In 2024, I embarked on a journey to completely eliminate ultra-processed food from my diet. The results were nothing short of astounding. Not only did I shed a significant amount of weight, but I also discovered a whole new world of foods that became staples in my daily meals. This dietary shift, unlike many fad diets promising rapid weight loss, has been surprisingly sustainable. This is largely due to the fact that it doesn’t involve starving myself, reducing portion sizes, or completely cutting out an entire food group like carbohydrates. In fact, my diet now consists of a high proportion of healthy fats, derived from foods like nuts, avocados, and Greek yoghurt.
By swapping out nutrient-deficient, ultra-processed foods for nutrient-rich whole foods, I find myself feeling full between meals and no longer reaching for unhealthy snacks. The transformation has been remarkable. I’ve lost over a stone, enrolled in a nutrition programme, and constantly discover new foods, recipes, and flavour combinations. Despite being in my mid-forties, physical activity has never felt easier.
Dr Chris Van Tulleken, an infectious diseases doctor and bestselling author, offers this helpful definition of ultra-processed food (UPF): “If it’s wrapped in plastic and it contains at least one ingredient that you don’t typically find in a domestic kitchen, then it’s ultra-processed food.” This means the most common offenders are arguably: supermarket bread, breakfast cereals and granola, flavoured yoghurt, chocolate, biscuits and crisps, energy bars, fizzy drinks, and microwave ready meals.
You don’t have to cut ultra-processed foods from your diet completely. While I strive for zero UPF intake, sensible advice suggests keeping the proportion of UPF you eat below 20% of your overall diet. Here are the key changes I made:
*
Breakfast:
Swapped granola and flavoured yoghurt for nuts and Greek yoghurt.*
Lunch:
Eliminated supermarket bread and instead opted for homemade guacamole or hummus with a salad, or an omelette filled with onions and peppers.*
Dinner:
Cooked more legumes (beans, chickpeas, and lentils) as a main or side part of a meal, incorporating them into dishes like bean chilli or pasta with a nutritious homemade sauce.*
Snacks:
Ditched chocolate bars and crisps, relying on healthy alternatives like nuts, fruit, or homemade treats.*
Overall:
Increased my intake of olive oil, vegetables, and homemade versions of common dishes like fish fingers, curries, and sauces.Ultra-processed foods undergo significant alteration, contain numerous chemical additives, and are produced using both industrial processes and industrial ingredients. They are designed to extend shelf life, increase profits for manufacturers, and entice us to consume more due to their palatability. They typically have high levels of added salt, sugar, and fat.
While we may not yet fully comprehend the extent of the damage caused by ultra-processed foods, scientists have drawn links between UPFs and a variety of health issues, including heart disease, diabetes, obesity, gastrointestinal diseases, and depression. A comprehensive review of observational studies published in 2024 reported that consuming UPFs was associated with 32 health problems. While some scientists highlight the limitations of observational studies, noting that correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation, many scientists would say the cause and effect relationship between UPFs and poor health is clear.
It’s important to note that switching to a whole-food diet doesn’t have to be expensive. Tinned beans, many vegetables, and frozen fruits and vegetables are all affordable options. Plant-based foods are also rich in protein and fibre, which can keep you feeling full and reduce the need to eat frequently.
Here’s a glimpse into my typical daily meals in 2024:
*
Breakfast:
A mix of nuts served with Greek yoghurt and fruit.*
Lunch:
A salad rich in lentils, vegetables, and hummus, or homemade guacamole or hummus with a salad or an omelette filled with onions and peppers.*
Dinner:
Fish or chicken accompanied by legumes or brown rice, a bean chilli, or pasta served with a nutritious homemade sauce.To further inspire you, I’ve included some of my favourite healthy recipes:
*
Healthy Homemade Granola:
A delicious, sweet granola made with a variety of nuts, cinnamon, tahini, and maple syrup.*
Vegan Chilli:
This dish is packed with various types of beans.*
Fish with Cannellini Beans and Courgettes:
I prepare a simplified version of this recipe.*
Pasta Bolognese with a Twist:
This recipe swaps out the minced beef for cauliflower, mushrooms, and walnuts, resulting in a rich and comforting sauce that’s packed with nutrients.Embarking on my healthier eating journey, giving up chocolate was a challenge. But satisfying those cocoa cravings without resorting to UPF chocolate is manageable with these uncomplicated alternatives:
*
Dark Chocolate:
Choose dark chocolate with minimal processing, ideally with a cocoa percentage of 75% or higher. This ensures a product that is predominantly plant-based, low in added sugars, and retains the natural goodness found in fruits and vegetables.*
Homemade Treats:
Experiment with crafting healthy, homemade treats. A “healthy Nutella” conjured up from hazelnuts, cocoa powder, maple syrup, and milk could become your new indulgence.Feeding picky young eaters can be a monumental task, as many parents know. However, even small changes towards healthier alternatives can make a difference. Consider preparing homemade fish fingers using fresh fish and breadcrumbs from non-UPF bread, or swapping flavoured kids’ yoghurt for Greek yoghurt with honey. Celebrate the small victories when you can.
The transformation in my body since eliminating UPFs has been astonishing. It’s been quite the revelation. Recently, I’ve eased up on my sugar restrictions, as I believe it’s less harmful than UPFs. Although my sugar intake is still significantly lower than before, this is largely due to the fact that added sugar and UPFs often come together, such as in chocolate bars or cereals. I recently baked some healthy cookies that contained sugar but no UPFs. Here are a few more suggestions:
*
Cut out pre-made sauces and make them from scratch:
You can make mayonnaise with four ingredients, and the same goes for pesto and hummus, which are delicious and go great with carrots, celery, or fresh sourdough bread.*
Stock up on tins of beans and chickpeas:
These are versatile, affordable, and packed with protein and fibre.*
Embrace nuts:
Nuts are filling, healthy, and taste delicious raw – they taste even nicer cooked.*
Read the book Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken:
It provides a deeper understanding of the impact of ultra-processed foods.*
Listen to the Zoe podcast:
It makes food and nutrition so much easier to understand.*
Eat the rainbow:
This just means mixing and matching plant foods with different colours. Food variety is important, and different colours mean different compounds and good chemicals which help your health.*
Don’t make meat the centrepiece of every meal:
I have not given up meat, but there has been a gradual shift away from big meaty centrepieces towards a greater variety of filling and satisfying vegetable dishes.*
Fat is fine:
Nuts, avocado, olive oil, and yoghurt are all full of healthy fats. It’s the unhealthy fats and sugar in UPFs and meat that you need to try to limit.*
If you can’t imagine life without bread, think about ditching mass-produced supermarket bread and grab some freshly-made sourdough bread from a local bakery:
It will likely have far fewer chemicals in it.*
Don’t be paranoid about what you eat:
The overarching, simple message from science and nutrition experts is to focus on eating more whole foods and plants, while eating fewer foods which contain a lot of industrial chemical ingredients you’ve never heard of and would never have in your kitchen.The significant weight loss has resulted in most of my clothes, particularly my trousers, becoming too big. This necessitates shopping and spending money, two activities I’m not particularly fond of.
