What Are Highly Processed Foods? 99% Are Eating Them Daily

Most of us don’t think twice about what’s really in our food. Grab something off the shelf, see a few health claims, and get on with the day.

But behind the shiny packaging is often a list of ingredients you wouldn’t recognize from your own kitchen — or even a science class.

That raises a few fair questions:

• What exactly are highly processed foods?
• Are they just convenient, or are they quietly harming your health?
• And where do things like butter, cheese, and grains fit into all this?

We’ll unpack it all in plain English. No lectures, no scare tactics. Just clear, simple guidance to help you understand what’s on your plate — and what it’s doing to your body.

So, if you’ve ever stared at a packet and thought, “Is this even real food?” — you’re in the right place.

Let’s get stuck in and answer the big one first: what are highly processed foods?

TL;DR

• Ultra-processed foods are everywhere — sweetened breakfast cereals, potato chips, frozen meals, packaged soups — all loaded with added sugar, seed oils, and food additives that quietly wreck your health.
• Stick to real, unprocessed food your hunter-gatherer ancestors would recognize: meats, organ meats, seasonal fresh fruits and vegetables, and home-cooked meals. If it needs a factory or a lab, treat it with suspicion.
• Many processed foods started as good ingredients but lost their beneficial nutrients thanks to modern food processing. Swap them for minimally processed foods like plain yogurt, butter, and naturally raised meats.
• Avoid ultra-processed foods, and you’ll reduce your risk of heart disease, chronic diseases, weight gain, and high blood pressure — while boosting your energy, mood, and vitality.

What Are Highly Processed Foods?

Highly processed foods – otherwise known as junk food – aren’t just your basic kitchen prep. Processing itself isn’t the problem — it’s when food is heavily broken down, restructured, and filled with additives.

At that point, it becomes something your ancestors wouldn’t even recognize.

These ultra-processed foods are packed with added sugar, artificial sweeteners, preservatives, and other ingredients that push your cravings into overdrive. They’re made to keep you coming back for more.

Everyday examples? Sweetened breakfast cereals, potato chips, frozen meals, packaged soups, even some canned tuna. The more you eat ultra-processed foods, the fewer whole and minimally processed foods you’ll likely eat.

What’s worse, many started out as decent ingredients. But by the time food manufacturers finish, they’re stripped of their beneficial nutrients and stuffed with food additives to survive months on a shelf.

Next, we’ll look at the everyday offenders — some might catch you by surprise.

Examples of Ultra-Processed Foods

Now that we know what highly processed foods are let’s get into the real-world stuff — the foods you’ll find in nearly every cupboard, fridge, or lunchbox.

Some of these are obvious. Others might make you raise an eyebrow and think, “Hang on, I thought that was healthy?” That’s the thing about ultra-processed foods — they hide in plain sight.

The Usual Suspects

Let’s start with the ones you probably expected:

• Frozen meals and frozen dinners. Easy and quick, but packed with preservatives, added sugar, and more salt than you’d ever add yourself.
• Potato chips. Thinly sliced, deep-fried in seed oils, and dusted with flavorings and additives. Tasty? Sure. Nutritious? Not a chance.
• Sweetened breakfast cereals. You’d think something made from grains would be healthy, but these are often just sugar bombs in disguise.
• Packaged soups. Convenient, but many are loaded with salt, additives, and substances extracted during heavy food processing.
• Reconstituted meat products like hot dogs. Bits and pieces pressed together with preservatives and flavor enhancers. Enough said.
• Baked beans. Yes, beans are considered good food on their own — but once they’re canned with added sugar and preservatives, they slip into the ultra-processed camp.
• Sugary drinks. Fizzy sodas, energy drinks, sweet teas — these are ultra-processed from start to finish.

The Sneaky Ones

Now, for the ones that often fool people:

• Canned tuna. Tuna itself is fine, but it joins the ultra-processed crowd when packed in brine with additives or seed oils.
• Packaged bread. Especially the soft, long-life loaves. Made to last weeks on the shelf, but often stripped of nutritional quality.
• Artificial sweeteners. Used in “diet” products, but they still count towards your ultra-processed diet.
• High fructose corn syrup. This sweetener is in far more foods than you’d expect, from sauces to snacks.
• Processed meat. Bacon, deli slices, and sausages often fall into this category, depending on how they’re made.

