Eating High-Protein While Avoiding UPFs: 4 Lessons Learned

• I try to get up to 130 grams of protein per day, and products like protein powder and protein bars can help.
• I stopped eating these foods for a week because they are often ultra-processed and pose a health risk.
• I didn’t like how this experiment turned into an obsession with food ingredients.

As a fitness and nutrition reporter, I’m a little embarrassed to say that I’ve never paid close attention to how much ultra-processed food I’m eating. I have a relatively relaxed approach to eating and am always happy in the knowledge that whole foods make up a large part of my diet.

I mainly focus on eating enough protein and fiber. I don’t track my food intake, and I haven’t for years, but I generally know how to get enough of each nutrient in my meals.

Protein is important for overall health, but it’s especially helpful for active people like me because it helps repair and rebuild muscles after a workout.

I try to eat about 110-130 grams of protein a day, and most days I eat high-protein foods that have exploded in popularity in recent years, such as protein powders, fruity high-protein yogurts, and protein bars. I take one UPF. .

According to Precedence Research, the global protein market was worth $10.37 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow to $23.34 billion by 2032.

A growing number of studies point out the possibility UPF health risksI started wondering if it was possible to meet my protein goals while avoiding protein and keeping calories in check (instead of just stuffing my face with tons of peanut butter).

For example, British nutritionist Rob Hobson previously told Business Insider that he used to eat protein bars every day, but after learning about the link between UPF and many health problems, and even weight gain, he stopped eating protein bars. He said he had reduced the amount.

I tried cutting out UPF, which contains high protein products, for a week. UPF doesn’t have a clear definition, but it’s widely thought to mean foods and drinks that contain ingredients you don’t find in your home kitchen, such as emulsifiers. So I chose what to avoid.

Although it was doable, it required a lot of effort and made dieting more boring.

Here are four lessons I learned.

I had to pay close attention to the ingredient list.

The night before I started my experiment, I made overnight oats for the next morning, but without the cup of protein powder I usually do. Instead, Greek yogurt and chia provided protein, and honey added flavor and sweetness.

It wasn’t until I was lying in bed that night that I realized that I had unconsciously been using almond milk (UPF) like I usually do.

Not a great start.

It was lunchtime and I didn’t have time to go to the grocery store, so I looked at the bread options in the freezer. One loaf of bread was super processed, and the other was thankfully unprocessed. I already knew about “sfour”, or sourdough fake bread, but I decided to be more careful about which bread I buy.

I was also happy to find out that the store-bought soup I had in my fridge wasn’t UPF. So the classic winter lunch, soup served with a grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough bread, was safe.

But when I went to the store, I realized that not all soups are created equal and sadly some of my favorites were UPF.

I hated feeling like food was forbidden.

It was hard to think of a higher protein snack other than more Greek yogurt. There were days when I ate an apple with peanut butter, but that got boring after a while and it’s not as rich in protein as some people think.

Satisfying my sweet tooth wasn’t particularly easy either. I don’t always want high protein snacks. Sometimes I want to eat something sweet. I didn’t have anything UPF free in my cupboard, so I realized I had to bake from scratch, and that’s what blueberry muffins were.

As I looked longingly at the chocolates in the cupboard, I started to feel uneasy. Food being “off limits” was all too common. It reminded me of being in the middle of a diet culture about 10 years ago when I thought certain foods were “bad” (which of course made me want them even more).

Having come a long way and put a lot of effort into breaking free from this limiting mindset, I didn’t like the feeling that there were foods I couldn’t eat.

A small swap allowed me to avoid UPF

I usually cook dinner from scratch, but I’ve found that I can make small adjustments to ensure it’s UPF-free. For example, I like to use cream cheese to make pasta sauce, but I’ve noticed that some brands are ultra-processed and others aren’t.

Grocery shopping took longer than usual, but I thought that was inevitable at the beginning of the experiment, and that it would take less time as I learned which foods were not ultra-processed.

As a carnivore, I find it easy to get enough protein in my dinner, and I regularly make dishes that combine both meat and legumes (like chili con carne and black beans) to get a variety of nutrients. Masu.

But I was conscious that dinner would require more heavy lifting to meet my protein goals while avoiding UPF. So I opted for pea pasta instead of regular whole wheat, which has 15 grams more protein per 100 grams. I preferred the texture and taste of regular pasta.

my diet was more boring

As the week went on, I got tired of eating the same meals. Cinnamon and raisin bagels in the freezer and cereal in the cupboard teased me for eating the same breakfast twice (overnight oats and milk, and sourdough toast with Greek yogurt).

I think I could have been more experimental, but it took a lot of planning to avoid UPF and I didn’t have to find and try new recipes.

Although I managed to meet my protein goal of consuming 110-130 grams of protein each day, the diet felt a little uninspiring.

When the weekend arrived and my fiancé wanted to order pizza, I decided that life was too short to miss out, even if it was just a one-time experiment.

After all, most nutritionists advise people to take a food-first approach to achieving various health goals, but they don’t necessarily say that people need to eliminate UPF. However, most of us could benefit from reducing our UPF. This experiment made me more aware of where I could make small adjustments without much effort.

But I’m not going to stress too much about taking every cup of protein powder.