Clean Grocery Swaps for a Better Diet

Eating clean doesn’t mean cutting out every comfort food. It just means knowing where to look. You’d be shocked at what sneaks into your peanut butter, salt, or even milk. Here’s a roundup of the most common pantry offenders, and clean grocery swaps to buy instead.

* Pro tip: Always, always, always read the ingredient labels!!

Peanut Butter

The problem: Most jars contain palm oil and added sugar, even the ones labeled “natural.”

The swap: Look for PB with just peanuts and salt, that’s it. Bonus if it’s roasted peanuts. I find that has more flavor!

Try: MaraNatha, Teddie, Santa Cruz (my favorite!!), Once Again

Heads up: Even some of these brands have versions with palm oil… always read the label before you buy it!

Ice Cream

The problem: Filled with corn syrup, dextrose, sucralose, gums, and artificial flavor

The swap: Look for simple, whole ingredients you’d recognize in your own kitchen.

Try: Van Leeuwen (my favorite!!), some Breyer’s flavors, some Haagen-Dazs, Straus Organic

Yogurt

The problem: Often packed with modified food starch, carrageenan, “natural flavors,” and loads of sugar.

The swap: Choose plain, unsweetened yogurt and dress it up yourself. That way you control what goes into your body.

Try: Maple Hill, Alexandre, Straus Organic, Siggi’s, Icelandic Skyr, Stonyfield Plain Greek or Whole Milk

Seasonings & Spice Mixes

The problem: Most spices include dextrose, maltodextrin, seed oils, and artificial flavor.

The swap: Make your own blends or check the labels for spice mixes without these harmful ingredients.

Try: Simply Organic brand

Read my blog post about the problem with seed oils and the best non-toxic salt brands to use!

Shredded Cheese

The problem: Most pre-shredded cheeses contain anti-caking agents like cellulose powder and potato starch, and sometimes natamycin (a mold inhibitor).

The swap: Buy a block of cheese and shred it yourself. It melts better, tastes fresher, and has no extra fillers

Try: Cabot Creamery, Tillamook, Organic Valley blocks, or any local organic block cheese

Chocolate

The problem: Hidden ingredients like soy lecithin, palm oil, milk powders, and “natural flavors.”
The swap: Check out my blog for the best chocolate on the market

Creamers & Milk Add-Ins

The problem: Most are full of sodium citrate, disodium phosphate, gums, and artificial flavors.

The swap: Go for simple milks or cream

Try: Organic cream, Organic half and half

Butter

The problem: Many brands include soybean oil, palm oil, lecithin, vinegar, natural flavors, and synthetic vitamins like vitamin A palmitate and beta carotene for coloring.

The swap: Choose butter with just cream and salt, preferably grass-fed.

Try: Kerrygold, Organic Valley, Vital Farms, Truly

Salt

The problem: Table salt can contain anti-caking agents, synthetic iodine, and dextrose that aren’t always listed.

The swap: Use unrefined mineral salts with naturally occurring trace minerals.

Try: Read my full blog post on the best non-toxic salt to use.

Final Thoughts

Clean eating is about being aware. I cannot stress the importance of checking ingredient labels. The first step of taking hold of your health is knowing what you’re putting into your body. The good thing about our developing world is that there is most likely a cleaner version available.