Ultra processed foods are changing what you eat without you noticing. You order french fries thinking you’re getting a potato. You’re getting up to 30 ingredients: preservatives, citric acid, chemical fillers, all cooked in oil that’s been sitting for days.

White bread is a sugar sponge with no nutritional density and a shelf life that makes no biological sense. Alyssa B’s benchmark: a healthy loaf maxes out at six to eight ingredients. Most grocery store bread isn’t close. Her rule for everything else: if you can’t pronounce it, put it back. Your body can’t digest it either, and that’s where the gut inflammation, bloating, and cramping you can’t explain are actually coming from.

The fix is cheaper than the problem. A $9.99 bag of lentils covers roughly 50 meals. Frozen vegetables carry the same nutrient profile as fresh at a lower cost. Homemade salad dressing costs under a dollar versus six to eight at the store. Making it yourself cuts the ingredient list in half.

Topics: ultra processed foods, food label reading, processed food ingredients, gut inflammation, homemade food budget

GUEST: Alyssa B | http://nourished.ca

Originally aired on2026-03-06