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Did you watch Panorama last night?

(222 Posts)
PamelaJ1 Tue 06-Jun-23 08:23:04

It didn’t tell me much that I didn’t already know but Tim Spectre is one of my favourite experts. I’m always surprised when people aren’t aware of the effects of a bad diet. Perhaps there is too much information out there and confusion sets in?

It was scary, though, to see how quickly the body starts to suffer from UPF diet.
I do eat UPF but only very occasionally, I am the person who is holding you up in the supermarket whilst I read the list of ingredients!
I do see that it can be very difficult for some families to afford healthy food but there appears to be many who can but don’t.

Grammaretto Tue 06-Jun-23 08:26:19

What does UPF stand for?

Georgesgran Tue 06-Jun-23 08:28:51

Ultra-Processed Food.
Googled it to see a long list.

tanith Tue 06-Jun-23 08:30:02

Ultra processed food doesn’t figure high in my list of foods either, occasional sausages or bacon not sure if granary bread counts as UPF. I didn’t see the program but I’ll watch it on catchup today.

tanith Tue 06-Jun-23 08:32:17

Just googled it to and there are several there I hadn’t thought of oh dear!

Grammaretto Tue 06-Jun-23 08:39:14

Thanks.
OP didn't say.
I have been vegetarian with very occasional fish for over 30 years so have little UPF. I will try to catch the programme out of interest.
I worry about the DGC as they don't seem to have enough fresh vegetables.

argymargy Tue 06-Jun-23 08:45:02

UPF is having a big moment. I listened to the Van Tulleken brothers podcast about it (A Thorough Examination) and it's very interesting. A simple way to avoid it is to avoid buying things with ingredients listed that you would never see, use or cook with.

PamelaJ1 Tue 06-Jun-23 09:00:44

Grammaretto
I didn’t say on purpose. I thought it would be interesting to see if many people didn’t know.
The damage that these foods do has been known about for quite a while , as has our obesity problem. People all over the country are striving to lose weight, mostly unsuccessfully or at least unsustainably. Why doesn’t everyone know, it could make their lives easier.

foxie48 Tue 06-Jun-23 09:10:51

I watched it also listened to Start the Week on radio 4 yesterday which was about allergies, the immune system and gut biome. Sadly I think so many of these programmes are preaching to the converted. when I shop I'm usually horrified by what I see in people's trolleys. I'm on the Zoe programme so am very aware of how processed foods affect our gut biome. I generally cook from scratch but would use bottled dressings and sauces for convenience and having a variety to hand but I now make my own. They are easy to make, cheaper and much better for me. When I was a child, we were all slim, I didn't know anyone with a food allergy and we ate food which had had minimal processing, this is not the case now though.

Calipso Tue 06-Jun-23 09:24:09

I have long suspected that this issue is at the root of the alarming rate of ill health in the UK. Until someone takes the bull by the horns and tackles the food industry, there will NEVER be enough money the NHS to try to cope no matter which political party is in power. Unfortunately the genie has long been out of the bottle and its hard to see how the trend can be reversed.

Grammaretto Tue 06-Jun-23 09:29:45

Thanks Pamela I guessed it stood for something like that but un pasteurised food has the same initials.

Down our way a dairy making cheese from raw milk was closed down when a child died and several people became ill after supposedly eating the cheese. Locals remembered a previous incident when ecoli infected ham sandwiches at a nearby funeral caused the deaths of 6 and a scare, verging on a witch-hunt, ensued.
The cheese maker was eventually exonerated.

Shinamae Tue 06-Jun-23 09:36:23

I have to admit my diet is not brilliant as I don’t eat a lot of fruit and veg, but I don’t eat much meat either.
My downfall, I think is baguette and St Agur blue cheese.
Beans on toast, jacket potato and salad with cheese and a hard-boiled egg are my usual staples. I have quite a limited palette
I very rarely buy cakes, biscuits, or sweets, but I work (care home) I will sometimes eat home-made cakes.
I do enjoy panorama and always forget when it’s on so I will set it to record and watch the recent episode on catch up

Mollygo Tue 06-Jun-23 09:43:35

I listened to that programme on radio 4 as well, and Panorama is recorded. My interest was caught when UPF was mentioned in relation to Elmlea elsewhere.

