A man almost dropped a stone just by cutting out one type of food – a decision he made after being “redeemed” by what he saw in the mirror.
Steffan Rhys, editor of WalesOnline sister title ECHO, said he changed his eating habits earlier this year and made “simple changes”. He said they’re actually so simple that he continues to maintain the new lifestyle well past his original monthly goal.
Steffan stopped eating ultra-processed foods and started feeling better almost immediately.
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He wrote: “The way we shop for food, our busy lives, plus considerations of cost and convenience, all strongly influence the nature of the foods sold and the foods we eat. So are the profit margins of the multinational companies that make them. .
“The supermarket shelves are absolutely packed with ultra-processed foods, so it’s hard to avoid them. But it’s actually not that hard at all, and it doesn’t involve eating anything other than fresh fruit and vegetables.”
He adds that some of the most common ultra-processed foods (or UPF) are:
- supermarket packaged bread
- breakfast cereal and granola
- flavored yogurt
- chocolate, biscuits and crisps
- energy and granola bars
- sparkling drinks
- microwave ready meals
Steffan said the big shocker for him was the granola and flavored yogurt. He added: “Before this year, I ate granola for breakfast every day, assuming it was healthy.
“Because I ate it with fruit and, you guessed it, flavored yogurt, I thought I was starting the day healthy. In reality, I was having a massive sugar and ultra-processed breakfast.”
It’s important to remember, Steffan continues, that not all variants of all of the above are ultra-processed. You can find ready-made food or a certain brand of granola that is not ultra-processed.
It is also important to note that people were processing food for thousands of years. Bread, butter, cheese and (healthier) yogurt are processed foods. But ultra processed food is a step further.
Professor Tim Spector, professor of genetic epidemiology at King’s College London, says: “Plain yogurt, nothing added, nothing changed. processed because you are mixing the basic ingredient, milk, with microbes. You create something, i.e processing. That’s when you take it to the next level… [adding] different starches, emulsifiers, concentrates, artificial sweeteners and flavors… the same yogurt becomes ultra-processed.
“It’s that extra step that’s the main problem. It’s when foods that have been stripped of all their goodness are added with chemicals that you won’t find in your kitchen … to make it look like food again.”
Dr Chris Van Tulleken, infectious disease doctor at University College London, BBC science presenter and author of the bestseller Ultra Processed People, gave this simple one-sentence definition of an ultra-processed food on the Zoe podcast: “If it’s wrapped in plastic and contains at least one ingredient that is commonly found in you won’t find home cooking, then it’s ultra-processed food.”
Dr Van Tulleken also did an experiment where he ate 80% UPF for a month. At the end of the experiment, he said he “felt ten years older,” gained a stone on the scales, and said he “found [himself] they crave food much more”.
Steffan says the UPF is tricky. He considered himself fairly healthy, exercising most days, eating “a fair amount of fruit and vegetables” and avoiding ready meals.
But he would also consume things like sandwiches made with supermarket bread or BBQ sauce or mayo without thinking.
After removing UPF from his diet, Steffan felt much better and lost 10 pounds. He said: “I can run a 10K a bit more comfortably, although that may also be due to the gradual process of exercising a bit more. I also find I’m less hungry.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m starving at noon. But it’s better than starving at 10:00… I still have two young kids and a stressful job, so I don’t sleep well and still feel quite tired on a regular basis.”
“I have no expertise in science or nutrition, and it was too short a period to determine any kind of long-term benefits, but the Zoe website says, “If you switch from unhealthy to healthy eating, whatever your age. You’ll likely see improvements in cholesterol, blood sugar, inflammation and weight (Prof Spector lists two foods here to reduce inflammation and improve joint pain)’”.
Here are Steffan’s top tips for eating less UPF:
- cut out pre-made sauces and make them from scratch (you can make mayo with four ingredients and the same goes for pesto and hummus, which are delicious and go great with carrots, celery or fresh sourdough bread)
- beans are tastier than anyone gives them credit for – stock up on cans and cook them with herbs (black beans and fresh cilantro and lime are a great side dish)
-
nuts are great: filling, healthy and delicious raw, but even better cooked (dry fry them until golden and add them to chopped chicken or stir-fried/steamed vegetables)
- listen to Zoe’s podcast – it makes food and nutrition so much easier to understand
- eggs go with most things and can be used to make so many different dishes
-
eating the rainbow: this means just mixing and matching plant foods with different colors. Food variety is important and different colors mean different compounds and good chemicals that help your health
- you don’t have to make the meat the centerpiece of the meal. I haven’t given up meat, I wouldn’t be allowed to in my house anyway, but there has been a gradual shift away from big meaty tops to a greater variety of hearty and satisfying vegetable dishes.
- fat is okay: nuts, avocado, olive oil, yogurt are full of healthy fats. It’s the unhealthy fats and sugar in UPF and meat that you need to try to cut back on
- you don’t have to cut anything out – even slight tweaks will have corresponding benefits (I know there will definitely be a Friday night when I just want to pop Tony’s chocolate).
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