Ultra Processed Foods – Why I No Longer Consume Them

“If I’d known I was gonna live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself” – Eubie Blake

This quotation is attributed to Eubie Blake, and sometimes to others as well. For those of us too young to have known of Eubie, he was an American pianist, and a composer of ragtime, jazz, and other popular music.

Eubie’s work was acknowledged by the award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan, and he died in 1983 at the age of 96 a few days after celebrating his 100th birthday although that anomaly is quite another story.

Apart from the happiness that his music gave him, Eubie also knew sadness when his wife of 28 years died of TB at the age of 58.

But I digress. The whole point is that, having just survived a major health crisis, I am a firm believer that Eubie Blake is quite right: we must take good care of ourselves if we wish to live to a ripe old age.

I have not taken good care of myself throughout my life but I am sure that, thanks to a change of dietary regime some 10 years or so ago, I was better prepared to fight the challenges thrown up to me when I caught that ghastly bug that very nearly felled me a few months ago.

Obviously there have been many other contributory factors to my recovery, not least an amazingly wonderful medical team and gritty resilience from my wife particularly when I was unconscious in ICU for some 14 days and, of course, during my recovery which continues to this day.

What amazes me is that so many of my family and friends continue to load their bodies with ultra processed food (UPF) that is widely recognised to be harmful. These are all reasonably intelligent people but for some reason they do not stop to think, or to learn about what they are doing.

The British Heart Foundation has this to say about UPFs – https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/news/behind-the-headlines/ultra-processed-foods – this makes very interesting reading and provides much food for thought (please forgive the unintended pun!).

I have friends that think their “healthy” breakfast of corn flakes, toasted supermarket bread, butter and marmalade is a sensible way to start his day. Quite simply it is not but they will not be persuaded to the alternative and they continue to eat in a similar vein throughout their day, every day.

What I have achieved I have only achieved following the enforcement and monitoring of sensible eating by my wife. She is not a qualified nutritionist but she researches and studies food labels on all the food that she buys.

Please give it a try and remember that you never know when you might need to reap the benefits as I have done!