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31 Healthy Swaps for Highly Processed Foods

By Ethan Boldt

May 7, 2026

As we all know too well, processed and ultra-processed foods are everywhere. While some are obviously junk food (think cheese curls and frozen “ice cream” treats), many are often disguised as healthy foods.

You may be eating them without even being aware that they’re ultra-processed and bad for you. Bad for you how? They’re very low in nutrients compared to whole foods and can be quite calorie-dense.

The giveaway aside from them being packaged is that they often contain a long list of ingredients, including additives, preservatives, flavorings, emulsifiers and other substances. Many of these ingredients can even trick the body from not recognizing how many calories are being ingested.

What’s one to do? Time to start swapping those highly processed foods to mostly whole foods (you can go even further in a no-sugar diet). It can positively impact your health in so many ways, including boosting energy levels, fostering a healthier microbiome and supporting healthy inflammation levels.

Making these swaps will mean more nutrients, fewer calories, less sugar, no additives, more vitamins and minerals, plus more protein, fiber and even probiotics.

Let’s get started.

The healthy swap list

Here’s a list of popular ultra-processed foods swapped out for healthier foods, including whole foods, easy homemade recipes or few-ingredients products or supplements.

• Flavored yogurt — swap out for plain Greek yogurt and add organic berries

• Cereal — swap out for oatmeal like collagen overnight oats

• Commercial baked goods — make your own double chocolate collagen donuts or lemon poppyseed muffins

• Margarine — swap out for butter

• Commercial bread — swap out for wheat berry bread like Ezekiel

• Store-bought egg muffin — swap out for homemade egg bites

• Table salt — swap out for sea salt

• Chips — swap out for roasted chickpeas or homemade popcorn with avocado oil

• French fries — swap out baked potato or zucchini fries

• Pasta salad — swap out for quinoa bowl

• Processed deli meat — make grilled chicken breast instead

• Macaroni salad — use kimchi or sauerkraut instead

• Fried fish filets — swap out for grilled fish or canned sardines

• Hot dogs and sausages — swap out for grass-fed burgers or turkey burgers

• Conventional pizza — swap out for a cauliflower crust pizza (which you can buy or make) with toppings like fresh veggies, turkey pepperoni and moderate cheese

• French onion dip — make a hummus instead

• Canola oil and other seed oils — swap out for coconut oil, olive oil or avocado oil

• Artificial sweeteners — swap out for powdered or liquid stevia, perhaps mixed with half and half with monk fruit for a more natural sweet taste

• Fruit juice — swap out for fruit-filled smoothie like a peach or cherry smoothie

• Store-bought cookies — swap out for cookies with real ingredients like strawberry oatmeal cookies or peanut butter cookies

• Commercial chocolate candy bar — make a homemade chocolate candy bar instead

• Chocolate chips — swap out for cacao nibs

• Protein bars — make your own homemade protein bar

• Store-bought brownie — make a high-protein skillet brownie

• Chocolates — swap out for peanut butter protein balls

• Fudge — swap out for homemade collagen fudge

• Conventional coffee creamer — swap out for coconut milk, goat milk or, if you can handle dairy, whole milk

• Soda drinks — swap out for sparkling water

• Sports drinks — swap out for Ancient Nutrition's Multi Collagen Advanced Hydrate (which contains 2x the number of electrolytes and zero artificial ingredients) or Rapid Hydration

• Pudding — swap out for chia seed pudding

• Ice cream — swap out for easy-to-make banana nice cream