What are whole foods?

What are whole foods and why should we know what they are? Whole foods are simply food that has not been processed.

Get the idea of how life was before all the supermarkets and fast food restaurants, when people got fresh food either from their own farms or small local markets. That was whole food!

In contrast, "processed food" is any food that has been changed from its original form. The term "whole food" is mainly used to differentiate between healthy food from Mother Nature, and less healthy processed food that Man has altered with pesticides, preservatives (such as exta sodium), sugar, synthetic vitamins and minerals, etc.

Asking the question "what are whole foods?" usually brings up the question "why make a distinction between whole food and processed food?"

Because whole foods help the body function better than processed food. In other words, whole foods promote improved health because they contain nutrients that the body needs, while processed foods, stripped of most nutrients and including toxic additives, can actually damage health.

In the U.S. especially, we have been consuming an increasingly processed food diet. Fast food and convenience foods have taken the place of, for the most part, nutritious meals made with fresh ingredients. This has been a solution to over-scheduled, hectic and stressful lifestyle choices that are prevalent in society at this time.

But look what the processed food diet has cost us!. Epidemics of all sorts of health-related problems! That is because processed food does not give our bodies all the nutrients it needs PLUS it gives the body a lot of chemicals (like food coloring and preservatives for example) that are harmful in the long run.

Whole foods provide far better nutrition than processed foods. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that a fresh apple is healthier than a piece of apple pie.

Whole foods are not the same as organic foods. Whole food CAN be organic, meaning it is grown or raised without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers and other additives. If you want the healthiest food, choose organic whole foods far more often while eliminating heavily processed food from your diet. See the article on "Healthy Eating Guidelines" for an easy-to-use guideline for choosing healthy food.

I hope this answers the question "what are whole foods?" for you!

Cheers,
BB

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