Knowing where to start if you’re looking to eat healthier can be a challenge.
When you’re being more mindful of what you fuel your body with, you may wish to avoid ultra-processed foods, as they are not as healthy as eating whole foods. But it’s a minefield to understand which products to switch and which are okay.
The British Heart Foundation charity explains: “Ultra-processed foods typically have more than one ingredient that you never or rarely find in a kitchen.
“They also tend to include many additives and ingredients that are not typically used in home cooking, such as preservatives, emulsifiers, sweeteners, and artificial colours and flavours. These foods generally have a long shelf life.”
But why are they so detrimental to our health? They often contain “high levels of saturated fat, salt and sugar,” and “it’s also been suggested that the additives in these foods could be responsible for negative health effects”.
This is why Katie Duarte created a TikTok showing the ultra-processed food swaps she made, captioning her video: “Easy swaps to reduce the amount of ultra-processed food (UPF) in your family diet. Ideally, we would make all food from scratch, but realistically, most of us do not have the time (I certainly don’t).”
Katie mentioned that she was trying to be a “little more mindful” about what she and her family ate, starting with bread. “Most sliced bread has way too many ingredients. We’ve made the swap to Jason’s sourdough,” she revealed, also noting that wraps are “super processed”.
She said she’d made a swap to a brand where the “only ingredients are flour, water, extra virgin olive oil and salt”. Katie suggested a simple yet effective swap – choosing real butter over spreadable. She endorsed “good plain old butter” as superior to any alternative.
She also recommended homemade pasta sauce, revealing that she prepares 99% of hers “from scratch,” but keeps “jars in the cupboard just in case” she lacks the ingredients to whip up a fresh batch. Her go-to store-bought options include Aldi’s specially selected pesto and Heinz pasta sauces, both made with extra virgin olive oil.
As for milk, Katie confessed: “So I was an Oatley Barista die-hard fan, but sadly, I had to let it go because it does have rapeseed oil in it, which is probably why it tasted so good,” She has since switched to whole milk, though she recommends Plenish as a solid “plant-based alternative”.
Cereal swaps were next on her list, suggesting organic oats or granola made with extra virgin olive oil instead of rapeseed oil for those seeking alternatives.
In response to her video, viewers shared their own food tips. One commented: “Top tip for pasta sauce – batch cook it and put it in large ice cube trays like the weaning ones, freeze them. Then, when you make pasta, just pop a cube out of the freezer”.
Another shopper remarked: “Very helpful! I’ve noticed that the least processed pizzas I could find in Sainsbury’s were the cheapest own-brand ones.” Meanwhile, another customer expressed their desire to make healthier choices but pointed out the high cost, saying, “so expensive”.
The NHS recommends a dietary regime loaded with fruits, vegetables, and wholegrain or higher fibre starchy carbohydrates including options like wholewheat pasta, brown rice, and whole oats.
In addition, they highlight the idea that “Some ultra-processed foods can be included in a healthy diet – such as wholemeal sliced bread, wholegrain or higher-fibre breakfast cereals, or baked beans.”