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Junk food and ultra processed foods spread out on top of a table.

Ultra-Processed Foods: How They Impact Your Health & What to Do About Them

Discover the science behind ultra-processed foods (UPFs) and practical steps to reduce them in your diet while seamlessly embracing a Paleo lifestyle.

A delicious burger and fries on a white background, ideal for fast food themes.

What Are UPFs?

  • Foods that contain high levels of artifical ingredients like artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, and preservatives.
  • Industrial formulations made primarily or entirely from food-derived substances and additives.
  • Foods that contain few or no whole food ingredients.
  • Foods engineered to be highly palatable and addictive.

Explore More About UPFs

An array of ultra-processed foods including burgers, popcorn, fries, donuts, and candy
What Are Ultra-Processed Foods?
Learn what qualifies a food as processed or ultra-processed, and why ultra-processed foods can be so unhealthy. READ
Above shot of ultra-processed junk foods that can contribute to metabolic disease, such as pizza, salty snacks, and jerky.
Ultra-Processed Foods and Metabolic Disease
Ultra-processed foods are now staples in the modern diet, but research shows they’re silently disrupting our core metabolic systems and fueling chronic illness. READ
Women looking through produce, choosing groceries.

Top 5 Ultra-Processed Ingredients to Reduce Your Intake

  • High-Fructose Corn Syrup
  • MSG
  • Artificial Flavors and Colors
  • Seed Oils
  • Refined Grains and Sugars
A woman stands in her kitchen, taste testing a soup made with whole vegetables.

Why a Minimally Processed Diet Is a Paleo Diet

Learn how a minimally processed diet aligns with The Paleo Diet, as well as tips on how to shift to this way of eating that work for the whole family.

FULL ARTICLE

“Minimally processed diets and The Paleo Diet have a lot in common. Both ways of eating focus on avoiding ultra-processed foods and prioritizing foods as they are found in their natural state.”

 

Ready to Take Control of Your Health?

Above shot of friends and family having dinner at a long wooden table.
How to Practice The Paleo Diet
We share our guidelines for practicing The Paleo Diet and customizing it for you.
FULL ARTICLE
The Paleo Diet Official Paleo Grocery List is a shopping checklist of approved paleo foods
Official Paleo Diet Grocery List
This 2-page printable shopping list of Paleo foods will make grocery shopping easier!
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