Much of the food we eat is ultra-processed - and being linked to heart attacks ... trends now
As a nutritionist I've always prided myself on eating a balanced diet. But when health warnings about ultra-processed foods (UPFs) started to reach the mainstream, I was shocked to learn even I was unwittingly consuming more UPFs than I thought - many under the guise of being 'healthy'.
I started to scrutinise the labels in my shopping basket and I was horrified. The chocolate protein shake I sipped as I left the gym, the 'natural' cereal bars I relied on to get me through the day, not to mention my guilty pleasure - super-tangy tortilla chips - all contained far more ultra-processed ingredients than was good for me.
The problem is that UPFs are everywhere. It's not just the junk food hot dogs, pizzas and burgers - UPF tentacles have spread into seemingly healthy staples, too.
Studies show most Brits eat a diet made up of 50 per cent UPFs, and for some children, processed foods form 80 per cent of their diet. It's truly shocking.
Some UPFs are obvious - food or drink that comes in packaging with a long list of ingredients including preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, artificial colours and flavours. It is likely to be cheap, to have a conveniently long shelf life, and to most palates, it will taste absolutely delicious.
But increasingly many UPFs are cunningly disguised. Your tin of 'low sugar, low salt' baked beans? They're still ultra-processed.
Rob Hobson (pictured) embarked on a mission to eliminate all the ultra-processed foods from his diet by preparing his own food from scratch at home
Rob's quest to replicate our most popular ultra-processed foods with fresh, nutritious ingredients and zero additives has been an exhausting labour of love
Sugar-free fizzy drinks, even 'naturally' flavoured sparkling water? All ultra-processed.
Your 'healthy' carton of oat milk? More than likely ultra-processed - as is plant-based fake chicken, bacon or sausage, low-fat yoghurts and most cereals.
Even sliced bread (whether it's white, seeded, wholegrain or high-fibre) is classified as a UPF because of the additives thrown in to give it a longer shelf life.
In fact, we in the UK rank among some of the biggest consumers of UPFs in the world, only just behind the burger-munching Americans (UPFs form an estimated 54 per cent of our diet compared to 56 per cent in the U.S.).
Our reliance on these foods appears to be growing even though scientists are warning that diets containing high proportions of UPFs could be harmful to health.
Recent studies found that the higher the proportion of UPFs in your diet, the greater your risk of ill-health and disease.
One Australian study analysed the diets of middle-aged women and found those who ate the most UPFs were 39 per cent more likely to develop high blood pressure, and have a significantly higher risk of heart attack and stroke.
Another study in 2022 showed a 10 per cent increase in UPF consumption could raise the risk of dementia by 10 per cent.
UPFs are clearly having a far bigger impact on our health than we'd previously thought.
It was against this mounting evidence that I set myself a challenge - to create homemade 'convenience' food which is quick and easy to make, but which won't damage your health.
If you're hungry between meals, it's far better to grab an apple or a handful of nuts than a snack laden with additives
Snacks are another great area to target. If you stop buying biscuits, cakes and protein bars you'll save money and improve your health - go for cashews instead
Rob makes a batch of bread and wraps every week, slicing the loaves before putting them in the freezer so that he can grab what he needs to make sandwiches filled with chicken, cheese (as long as it's not processed) or tuna
My quest to replicate our most popular ultra-processed foods with fresh, nutritious ingredients and zero additives has been an exhausting labour of love.
The recipes I developed, along with advice and tips I learned from my own home cooking experiment, form the basis of my new book, Unprocess Your Life, which is being serialised today, tomorrow and next week exclusively in the Mail.
Creating healthy meals on a tight budget is a skill I learnt as a 16-year-old when cooking nourishing food for myself and my younger brother after our mum died.
Every dish on my eating plan is not only super easy to follow, it's inexpensive, too.
And, having tested them out on my nieces, I know the recipes ALL pass the fussy eater test with flying colours.
In Weekend magazine, tucked inside today's Daily Mail, you'll find some of my favourite DIY recipes to get you started on your unprocessed journey with healthy breakfasts (home-made hash browns, a chocolate and banana protein shake, and a lip-smacking pecan and coconut granola - all additive free), great lunch inspiration (including a succulent and garlicky chicken Kyiv and oozing, protein-packed quesadillas) and my additive-free meat pie.
All foods exist on a scale from unprocessed to ultra-processed, depending on what’s been added and how they’ve been prepared. Here are some of the main foods to look out for in each category...
Unprocessed items include freshly squeezed orange juice
Unprocessed or minimally processed foods
These include fruits, vegetables, fresh dairy milk, fresh meat, poultry, eggs and fish. Dried legumes, grains, herbs, spices and dried fruit, nuts and pasta, couscous and polenta made with flour and water also count.
Minimally processed foods are foods from nature obtained by processes such as pressing, refining or extracting and include vegetable oils, butter (sourced from milk), sugar, honey and salt.
Processed foods
Have been prepared by adding salt or sugar or other ingredients to give them a longer shelf life – including canned and bottled vegetables; salted or sugared nuts; salted, cured or smoked meats and fish; pickled vegetables; freshly made but unpackaged bread and cheese; wine, cider and beer.
Ultra-processed foods (UPFs)
Wholegrain crackers with a minimal ingredient list also count as an unprocessed/minimally processed food
Made by complex industrial processes using numerous additives to make them hyperpalatable.
They cover a vast array of ready-to-eat products including carbonated soft drinks, sweet or savoury snacks, chocolate, ice-cream and confectionery, mass-produced breads, margarines and other spreads, biscuits and cakes, breakfast cereals, energy drinks, milk drinks, ‘fruit’ drinks and fruit yoghurts, instant sauces, pizza, reconstituted meat dishes such as chicken nuggets, sausages or burgers, powdered ‘instant’ soups, desserts or noodles, replacement meals for slimming and spirits including gin, vodka, whisky and rum.
Legumes such as chickpeas, beans and lentils can be a great way to get your five-a-day
The way foods are prepared can turn a wholesome raw ingredient into a UPF, as this chart shows