Many Ultra-Processed Foods in Disguise

It’s not just the snacks and ready meals. Ultra processing creeps into foods you’d never suspect:

• Breakfast cereals that shout about “whole grains” and are fortified with vitamins are packed with added sugar and artificial ingredients.
• Packaged soups claiming to be “hearty and wholesome” but brimming with flavor enhancers.
• Even dried fruit, when it’s coated in sugar or preservatives, can cross the line from minimally processed to ultra-processed.

The bottom line? Processed foods are prolific today. Even foods masquerading as healthy can have a dark side, resulting in you eating foods your body doesn’t want.

How Processed Foods Took Over Our Diets

Once upon a time, meals came from scratch. People cooked with whole foods — seasonal fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, natural meats. It took effort, but it worked.

Then, the industrial food era arrived. Food manufacturers saw an opportunity to make food faster, cheaper, and last longer.

They packed products with food additives, artificial sweeteners, and substances extracted from original ingredients to keep them looking and tasting fresh, even after months on a shelf.

For example:

• Simple homemade bread became packaged bread stuffed with preservatives and added sugar.
• Slow-cooked beans turned into baked beans, swimming in syrup.
• Nourishing meals were swapped for frozen dinners, focused on convenience over nutritional quality.

This shift is how our diets quietly filled up with ultra-processed foods — and less of the nutritious foods our bodies truly need.

Food Processing Explained

Not all food processing is bad. Minimally processed foods — like plain yogurt, milk, or canned tuna in water — go through basic steps to stay safe and nutritious.

But ultra-processed foods go much further. They’re engineered for shelf life, texture, and taste, not health. Loaded with high fructose corn syrup, additives, and oils, they form the backbone of the modern ultra-processed diet, at the cost of your well-being.

Next, let’s zoom in on one of the biggest culprits in this shift: grains. Once a staple, now often a health hazard.

The Grain Debate: Are Grains Healthy or Harmful?

Grains are tricky. Some claim they’re vital for a healthy diet, others say to avoid them completely.

I tend to steer clear of grains, but if you’re generally healthy, have no gluten intolerances, and the grains are processed properly, then they may be something you can include in your diet.

Raw grains are inedible. Our ancestors soaked, fermented, and ground them to make them digestible. These traditional methods kept the beneficial nutrients and were counted as minimally processed foods.

Today? It’s all about speed and shelf life. Grains are refined, stripped of fiber, and packed with added sugar and food additives to improve flavor and last longer. This shift plays a big role in weight gain, high blood pressure, and chronic diseases.

Just remember, bread was invented only 10,000 years ago; for millions of years before this, humans didn’t eat grains. So if we survived fine without them, do we need them now for health?

Traditional Bread vs. Modern Packaged Bread

Old-school bread was simple: whole grains, water, salt, and natural yeast. Time and fermentation did the work, making it easier to digest.

Now, packaged bread is rushed through production, filled with preservatives, and sweetened to extend shelf life. Even so-called “healthy” loaves can be considered ultra-processed.

Breakfast Cereals: From Grain to Sugar Bomb

It’s the same story with breakfast cereals. What started as humble grains are now puffed, coated, and sugared beyond recognition.

Many sweetened breakfast cereals — even those claiming to include whole grains — are textbook ultra-processed foods.

This overprocessing spikes blood sugar, fuels cravings, and is linked to heart disease, chronic diseases, and inflammatory bowel disease.

Next, we’ll tackle seed oils — arguably the sneakiest villain of all.

Seed Oils: The Silent Saboteurs

If there’s one ingredient I’d warn you about, it’s seed oils. These industrial oils are a major driver of poor health, yet they fly under the radar in most diets.

Seed oils don’t come easily from plants. It takes intense food processing — crushing, heating, and chemical extraction — to produce oils from soybeans, sunflower, corn, and rapeseed. Convenient for food manufacturers but not for your body.

They’re unstable fats and quick to oxidize when heated. Over time, this can raise your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic diseases, and inflammatory bowel disease. And because the damage happens slowly, most people never see it coming.

