I was a UPF addict – here’s how I gave up my habit and what it did for my health

I don’t eat breakfast – extra time in bed trumps porridge every time. Lunch is usually hummus and pitta – it feels like the kind of thing a healthy person might eat, although admittedly it’s still beige. Then, dinner is where I go full comfort mode. On a good day, it’s smiley faces and fish fingers; on a lazier day, it might be a McDonald’s; and on a really lazy day, it’s both. I try not to think too hard about what that’s doing to my insides. Instead, I focus on the fact I’ve earned more than a few free meals thanks to the reward points. That counts for something, surely?

To be fair, my food world has expanded slightly in recent years. My list of go-to meals used to fit on one hand; now, I’m up to two. Pasta plays a vital role in the mix. And, when I go home, I’ll dive into my mum’s homemade lasagne, legendary roast dinners and breaded chicken cutlets. If someone else dares cook for me? I politely decline. If it didn’t come from my mum’s kitchen or the frozen aisle, I’m suspicious. Yes, I’m what some might generously describe as an oversized child – but I prefer to think of myself as loyal. Loyal to beige, loyal to Mum.

Time to change

You might assume the turning point came after a serious health scare. I'll admit, I’ve had a few that should’ve been wake-up calls: a cancer diagnosis in my early teens and, more recently, some mild nerve damage in my feet. With the latter, the doctors did tell me it was due to a lack of nutrients and I was told to add more fruit and veg to my diet. But, none of that really moved me. What finally convinced me to consider abandoning the comfort of smiley faces and fish fingers was my housemate. A friend since primary school, she looked me dead in the eye and said, “You couldn’t go a week without UPFs.” So, now I have to prove her wrong.

I’m not blind to the risks that maintaining a high-UPF diet has. The headlines around ultra-processed foods aren’t exactly comforting, with links to obesity, type-2 diabetes, heart disease and even certain cancers. Good Food has a great explainer on it all. But, while fear isn’t my primary motivator, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to be slightly less of a medical mystery to my GP.

However, I am pretty terrified about taking on the challenge. I don’t like new foods and am, in many ways, a culinary coward. There’s a fair bit of mental gymnastics involved in convincing myself to try something that isn’t beige. Texture is a big issue, and so is anything with what I’d call ‘funky vibes’. I’ve dabbled with aubergine – a massive leap for me – but fermented cabbage that smells like it’s been left out in the sun (yes, kimchi, I’m still talking about you)? That’s not making it onto my plate anytime soon.

Then, there’s the cooking. You may have gathered by now that my cooking repertoire isn’t exactly extensive, unless you count heating an oven and tearing open a cardboard box. Swapping pittas and McDonald’s for actual meals means opening up a whole new world of kitchen admin: batch-cooking, meal prep, grocery lists and maybe even chopping vegetables – the horror!

I know I’ll need to grow up a bit and sacrifice some of my beloved lie-ins while accepting that not all meals come in microwavable trays. But if I can prove a smug housemate wrong and stop my toes from going numb in the process, it might just be worth it.

Going cold turkey (no Twizzlers)

Quitting UPFs would only work if I made it as simple as possible for myself. I decided to do all the work at once, then reap my reward throughout the week (and not leave any opening for a moment of weakness). So, I started with some intense prepping: a whole week’s meal plan, complete shopping list and a fridge full of ingredients I couldn’t ignore. If you’re even vaguely considering a similar shift, this would be my number-one tip: plan everything in advance, down to the last pepper. I cooked just two different dinners for the week (I know, but I did say that keeping it simple was key), both in big batches to maximise coverage and minimise effort. Then, I relied on good old Mummy for extra help (I understand others doing this challenge may not have the same luxury).

• Dinner 1: a tomato & mascarpone risotto – creamy, comforting, and surprisingly adult
• Dinner 2: pasta with my mum’s homemade tomato, courgette and aubergine sauce – not dissimilar to this hidden veg sauce – lovingly defrosted and stirred through by yours truly (does boiling water count as cooking?)
• Dinner 3: homemade breaded cutlets with a green salad
• Dinner 4: roast chicken with all the trimmings

Can you guess which meals were courtesy of my mother?

I’m still not a morning person, so breakfast was a compromise. For half the week, I grabbed a banana, and the for the other half, I repurposed my usual hummus, pitta and cucumber combo into sort of a light morning snack. Lunches were a mix of reheated leftovers and brave new adventures from the work canteen. Butter chicken was something of a new foray into spice for me.

In terms of challenges, my biggest downfall was, without question, being hungover. I’m in my 20s and I like socialising, but waking up with a sore head and a stomach crying out for greasy comfort food is the ultimate test of willpower – no salad comforts like a double cheeseburger.

But, despite that one wobble, I made it: no smileys, no beige, beige, beige. Just me, my Tupperware and a surprising amount of courgette.

A brand new me

Now that I’m a few weeks out from my great UPF detox, I can recognise that I actually learned something. Yes, a few ultra-processed bits have crept back into my routine (I’m only human), but nowhere near the levels they once were.

The biggest surprise was that I didn’t hate the cooking part. I’d always assumed meal prepping would be a nightmare of Tupperware lids and soggy spinach, but with a proper shopping list and a bit of planning, it wasn’t the faff I’d imagined. Dare I say, it was manageable. I even felt organised.

I haven’t turned into an adventurous eater overnight. I’m still sticking largely to what I know – mainly meals made by my mum – but I have incorporated a much better mix of food groups.

The biggest change is definitely the increase in fruit and veg. Before, they barely featured in my diet unless hidden inside something breaded. Now, I’m consciously trying to add more in. Even just that small shift has made a real difference.

I’ve found I’ve got way more energy throughout the day – the kind that lasts, not the quick burst you get after inhaling three chocolate bars and a pitta. That extra energy has helped me get back into swimming, which I’d fallen out of the habit of doing when I was feeling sluggish and lethargic. Now, after a long day at work, I have enough in the tank to head to the pool, and it’s been a great way to decompress. If you’re curious, check out the benefits of exercise and how it supports mental health.

So, I haven’t sworn off UPFs completely, but I’m eating with more balance. It’s not groundbreaking, but sometimes, the simple changes really do stick.

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