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What are the “healthy” Costco foods? Fortunately, there are lots of great-for-you healthy choices. In fact, many are exceptional, and I am delighted to share them with you. (And please note: I have zero commercial relationships with any brands.)

Print Dr. Ann’s popular “Costco Love List” to learn all the healthy Costco foods before your next trip to the grocery store!

Having a healthy grocery list in hand can be game-changing when it comes to making healthy eating a reality. I’ve compiled a list (complete with images so you know exactly what to look for) of 35 of my favorite healthy Costco finds. I consider these foods superstars for health, value, and taste.

Where We Stand with Healthy Grocery Shopping

If you’re like most Americans, the never-ending stream of ultra-processed, highly palatable foods that define our modern food supply have hijacked your taste buds. And it is no wonder – 71% of the foods available in the grocery store are ultra-processed, typically with added fats, sugars, sodium, and chemical flavor additives that readily stimulate the parts of our brains that create cravings and food addiction. Thus why this Healthy Costco Foods List is so valuable!

What’s more, the food industry invests heavily in employing teams of scientists to guide them in producing processed foods that don’t readily fill us up (because the more you eat the more money they make) AND that take sinful advantage of our palate’s innate love of sweet and fatty foods. Yes, they purposely dial in flavor to create what they call the bliss point: the point at which the addictive powers of a food crescendo.

But have no fear! Fortunately, our sense of taste is highly malleable. This means that your taste buds can be coaxed into loving the simple and less intense flavor profiles typical of the healthiest foods: Mother Nature’s disease-busting foods, like vegetables, fruits, beans and whole grains. And the Healthy Costco foods I am sharing are perfect for giving your taste buds a healthy makeover.

If you make a commitment to incorporate a few key practices into your daily diet (taking advantage of this list is a great start), you too can reach the “ultimate goal” of healthy eating as a way of life. In time, I know from experience that you will truly crave and seek out super-healthy real foods like leafy greens, beans, dark chocolate, and berries, and simultaneously lose your desire for sweets and the other processed foods we now know trash our health.

Your Food Environment Matters

Learning how to stock your cupboards and refrigerator with the right foods is the lynchpin for igniting health and healing. The science is irrefutable: the foods that cross our lips have a greater impact on our health and weight control than any other factor. And of all the factors that influence what we eat moment to moment, the foods in our immediate environment are tops. Thus, I cannot stress enough how vital it is to get your home food environment in order!

Thankfully, it’s as simple as the choice between right and wrong. The right foods are the real foods that come from Mother Nature–namely fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, seeds, and omega 3- rich seafood. These are the foods that can heal the mind and body and give us more life.

The wrong foods on the other hand typically come out of a factory or from a factory/industrial farm–notably sugary beverages, refined grains, packaged sweets, fatty and processed meats, and that dizzying array of ultra- processed foods now found throughout the grocery stores. These foods drive disease and cut our lives short. Not to mention zapping our energy, brain power, and quality of life.

All It Takes Is a Little Knowledge and Know-How

1. Make a concerted effort to decrease your taste buds‘ exposures to the foods most notorious for desensitizing and hijacking your sense of taste. These include all processed foods high in sugar and or fat and salt, especially: traditional fast foods, desserts and sweets like cakes, pastries, donuts, cookies and candy, as well as foods and beverages sweetened with artificial sweeteners.
2. Be proactive in regularly exposing your palate to healthy foods, particularly non-starchy vegetables. The more you eat a food, the better it tastes over time, even if you don’t like them at first. And that is a well-documented fact! Give it a go to prove it for yourself.

• When you eat healthy foods constantly reinforce to yourself how good they are for your body and how much better they make you feel. Studies show this simple practice of “positive associations” makes them taste better and you feel better. And vice a versa for unhealthy foods: remind yourself of the damage they are doing in your body; with time they simply don’t taste as good and they make you feel horrible.

Costco as a Healthy Grocery Food Store

Although I am a huge advocate of buying and eating local, I can’t say enough good things about the value and convenience of some prized selections from Costco Wholesale. Yes, there are plenty of healthy Costco foods!

The list I put together contains all my “Costco Favorites”. These selections are exceedingly healthy and are also a fantastic value.

For the most part, they are shelf stable allowing you to capitalize on the “value of volume” for saving you time, money, and for reducing your carbon footprint (think less packaging and less fuel use).

All these selections are regulars in my kitchen. They make my taste buds sing and make healthy meal prep easier and faster.

Below you’ll find my popular Costco Shopping List YouTube video that I made a few years ago.

I recently updated the list so you can download and print it now!