Where Seed Oils Hide

If you eat ultra-processed foods, you’re eating seed oils daily. They’re everywhere:

• Potato chips, fried in seed oil.
• Packaged soups, baked beans, and frozen meals.
• Canned tuna, sauces, and dressings.

Check the food labels, and you’ll spot them in places you wouldn’t expect. Avoid ultra-processed foods loaded with these oils if you want a more healthful diet.

I want to be clear about my opinion on seed oils; I think they’re poison to the human body of the worst kind. Their deadly effects work slowly on humans, so they go undetected, especially as we’ve been convinced they are healthy by the mainstream.

If there’s one thing I could banish from this earth, it would be seed oils.

Butter, Cheese, and Plain Yogurt: Where Do They Fit?

People often lump butter, cheese, and plain yogurt in with the worst processed foods, but let’s be clear — they’re not the same as ultra-processed foods.

Butter is simple: churn cream, and you’ve got butter. No high fructose corn syrup, no artificial sweeteners, no hidden nasties. Our ancestors made it with ease, and it counts as minimally processed when it’s just cream and salt.

Cheese follows a similar story. Traditional cheese uses milk, cultures, and salt. Avoid the versions packed with additives and flavor enhancers for their full nutritional benefit.

As for plain yogurt, if it’s just milk and live cultures, you’re in safe territory. Skip the flavored kinds loaded with added sugar and food additives — those are considered ultra-processed.

The rule of thumb? If your ancestors could have made it, it’s likely considered minimally processed and a smart choice for your healthful diet.

Bonus points if you can find raw dairy products from reputable suppliers. Modern food hygiene makes raw dairy safe these days, and it’s much healthier… just as nature intended.

The Hidden Dangers of Ultra-Processed Diets

An ultra-processed diet is more than just a bad habit — it’s a fast track to poor health. The odd frozen meal won’t ruin you, but the problem comes when these foods dominate your plate.

Food Additives and Extracted Substances

Ultra-processed foods are loaded with food additives, preservatives, and substances extracted from natural sources. They’re not there to nourish you but to boost shelf life and taste.

Reconstituted meat products like hot dogs and processed sausages are classic examples: scraps bound together with additives to mimic real food. Add refined oils and sweeteners, and you have a highly profitable, low-nutrient product.

The result? Meals stripped of beneficial nutrients, stuffed with added sugar and artificial sweeteners that do your health no favors.

Health Risks of Ultra-Processed Foods

The more you eat ultra-processed foods, the higher your risk of serious health issues:

• Poor fats and excessive sugar drive heart disease and cardiovascular disease.
• Chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes are fueled by addictive flavors and empty calories.
• Inflammatory bowel disease, aggravated by additives and processed fats.
• Weight gain and high blood pressure are both common in those with a high ultra-processed food intake.

These foods are designed to hijack your appetite, leading to unhealthy eating habits and a constant cycle of cravings.

Next, we’ll apply a little common sense — and show you how to see through the confusion.

Eating More Ultra-Processed Foods? Expect Increased Risk

Here’s the harsh truth: people consuming more ultra-processed foods daily consistently show an increased risk of early death and disease. Studies continue to pile up, linking high ultra-processed food intake to poor nutritional quality and worse health outcomes.

So, while many ultra-processed foods are marketed as convenient solutions for busy lives, they’re quietly draining your energy, packing on weight, and increasing the odds of long-term health problems.

The good news? You can turn this around. In the next section, we’ll apply some good old-fashioned common sense to cut through the noise.

It’s time to ask the simplest question of all: Would your ancestors have eaten this?

Common Sense Check: Would Your Ancestors Eat This?

This is the part where I encourage you to take control and figure things out for yourself. Applying the following principles is my gift to you.

We’re bombarded with so much contradictory information today. You can find arguments for and against almost anything, and diet is one of the biggest subjects of confusion.

We have the extremes, such as vegan and carnivore diets, and then everything in between. One of my pet hates is the so-called balanced diet – whatever that’s supposed to be.

From the moment we can comprehend anything, it’s been rammed into our heads that red meat and animal fats are bad and should be replaced with lean white meat and vegetable & seed oils.

