How You Can Cut Back On Ultra-Processed Foods This Summer Without The Stress

Ultra-processed foods (UPFs) have become a hot and worrying topic of late, thanks to the fact that UPFs are linked to serious poor physical and mental health outcomes.  In the UK we eat more than any other country in Europe, on average over two thirds of our plate is made up of UPFs, but shockingly the number is even higher for under 14 year olds.

In general, when we talk UPFs, we are referring to foods that are highly altered, highly palatable and contain unrecognisable ingredients you wouldn’t add when cooking at home. Think the confectionary aisles, fizzy drinks, ready meals and ready to eat sauces and pastes - plus, most of the supermarket’s breads and breakfast cereals. It’s important to highlight that UPFs are a broad category of foods and not all UPFs are the same though.

After becoming a mum to my daughter, Summer Eliza, last year, I was even more committed to coming up with hopeful and healthy antidote to all the alarming statistics around these UPFs. I aim to prioritise less processed foods but I do eat some UPFs and don’t wish to demonise them all.  For me, I think about flipping my plate ratios, so instead of my average plate during a busy week being two thirds full of UPFs, I’d much rather be aiming for two thirds of whole foods and minimally processed foods. The more whole foods and minimally processed foods we go for, the less room there is on the plate for UPFs.

We are all trying our best at a time when life is busier than ever. I know lots of people who want to cut back on UPFs for themselves and their families but don't know where to start. So, to simplify things, I wrote a cookbook to help make home-cooking as convenient as buying convenience foods.  It’s called Real Healthy: Unprocess your diet with easy every day recipes and as well as quick, delicious and doable meals, it’s your go to guide for cutting back on UPFs.

An Amazon and Sunday Times bestseller, it was endorsed by the likes of Professor Tim Spector, chef Yotam Ottolenghi, the brilliant child nutritionist Charlotte Stirling- Reed as well as GPs, gut health specialists and mental health professionals, psychiatrists and child psychologists and charities like the Food Foundation. Clearly, the urgency and appetite is there for healthy eating to be more accessible for the whole family but we’ve got to make it as stress-free as possible.

The easiest way of reducing UPF consumption is to cook more and prioritise whole foods and less processed foods, so going more for fruits, veg, grains, beans, lentils, herbs, spices, nuts and seeds. This is easy to say, but can be difficult to put into practice when we are time poor and high on demands. And of course in the school holidays, we have even more mealtimes to manage as well as the change in routines with international travel or long drives or train journeys if we are staycationing.

So, I hope here I can share some tips to try this summer with your family from how to stock up on healthy staples, to recognising UPFs, to not getting stressed or overwhelmed about how many you’re consuming, I hope this will help you create some life -friendly and life -changing eating habits.  Let’s get started...

Don’t pressure yourself

We know perfection is the enemy of progress so a good place to start this reboot is to try not to stress about it – this isn’t a diet or regime, it’s not about all or nothing and no one is telling you what rules to follow. If anything, the only guide I’d offer is ‘make more of the foods that make you feel good’. Go for delicious and doable recipes that you enjoy eating.

Get to know your favourite products better

Most of us are chasing our tails so pausing to turn packets over and study packaging can mean needing more time we just don't have to spare. But it’s really worth it having a go at it. Perhaps prioritise doing so with products you eat a lot of or eat daily. For example, tomato ketchup wise, Mr Organic has minimal ingredients and is mostly tomatoes which is what you want from your ketchup. Look for brands that have ingredients list that you recognise and as ingredients are listed in terms of weight, consider steering clear of any that have sugar high up on the list. Different brands of products may mean that you can buy a UPF or minimally processed version of the same every day family staple ingredient (e.g. peanut butter or yoghurt or sliced bread which is one of the most bought UPF foods). Once you get into the swing of it, you’ll find it easier to look out for brands that you DO want to take home with you.

Team up and share the load

Join forces with another family to share food here and there. We know from making fitness and other life commitments that it’s always easier to create a new habit or try new things with someone else involved. One of you could make something hearty for the family dinner like a double batch of my quick One Pot Lazy Lasagne and your teammate could make a double batch of banana breakfast bake then share your efforts.

