Do I Have To Completely Avoid Ultra-Processed Food?
Ah, ultra-processed foods (UPFs)– they've earned quite the bad rap in the health world and a lot of debate about them is going on. Are they really as villainous as they're made out to be?
🚫 Why this myth is unhelpful:
A lot of the food we eat is processed in some way and there are four categories that explain the different types of processing when it comes to food:
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods: chopped fruit, milk, fish, eggs, nuts and seeds.
Processed ingredients: this includes the ingredients that are added to other foods rather than by themselves such as salt, sugar and oil.
Processed foods: these are a combination of foods from group 1 and 2, which are altered in a way that home cooks could of themselves: jam, pickles, tinned fruit and vegetables, homemade breads and cheese.
Ultra-Processed Foods (UPF): They typically have 5 or more ingredients and include many additives and ingredients such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners and artificial colours and flavours to support a long shelf life. This includes crisps, cookies, sausages, ham, breakfast cereals and bread.
While we should be conscious about how much UPFs we are consuming to take care of our health, demonising them is the issue here. It can lead to an all-or-nothing mentality which leads to unnecessary restricting, binging and feelings of guilt. Ultimately impacting our relationship with food.
Its important to remember that not all UPFs are equal and some may even provide convenience when life is busy lifing. Also, let’s be real, not everyone has the budget to buy from artisan bakeries and cook every meal from scratch.
🌟 What you could do instead:
Understand that a lot of our everyday foods are classified as UPFs: Such as shop-bought bread, fruit-flavoured yogurts, plant-based meat and cheese alternatives and the things that are so quick and easy for us to whip up for a meal on a busy day.
Instead of focusing on Restricting UPFs: Work on reducing your ultra-processed foods in a balanced way by making realistic swaps. No swapping chocolate for a piece of fruit in my world!
If you want to reduce your UPFs in a balanced way and want some advice on how. DM me the word “UPF” on instagram and I will send you the UPF swap resource I use with my clients - FOR FREE
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