Redhead56 Tue 06-Jun-23 09:49:20

I did watch it and it was food for thought (pardon the pun) definitely on food and the food industry. I cook from scratch as my mum did and dad grew a lot of fruit and veg as I do weather permitting. I make my own dressing to suit my taste they are easy enough and keep in the fridge about a week.

I eat out or take out once a week only. I don’t eat a lot of fried foods like cooked breakfast it’s no good for arteries. I make about three pans of soup for our lunches full of veg each week. I eat homemade cake or dessert only at the weekend if I can be bothered.

I am careful not to eat many fats or sugars I don’t each much bread it gives me indigestion but I make spelt bread bagels and Nordic bread I’m ok with that. I don’t have any interest in processed meals in shops I know lots of people do that’s their choice I prefer homemade.

nanna8 Tue 06-Jun-23 09:56:32

I thought it was Un processed food at first ! I basically eat what I like but I detest ready made meals ( the ones here are mostly not nice , not like your ones ). I avoid soft drinks, too sweet, but I am partial to the odd glass of wine in the evenings. I really like some of the things that have very short seasons, unfortunately. Fresh figs, mangoes, raspberries - could happily eat them everyday if I could.

Wyllow3 Tue 06-Jun-23 09:56:43

The shocks for me were bread and cheese. It's my daily lunch, apart from that hardly anything on the list.

All cheeses?
Which breads are OK? I eat a lot of bread instead of bothering with other carbs like potatoes, but could cook and freeze up rice for evening instead of bread.

Wyllow3 Tue 06-Jun-23 09:58:46

Must check ingredients in canned fruits....

Wyllow3 Tue 06-Jun-23 10:04:43

Wyllow3

Must check ingredients in canned fruits....

Which I have been using as raw fruits not brilliant for my digestive tract.

Lathyrus Tue 06-Jun-23 10:05:52

I did a bit of research on bread recently and the conclusion was that Wholemeal is best as it contains the whole grain. Not Wholegrain.

That’s because in the UK “wholemeal” has a legal definition.

But that doesn’t eliminate the over processing of giant bread firms using hot air to get a quick rise etc.

We’re lucky to have two traditional bakers in my town where you can actually watch them pounding away at the dough!

Lathyrus Tue 06-Jun-23 10:06:48

I’d be very interested in information on cheeses, if anyone’s look into it in detail.

Aveline Tue 06-Jun-23 10:08:55

Bread and cheese??! Oh no. I only like granary bread with lots of seeds etc. Surely that's OK?

Lathyrus Tue 06-Jun-23 10:12:01

Apparently, because there’s no legal definition of terms like “granary” it could be white processed flour, coloured to make it look brown with some (also processed) seeds from other plants thrown in.

I’m not saying your bread is, just that it can be with no comeback.

Grammaretto Tue 06-Jun-23 10:12:31

My DMiL has recently died aged 98 . She loved cream, an alcoholic drink every evening, tablet was her favourite sweet
She walked everyday, as long as she could, and kept slim.
Her brain was always active and her interest in people and politics never waned. She was reciting poetry the day before she died
The sad thing was that she outlived all her friends and one of her DC (my DH)

NotSpaghetti Tue 06-Jun-23 10:13:05

Grammaretto - lots of vegetarians (and vegans) have pretty shocking diets.

Obviously you don't - but just saying.

PamelaJ1 Tue 06-Jun-23 10:14:09

aveline some bread has the nasties in but lots don’t.
There is processed food and ultra processed read the ingredient list.
Lathyrus Most cheese is processed but, again, not ultra processed.
It’s all on line and the information is easily found.