Learning to walk before I run

South_coast

Staffordia said:

I remember hearing that over 45% of food eaten in the UK is UPF, as opposed to just 14% in France. 

This image has been shared by The Escape Artist before. Makes me feel slightly sick 🤢

greent

South_coast said:

Staffordia said:

I remember hearing that over 45% of food eaten in the UK is UPF, as opposed to just 14% in France. 

This image has been shared by The Escape Artist before. Makes me feel slightly sick 🤢

Oof! I've not seen that before - that's quite alarming! 😱😱

Staffordia

South_coast said:

Staffordia said:

I remember hearing that over 45% of food eaten in the UK is UPF, as opposed to just 14% in France. 

This image has been shared by The Escape Artist before. Makes me feel slightly sick 🤢

Even worse than I thought! 

Suffolk_lass

Most of our tinned food contains the edible version of gypsum to stabilise it... I think you probably have to look at not just additives, but what they are, chemically, and what function they perform in the particular product. Most of our meals are cooked from raw ingredients and if there are any UPFs they are minimal. I have not quantified those in (say) dried herbs (checked, just the herbs), vinegar - interesting...

Rice vinegar contains Sodium metabisulphite (Na₂S₂O₅) which is a white powder used as a powerful preservative, antioxidant, and disinfectant in food (E223).

Key Functions:

* Antimicrobial: Stops bacteria, yeasts, and moulds from growing.

* Antioxidant: Prevents oxidation, preserving colour and flavour (anti-browning).

* Steriliser/Disinfectant: Cleans equipment, especially in home-brewing.

Common Uses:

* Food & Drink: Wine, beer, cider, dried fruits, processed foods, soft drinks.

* Home-brewing: Sterilising equipment and stabilising brews.

* Water Treatment: Removes free chlorine in tap water for brewing.

* Pharmaceuticals: Used as an antioxidant.

 

When dissolved in water, it forms sulphurous acid (H₂SO₃), which releases sulphur dioxide (SO₂). The SO₂ is the active agent that preserves by preventing microbial growth and inhibiting enzymatic browning. 

 

Sulphites: Releases sulphur dioxide, a concern for people with asthma or sulphite sensitivities, potentially causing respiratory issues or allergic reactions.

I use 2 campden tablets when I make cordial, to stop the fermentation and stabilise it so it lasts longer. 

Having just had a (another) think, I am happy to tolerate the amount of this we consume (not just in fermented products). And I take the view that taking things like this in moderation is the key. Placing cucumber strips in 30ml of rice vinegar with a teaspoon of honey and a little salt for 10 minutes then serving with prawns is unlikely to cause much harm. Eating it in industrial quantities in ready made products with long shelf life - not so good for me.

themadvix

Agreed SuffolkLass - there’s certainly very little UPF in our regular diet as most is home cooked from ‘real’ ingredients. And where some things have small amounts of them in for preservative purposes, the quantity is so small it’s probably not an issue worth worrying about. That’s after a full audit and elimination process though - we switched to St0kes mayo as it has fewer and fewer UPF ingredients - we don’t eat it enough to make our own without it going off (/life is too short). Made a few similar switches/eliminated items from regular consumption (eg organic baked beans - M&S not bad taste wise, minimal processing, but max 2 tins bought/month). You can only do what you can do.

I buy yeast from buyeholefoodsonline but don’t like the fact it comes in a plastic pouch - prefer the little tins in that respect! There’s always a trade off.

QueenJess

@themadvix I do the same.  Everything cooked from scratch and I don't worry too much about having some little stuff in there, although if there is an alternative, I will pick that.  Interestingly I walked through M&S last week (it's a warmer route from the train station back to the car) and they were heavily advertising various food things with only X ingredients in them (not that I'm convinced mind given that it included some quite processed things, but at least it got rid of some of the worst chemicals etc) and I saw some report on WR that said they had noticed a big shift in customer purchases away from UPFs and towards basic ingredients.  So the will of customers is out there and some change is happening.

But yes, lots of undiagnosed digestion type issues are likely to be in part due to UPFs.  We just don't know quite enough about it all yet.  My mum is starting to suspect this is part of her problem and at some point she's going to have to address it as she's going to run out of things she can eat soon.  It seems really common when chatting to people that there are UPF type items (e.g. emulsifiers or other specific ingredients) that they have worked out upsets their system.

edinburgher

Glad to see we're all down the UPF rabbit hole I'm too near the start of my journey to comment, but loved Michael Pollan's "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants". Can't say I practice what that preaches, but it would seem to be inarguable. 

I took the girls to the cinema as we managed to rustle up some £1 tickets, followed by some lovely UPF from McDonald's I have stopped taking Mounjaro and my appetite is definitely increasing. It appears, however, that positive lifestyle changes are sticking for now. Old me would have had a large multi-burger meal, new me has a Happy Meal  

• £24.07 to Extension
• £6.91 withdrawn from Prolific, £1.22 to Tax, rest to personal spends
• £5 earned on Y Live last night - £1 to go!
• 96p to EF

It has been a spendy couple of days. We booked a sunshine holiday for next Christmas which cost £,£££. We are all very much looking forward to it but new me prefers saving to spending While not budgeted for per se, holiday was fully covered by savings surplus, opened an American Express Nectar Card for the 20,000 Nectar points and will pay this off in full + close during February (DD set up for full amount). 

I'm going for a long walk (podcasts + steps) and will try and create a wee "target vs actual" chart for Extension savings later this afternoon. 

Happy weekend folks

South_coast

edinburgher said:

Old me would have had a large multi-burger meal, new me has a Happy Meal

What toy did you get???

edinburgher

@South_coast - a Collab between Hello Kitty and the Turtles 😂

greent

edinburgher said:

 While not budgeted for per se, holiday was fully covered by savings surplus, opened an American Express Nectar Card for the 20,000 Nectar points and will pay this off in full + close during February (DD set up for full amount)

We have a Nectar Amex - taken out for our last Disney holiday, I think - we had planned on closing it but earn between £15 - £30 of ,Nectar points each month, meaning it more than pays for itself