Make a meal plan

Let your kids choose a dinner recipe each week! It can help encourage them to try new ingredients or get more interested in cooking. Taco Tuesdays is always a favourite for me and my god kids with slaw, chicken and beans, guacamole, cheese. When we make mac n cheese, we always make it from scratch and sometimes blend pureed squash into the cheesy sauce or add cherry tomatoes and broccoli before we bake it. It's familiar enough that everyone actually looks forward to eating it, plus it’s now veg packed too.

Prep some healthy fruit and veg

Sales of vegetables fell in 2022 despite us all trying our best to eat more. I know in my family we are more likely to eat more fruit and veg if we have some prepped and ready to go in the fridge, so we have the staple crudities of carrot, cucumber and peppers, chopped and stored  - and bonus tip, we keep them on the shelf that is eye level in the fridge so we can’t miss them!  We have them with the usual crowd pleasing dips like Hummus (if you’ve got 10 minutes to make your own, I like the Biona tins of chickpeas and I sometimes use their butterbeans as well for a bit of variety) or guacamole or a garlic cheesy dip (give my whipped feta dip a go!).

If Im cooking mushrooms, broccoli or sweet potatoes I’ll always do extra so that I can add them to a frittata or a loaded omelette or quiche type lunch. We adore egg mayo salad in our house so when we make it we always make extra portions so can have it in sandwiches, wraps and in cucumber boats too (scoop out the seeds and stuff with the egg mayo mix). Then I’ll make us a fruit salad a couple of times a week - nothing fancy just everyday favourites of apple, orange and grapes (quite often kiwi too as my daughter adores kiwi, did you know you could eat the skin?!). It’s also simple to slice up some wedges of watermelon on really hot days which is just a perfect juicy hydrating snack. Frozen grapes are a delicious refreshing snack too - of course avoiding whole grapes for babies and watch out for dogs!

DIY your own sweet summer treats

Stay snack attack ready

Roast some crunchy chickpeas - drain and rinse a jar of chickpeas, pat dry with a tea towel, then toss with some olive oil and sea salt (you could add a little paprika for that smoky bbq vibes or some vinegar for salt and vinegar vibes) and roast at 200C for about 20-30 minutes. Then leave to cool and enjoy.

Hydration

It’s overwhelming to know where to start when you’re making new healthy habits but we know that fizzy drinks and energy drinks are best to avoid for kids. Instead, infuse water with slices of citrus or make homemade fruity concentrates by blitzing frozen berries with a little honey or maple syrup then topping up with water. Banana strawberry milkshakes are super popular too, you could sneak in ¼ of a ripe avocado too if you like.

Turn kitchen time into playtime

Slice a couple of bananas into coins, lay on parchment paper on a tray, smoosh each banana coin down a little with the bottom of a glass. Drizzle with peanut butter, melted chocolate and top with a sprinke with some chopped peanuts. Freeze for that delicious snickers-esque vibe. But its home-made and with ingredients you actually recognise.

Stock up for success

Build up a foundation of real foods by prioritising some affordable store cupboard staples like tinned beans and tinned sweetcorn and particularly some freezer essentials. I always keep bags of frozen spinach that quickly defrosts in bolognese, or can be mixed through a pesto pasta or chilli. Mixed berries are so much cheaper for smoothies, baked oats, homemade lollies, and mixed quick cook veg like peas, edamame and carrots is ideal for egg fried rice, taco fillings and Thai curries. So, you’ve always got the building blocks of a quick meal on hand.

Batch cook

Once a week, I make two trays of muffins and freeze half. One week I go sweet and do lemon blueberry muffins for snacks, then I switch it up to make savoury muffins the next week like my Frittata Muffins which are ideal for breakfast (usually add some cottage cheese or feta, tomatoes, eggs). In my book, there’s a big batch of a supercharge tomato sauce - ideal if you get through a lot of shop bought sauces - mine is cheap and easy to make and absolutely delicious, plus you cook red lentils in the tomato sauce then blitz so you’ve powered up your sauce with lentils too and no one needs to know.

Real Healthy: Unprocess your diet with easy every day recipes is out now