What Defines Refined Foods? 
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What Are Refined Foods?

What Are Refined Foods?
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By
Crystal Fenton
Updated on August 6, 2025
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When you’re craving carbs, you’re probably not hankering for an apple or whole-grain toast, but something more along the lines of pizza, chips, or a sweet dessert. These highly palatable products are just a few examples of refined carbohydrates.

Refined Foods Explained

Refining sugar involves extracting sugar from plants like beets or sugar cane and distilling it into fine crystals.

 Meanwhile, refined grains are those that have been stripped of their germ and bran, leaving behind the endosperm, which is mostly starch.

 White rice is an example of a refined grain, while brown rice is a whole grain. The refinement process often removes nutrients, such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals, from foods.

Refined grains and sugars are known as simple carbohydrates, while foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, and legumes are complex carbohydrates.

 Complex carbohydrates take longer to digest and contain many essential nutrients, including fiber.
Eating any sort of carbohydrate raises blood sugar levels, but consuming refined carbohydrates can flood the bloodstream immediately with sugar (glucose), causing insulin levels to rise in response. That’s because refined foods lack fiber, which naturally helps to slow the digestive process and moderate blood sugar levels.

Refined Foods’ Effects on Health

While the occasional indulgence is okay, consuming too many refined carbohydrates may have negative health effects in the long run.

For one, a diet high in refined carbs and sugar may lead to unwanted weight gain.

 It can also raise your risk of serious conditions, including:

  • Metabolic syndrome
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Obesity
  • Insulin resistance
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Depression
It’s a good idea to be mindful of foods high in hidden refined sugar. For example, manufacturers may add refined sugar to products like fruit drinks, flavored yogurts, and breakfast bars.

 Canned soup, salad dressing, and condiments often contain added sugars, too.

 You can read the nutrition label to find out how much added sugar is in a product.

Choose Healthier Grains and Carbs

Opt for better health by choosing whole grains and other complex carbs over refined foods most of the time.

 Again, whereas foods high in simple carbohydrates usually don’t offer much nutritional value, complex carbohydrates, including brown rice, whole-grain bread, oats, fruits, vegetables, beans, and legumes, are an essential part of a healthy diet.

When it comes to foods like bread, pasta, and cereal, the American Heart Association (AHA) recommends choosing products with at least 51-percent whole grains instead of refined grains. Check nutrition labels carefully to see what kind of grains a product contains.

The following are some examples of refined grains and other simple carbohydrates:

  • White bread
  • Sugary breakfast cereals
  • Cakes
  • White rice
  • Regular pasta
  • Potato chips
  • Soda
  • Sports drinks
  • Flavored yogurt
  • Ice cream
  • Candy
  • White flour

The Takeaway

  • Refined carbohydrates, including white bread, potato chips, and sweets, lack important nutrients like fiber and tend to cause blood sugar spikes.
  • Over time, a diet high in refined carbohydrates may contribute to health issues like type 2 diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
  • Check nutrition labels carefully, and limit products high in refined grains and added sugars.
  • If you have an underlying health condition or concerns about your diet, talk to your healthcare team for personalized advice.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
Everyday Health follows strict sourcing guidelines to ensure the accuracy of its content, outlined in our editorial policy. We use only trustworthy sources, including peer-reviewed studies, board-certified medical experts, patients with lived experience, and information from top institutions.
Resources
  1. Natural vs. Refined Sugars: What’s the Difference? City of Hope. October 26, 2022.
  2. Whole Grains. Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
  3. Robinson L et al. Refined Carbs and Sugar. HelpGuide.org. January 16, 2025.
  4. Carbohydrates. American Heart Association. September 12, 2023.
  5. Fiber: The Carb That Helps You Manage Diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. May 15, 2024.
  6. Clemente-Suárez VJ et al. The Burden of Carbohydrates in Health and Disease. Nutrients. September 15, 2022.
  7. Added Sugars. American Heart Association. August 2, 2024.
  8. Stiepan D. Mayo Clinic Minute: Surprising Sources of Added Sugars. Mayo Clinic. August 23, 2024.
  9. Get to Know Grains: Why You Need Them, and What to Look For. American Heart Association. June 25, 2024.
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Kayli Anderson, RDN

Medical Reviewer
Member of American College of Lifestyle Medicine

Kayli Anderson has over a decade of experience in nutrition, culinary education, and lifestyle medicine. She believes that eating well should be simple, pleasurable, and sustainable. Anderson has worked with clients from all walks of life, but she currently specializes in nutrition therapy and lifestyle medicine for women. She’s the founder of PlantBasedMavens.com, a hub for women to get evidence-based, practical, and woman-centered guidance on nutrition and cooking, hormone health, fertility, pregnancy, movement, mental well-being, nontoxic living, and more.

Anderson is board-certified in lifestyle medicine and serves as lead faculty of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine’s (ACLM) "Food as Medicine" course. She is past chair of the ACLM's registered dietitian member interest group, secretary of the women's health member interest group, and nutrition faculty for many of ACLM's other course offerings. She is the coauthor of the Plant-Based Nutrition Quick Start Guide and works with many of the leading organizations in nutrition and lifestyle medicine to develop nutrition content, recipes, and educational programs.

Anderson frequently speaks on the topics of women’s health and plant-based nutrition and has coauthored two lifestyle medicine textbooks, including the first one on women’s health, Improving Women's Health Across the Lifespan.

She received a master's degree in nutrition and physical performance and is certified as an exercise physiologist and intuitive eating counselor. She's a student of herbal medicine and women's integrative and functional medicine. She lives with her husband in the Colorado Rocky Mountains, where you’ll find her out on a trail or in her garden.

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Crystal Fenton

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