We should eat plenty of whole grains and as many fruits and vegetables of all varieties as possible.

These statements are so embedded that to question them is like committing treason. To utter any doubt would cause raised eyebrows and inquiries into your sanity.

But I think we’ve all been hypnotized. Despite our best efforts at eating properly, our health worsens; yet we never think to question the mainstream dietary guidance.

So, I urge you to step back for a second and remember that this world we live in today is so far removed from how humans have lived for millions of years.

Ask yourself, what would our caveman or hunter-gatherer ancestors have eaten? What would’ve been available to them?

Most of the foods available today would not have even been an option; so, does it make sense that it’s healthy for us now?

Answering these questions with the brains you’ve been blessed with allows you to figure this out for yourself without the need of someone in a white coat and letters after their name telling you that some human-made food is healthier than something we’ve been eating for millennia.

The only thing left to do is to give it a go. Eat like a wild human – or what I call the ultimate human diet – and see how you feel. Try it for a week. That’s roughly how long it took for my chronic fatigue symptoms to evaporate into thin air.

If you feel like crap anyways, what does it matter? It can’t get much worse, right?

How to Avoid Ultra-Processed Foods in Everyday Life

I’m not gonna tell you how to figure out if something is an ultra-processed food; I’m sure you can figure it out for yourself.

However, here’s the simplest filter you can use for every food decision: Would our hunter-gatherer ancestors have eaten this?

If the answer is no — if it needs a factory, a lab coat, or a shelf life longer than your car warranty — treat it with suspicion. Our bodies are wired for real food, not the modern inventions of food manufacturers.

Cavemen didn’t have access to sweetened breakfast cereals, high fructose corn syrup, or plastic-wrapped frozen meals. They ate what was in season, what they could hunt, gather, or catch.

And guess what? They didn’t suffer from today’s explosion of chronic diseases, heart disease, or weight gain. They moved, they ate simple, whole foods, and their bodies thrived.

The more you return to real food — think meats, organ meats, and some seasonal fresh fruits & vegetables, and home-cooked meals — the more your health improves. It’s not about perfection. It’s about trusting common sense over marketing hype.

Think home-cooked meals; you don’t need to be Gordon Ramsay here. Steak and eggs are nice and easy. Or perhaps throw some cubed beef and veggies in a slow cooker or pressure cooker for a mouth-watering stew.

Even ground beef can be your friend. For example, Jim’s special is a highly nutritious and quick meal.

Conclusion: Real Food, Real Results

So, what are highly processed foods? Simply, it’s anything our ancestors would not recognize.

Your body was never built for ultra-processed foods.

Our ancestors thrived on whole foods, not sweetened breakfast cereals, potato chips, or high fructose corn syrup. When you follow an unprocessed or minimally processed diet, you feed your body what it actually needs.

Cutting out processed foods lowers your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, and chronic diseases. You ditch the daily load of added sugar, toxic seed oils, and hidden additives.

This isn’t about perfection. Just making simple swaps away from ultra-processed foods makes a real difference. Focus on home-cooked meals, whole foods, and natural fats like butter.

Stick to what your body recognizes as food, and your body will thank you! Check out my post on the ultimate human diet and animal-based diet for more information.

And that’s it… have a nutritious day!

FAQs

What are the health risks of ultra-processed food intake?

Eating ultra-processed foods regularly increases your risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, chronic diseases, and inflammatory bowel disease. They’re also linked to weight gain and poor nutritional quality.

Can I eat some processed foods and still have a healthy diet?

If you’re generally healthy, then perhaps you can include some processed foods in your diet without any detrimental effects. For optimal health, though, I’d suggest dodging them completely.

What are examples of ultra processed foods to avoid?

Watch out for potato chips, frozen dinners, packaged soups, baked beans with added sugar, processed meat, and anything with high fructose corn syrup or a long list of additives.

How can I tell if food is considered minimally processed?

Check the ingredients. If it’s just whole foods or simple processed culinary ingredients like salt or oil, it’s likely considered minimally processed. If you see additives, flavors, or preservatives, it’s drifting into ultra-processed territory.