Adding three foods in particular to my diet has made a huge difference — and they’re not low-calorie (Image: Steffan Rhys)
I decided to cut out certain foods in 2024 — namely, any that were ultra-processed or high in added sugar.
Research has shown that eating ultra-processed food (UPF) can increase your risk of dying, with four foods in particular shown to have the highest risk. But UPF makes up a huge percentage of many people’s diet in countries like the UK and USA. So having decided to cut them out of mine, the question became “What do I replace them with?”
This is not a simple question to answer for people who are used to a very similar looking shopping list week after week which relies on pre-packaged supermarket foods.
To show you the extent of change needed to do this, here are just some examples of UPFs that I, like many of us, was eating regularly:
- supermarket packaged bread
- breakfast cereals and granola
- flavoured yoghurt
- chocolate, biscuits and crisps
- energy and granola bars
- shop-bought pizzas and ready meals
- supermarket sausages
It’s a lot isn’t it? But it took very little time to replace all these foods comfortably and (for the most part) inexpensively. Ten months later, my diet is permanently changed, I’ve lost at least a stone in weight (going from 11.5 stone to 10 stone) and I don’t really crave any of the UPFs I used to eat a lot of.
Frozen pre-made foods can be among those high in ultra-processed ingredients (Image: Getty)
But how do you cut such “staple” foods from a diet while still being able to eat simple and cheap meals. Well, it was easy and relied on these three foods:
- legumes (that’s chickpeas, lentils and beans)
- nuts
- Greek yoghurt
Of course, I’ve added more foods too — in fact, finding out about new foods and new food combinations has been one of the main joys of this entire experience — but these three foods are ones I now eat every day. They are perfect as a main meal or snack.
Other more obvious things involved increasing my fruit and vegetable intake, and varying the types I bought (eg I now buy a lot more avocados, aubergines and courgettes than I used to).
There are lots of different kinds of beans and they are hugely versatile (Image: Getty)
Typical breakfast, lunch and dinner based on legumes, nuts and Greek yoghurt
Breakfast: nuts (usually one or two from cashews, almonds, walnuts or Brazil nuts) with Greek yoghurt and fruit. Seeds (like chia seeds, sesame seeds or flaxseeds are also great additions)
Lunch: In the office, a lentil-based salad from a nearby stall. At home, homemade hummus (made from chickpeas or butter beans — see recipe here) or an omelette with onions and peppers.
Dinner: Fish with legumes, courgettes and chilli.
Greek yoghurt with nuts and fruit is a fantastically healthy and nutritious breakfast (Image: Getty)
It doesn’t have to be expensive
One of the best things about this is cost. It’s common to assume that eating healthier is more expensive. But a tin of beans (cannellini, black, kidney etc) at Asda costs 49p. A cabbage costs 50p and results in a lot of food once you’ve chopped it all up (try frying it with hazelnuts or cashews). A bag of carrots costs 35p. A pineapple costs 90p, an avocado costs 95p. You can also use frozen fruit and veg without compromising on the nutrient value and quality of their fresh equivalent. It’s cheaper and lasts longer.
Nuts are more expensive, there’s no getting around that. But plants are also high in protein and fibre so they fill you up for longer so you don’t need to eat so much or so often.
What are ultra-processed foods and which ones do we most commonly eat?
Ultra-processed foods are highly altered, contain many chemical additives and are made using both industrial processes and industrial processes, reports Surrey Live. You can spot them on the back of packets you buy — words like “gum” or “emuslifier” a big giveaways but they are just two examples.
They are made this way so that they last longer, make more profits for the companies that make them, and encourage us to eat more of them because of how tasty they are. They are also typically high in added salt, sugar and fat. To quote Dr Chris Van Tulleken, an infectious diseases doctor and author of the best-selling book Ultra-Processed People: “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.”