answer.

Please remember to say which country you're in as this is an international group so remember food labels, ingredients and packaging can be different throughout the world.

Also remember not to let perfect be the enemy of good. Being 100% UPF free is incredibly hard in the western world.

*Just a note, but some countries have laws in place about some foods having to contain additional vitamins and minerals for public health reasons, for example flour in the UK must contain: calcium, iron, thiamine (Vitamin B1) and niacin (Vitamin B3). Wholemeal flour is exempt as the wheat bran and wheat germ from the grain included in the final flour are natural sources of vitamins and minerals. Where products contain these, they would not be classed as UPF.

If your post in this thread remains unanswered, feel free to repost. 'Is this UPF?' posts outside of this thread will be removed under Rule 7.

My default is EVOO but sometimes a recipe calls for something more neutral-tasting.

As I understand it, refined olive oil is a compromise because it’s more processed (but at least it’s not a seed oil), whereas cold pressed rapeseed oil is less processed but is obviously… a seed oil.

(I live in a country where rapeseed oil is made locally, unlike olive oil, so that’s one unrelated benefit in terms of carbon footprint)

Any thoughts / opinions / evidence on which is the better option in terms of processing would be gratefully received!

Hi,

I like eating a quick pre-workout snack at 6:30am ish, 15mins before my gym session (usually weights, occasionally a run), & have my 'proper' brekkie when home at like 8:40ish

Currently i normally eat some japanese sweet potato w/ low fat greek yogurt - is this OK? i see many people eat muesli bars or rice cakes just before for 'quick' energy and saying to avoid complex things like potato, but i'm treating to eat whole foods (& want abs!), so looking for any advice! Thanks:)

I started cutting out UPFs a month ago and I don’t have desserts too often anyways but I do love them and don’t want to feel like I’m depriving myself of “fun foods” by eating healthy

Do any of you have any dessert recommendations or desserts that tend to be your go-to?

Currently I just have:

fresh fruit
frozen fruit
porridge/oatmeal with organic honey/fruits
yoghurt with honey/fruit

xD so I clearly don’t have any ideas I want to have a flavoured protein shake but 🥲 I’m guessing that’s off the menu and plant milks seem to be fortified so I’m guessing I also have to cut that out eventually

Anyways I’m from the UK if you have any grocery product recommendations but I’m open to hearing about what you guys have in other countries too!

I'm 5ft1 and currently trying to lose weight on a 1300-1400 calorie diet. I do weight lifing, but i'm not consistent. I am more consistent with getting 10,000 to 15,000 steps a day. My diet so far consists of 1 pepsi max, 2 -3 (no added sugar) protein bars, 1 packet of crisps, then an actual meal in the evening which may still include UPF (for example Heck chicken sausages or M&S chicken slices or Gourmet lentil packets, which also includes UPF ingredients), but I will also include whole foods like cottage cheese, lentil soup, vegtables, eggs etc. (FYI, I only use the 1 cal oil spray occasionally, no other condiments, and no hidden calories).

I know the number of protein bars and snacks and UPF are not good for overall health, but I do like the taste, I like the convenience of calorie counting, I like not having to prep. But I am now trying to reduce my reliance on UPF.

My question is, on a diet with the same number of calories, with mostly whole foods, will I likely see faster weight loss?

I used to be able to lose weight quickly. But I am now in my 40s and find that it takes longer. I know age will have an impact but I wondered if my reliance on UPF is also slowing me down.

Edit: UPF: Ultra processed Foods

Welcome to this week's 'What's for dinner?' thread!

Whether you're just starting to cut back on UPFs or have been at it for a while, this is a space to...

• Share what you're having for dinner
• Swap ideas, recipes, and tips
• Show off pictures of your culinary skills (or something r/shittyfoodporn-worthy)

So...what's on your plate this week?

ever since cutting out upf, (been maybe 3 weeks or more I haven't kept track) ive been having crazy food noise. its like when i see it my brain tells me "eat it" and even when I'm in my room i think about what i could eat downstairs. my entire family eats this stuff so its hard to avoid. i have to shop for my own vegetables.

but even when I've just eaten a meal it's still on my mind or the thing in my mind is something i know i don't like. but I can't stop thinking about it. Im not undereating or severely restricting myself from anything. hell i even ate more just to see if it would go away but it didn't. It's like I'm always hungry while being full at the same time? have you experienced this? what can i do?

it usually spikes at night and i basically have to power through 5 hours until i get too tired to think.

Is it worth the effort completely eliminating ultra processed foods from your diet as opposed to 80% or 90% ultra processed foods free? Does the extra effort make a big difference in the end? What’s the difference between someone who eats strictly whole foods only and someone who is similar but not all the way? Does it even make a positive difference decides the psychology superiority complex it can give, which is nice.

I ate very very clean last week. I’ve been dealing with physical anxiety. Like hyper aware of sensations. I believe it’s rooted from me knowing I’ve been eating very bad for years and scared of the effects.
Well, I’ve been eating really clean and ate some UPF for two days. Quite a bit.
Next day anxiety out of the roof. Never felt guilt eating so mentally I was fine but the body sensations were there.

Has anyone dealt with something like this?
Anxiety after eating this type of food?