What exactly do we mean by ultra processed food?

And is there any room for nuance?

I began writing and researching Ultra Processed Women nearly 18 months ago now, and throughout the process, I’ve noticed something interesting happening. Every time I’ve told someone I’m writing a book about ultra processed food (UPF), they’ve said, “How interesting,” but that, luckily, they don’t personally eat the stuff.

There seems to be a mismatch between what people think they are eating, and what the data tells us they are eating - either that or all my friends and relations are outliers. Since I don’t live in a vegetable growing commune, I’m going to speculate that they - like me - are eating more UPF than they realise, or want to admit to.

We all are.

Credit: The Guardian, Public Health Nutrition (original map and data)

Part of the confusion also stems from a lack of clarity over what UPF actually IS. So for this first ‘proper’ post on Unprocess, I’m going to go over the basics so that we all know precisely what we’re talking about. I’ll be putting up a few of these sorts of posts, so that newcomers to the topic can read them as a starting point, and seasoned old-timers can refer back to them and share them with their friends.

All of the content on Unprocess is going to be for paid subscribers only, right from the outset, but the good news is that a paid sub is very cheap at just £4 a month or £35 per year. And for the rest of July, you can get 50% off your first year of an annual sub, making it just £17.50 for your first year. There will be recipes and live cook-alongs, chats with experts, news on new evidence, and a whole community of people in the comments and the app who share your interest in a life less processed. I hope you will join us…