Junk foods can be very tempting thanks to their addictive taste, eye-catching packaging, and widespread availability. Unfortunately, these junk food and snacks are usually loaded with unhealthy fats, sugars, and empty calories with zero nutritional value. This can be bad news, especially if you’re trying to lose weight.
However, there are plenty of cleaner and healthier alternatives to many popular junk foods available at the grocery store. These alternatives are made with healthier ingredients that are clean and minimally processed.
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Taylor Dukes, a functional medicine nurse practitioner who focuses on gut health, detox, and healthy swaps, recently shared an Instagram post containing some junk food swaps you can make when the “cravings hit!” Read on to get all her suggestions.
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1. DiGiorno's Frozen Pizza to Cappello's Frozen Pizza
Duke illustrates that Cappello’s frozen pizza is a better alternative to DiGiorno’s because of its cleaner ingredients. Cappello’s pizza is made with almond flour, simple ingredients, and without artificial preservatives. DiGiorno's uses enriched flour with pro-inflammatory seed oils.
2. Lay's to Siete
Siete chips are a beloved snack among health enthusiasts, and for good reason! These chips are made with avocado oil, which is a lot healthier than the vegetable oils that Lay’s chips are made in. Siete chips are also gluten-free and grain-free, perfect for those with dietary restrictions. Lay’s chips are also considered gluten-free, but the many processed ingredients can cause health issues if eaten in excess.
3. Betty Crocker boxed brownie to Simple Mills almond flour brownie
We all love a Betty Crocker cake mix, but one look at the ingredients list and you'll notice a plethora of unhealthy things, such as enriched flour, artificial flavors, and seed oils.
Instead, Duke wants you to choose Simple Mills almond flour brownie mix. This brand is gluten-free and has zero artificial flavors and seed oils.
4. M&Ms to Unreal
Unreal is a better option than the classic M&M’s for several reasons. Unreal uses non-GMO ingredients and avoids artificial colors, flavors, and preservatives. M&Ms are notorious for using artificial dyes and additives.
Duke notes in her post that Unreal contains organic ingredients and is colored by veggies.
5. Totinos Pizza Rolls to Snow Days Pizza Bites
Totino’s Pizza Rolls are made with processed ingredients, while Snow Days uses organic, non-GMO ingredients. Snow Days is also grain-free and organic.
6. Oreos to Nut Butter-Stuffed Sandwich Cookies
One single Oreo cookie contains 4.9 grams of sugar! Most people don’t stop at just one oreo, though. This is why Duke says Simple Mills’ nut butter-stuffed sandwich cookies are a much better option. They are gluten-free, dairy-free, contain no seed oils, and have no high fructose corn syrup!
