Complete Guide to Processed Foods and List of Foods to Avoid

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What are processed foods? And How can you avoid processed foods? This guide will provide you a complete list of processed foods to avoid, how to start reducing your consumption of processed foods and how to incorporate more whole foods instead.

sugar free diet

Health professionals always tell you to minimize your consumption of sugar and processed foods from your diet and incorporate more whole foods. But do you even know the difference between whole foods, minimally processed foods or highly processed food is? Are you even aware of all the foods sugar may be hiding in?

From working with my clients I have realized that to someone who isn’t a nutrition coach it’s overwhelming and you don’t even know where to start.

So I'm going to show you: 

  • How to eat a whole food diet

  • What’s the difference between processed foods and minimally processed foods 

  • Processed ingredients to avoid

  • Foods you didn’t realize are high in sugar

  • How to easily avoid processed foods at the grocery store

WHAT ARE WHOLE FOODS?

Whole Foods are typically just one ingredient, there are no other ingredients added before you eat it. Rule of thumb: Whole foods are either grown, hatched or born. 

For example:

sweet potato is just a sweet potato

broccoli is just broccoli 

eggs are just eggs 

chicken is just chicken 

Whole foods are just one ingredient in its natural state whereas processed foods are, like the name implies, a bunch of ingredients processed together usually by a machine to be formed into the consumable product that you buy and eat. 

For example: 

A strawberry which is a whole food is turned into a puree then mixed with corn syrup, sugar, modified corn starch, other artificial flavors, wax, and food dye to form Welch’s Fruit Snacks. 

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MINIMALLY PROCESSED FOODS AND HIGHLY PROCESSED FOODS

Completely avoiding processed foods is really hard and honestly, you don’t need to completely avoid them. 

The problem is the overwhelming amount of processed foods typical Americans consume on a daily basis. When you have a diet high in processed foods you are likely not getting the nutrients your body actually needs, the ingredients in processed foods are what is causing inflammation in your body that leads to disease, gut health issues, and imbalanced hormones(*)

For example: If you are eating a microwavable frozen breakfast bowl or even just Jimmy Deans breakfast sausage for breakfast, then having Oscar Myer turkey, Kraft American cheese, on a low carb tortilla with Kraft Mayo for lunch, then for dinner whole wheat pasta spaghetti YOU’VE LITERALLY EATEN PROCESSED FOODS AND SUGAR ALL DAY!

The reason you likely eat a lot of processed food is because they’re convenient, so If anything at least try to eat more minimally processed foods. 

Minimally processed foods are still somewhat close to their natural form but processed at their peak to lock in nutritional quality and freshness and have a much shorter, cleaner ingredients list.  

For example: 

Fresh Broccoli is a whole food ---> Frozen broccoli is minimally processed

Peanuts are a whole food---> Roasted and salted peanuts are minimally processed

Cauliflower is a whole food---> Riced and bagged cauliflower in minimally processed

Nutrition Labels

COMMON PROCESSED INGREDIENTS TO AVOID

When you read the ingredients of packaged foods it’s typically a long list of ingredients that you don't recognize and may have no idea what ingredients to look out for the most,  so here is a list of some of the main ingredients and most common ingredients that you want to try to avoid when possible.

  • Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

  • Artificial Food Coloring

  • Sodium Nitrite

  • Guar Gum

  • High-Fructose Corn Syrup

  • Carrageenan

  • Sodium Benzoate

  • Saccharin

  • Aspartame

  • Acesulfame potassium

  • maltodextrin

  • Sucralose: Splenda

  • BHA/BHT

  • Enriched flour

  • vegetable oil

  • Canola oil 

  • Corn oil 

  • Soybean oil

  • Carnauba wax

  • Paraben

  • Agave nectar

Some other obvious things to try to reduce are your consumption of fast food, and sugary drinks. Another key to reducing toxins and other harmful ingredients from your diet is to buy animal products that are “hormone-free” and organic produce. Check out this list of 33 Foods You Do And Don’t Need To Buy Organic.

quit sugar

FOODS YOU DIDN’T KNOW SUGAR WAS HIDING IN

Unfortunately, reducing your consumption of sugar isn’t as easy as just skipping dessert because sugar is hiding in everything these days. If you go check the sauces and condiments in your fridge you’d be surprised to find sugar in almost all of them even. 

Again, a little sugar isn’t going to be detrimental but according to the DHHS, “Today, the average American consumes almost 152 pounds of sugar in one year. This is equal to 3 pounds (or 6 cups) of sugar consumed in one week!(*)

When finding places to cut back on sugar be sure to check these foods sugar may be hiding: 

  • Lunchmeat

  • Ketchup

  • Mayo

  • BBQ sauce

  • Marinara Sauce

  • Salad dressings

  • Bacon

  • Energy drinks

  • Breakfast sausage

  • Flavored Water

  • Starbucks 

  • Gummy vitamins

  • Beef jerky

  • Protein powder

  • Peanut Butter and other nut butters

  • Granola and Protein Bars

  • Soup

  • Bread

  • Yogurt

  • Instant oatmeal

  • Things that say “no sugar” often have artificial sweeteners that are even worse 

  • Concentrated fruit juice- is just another way to say sugar

How to ditch processed foods and eat a whole food based diet instead https://www.meganseelinger.com/thesecretstoburningfat/2020/7/10/how-to-start-eliminating-processed-foods-and-sugar

HOW TO FIND THE PROCESSED FOODS IN YOUR PANTRY

STEP 1:

The Environmental Working Group has an awesome app that you need to download called EWG Healthy Living

With the app, you can scan the barcode of items in your pantry or while shopping and it will break down for you the ingredients that are of concern. This is a great tool to help you make a more informed decisions about the foods that you’re buying.

STEP 2:

You don’t need to throw everything from your fridge and pantry out but you can make a list of things you might want to look for a healthier option for next time you run out. Check out this pantry essentials guide for substitutes for your favorite snacks and pantry essentials.

In the comments below let me know what's something that you know you need to find a better alternative to and I'll give you suggestions and my favorite alternatives.

Now that you know how to minimize your consumption of sugar and processed foods from your diet use the resources I linked throughout this article to clean up your nutrition and start eating a more whole food based diet!