Whole Food

From an early age, you were told by your parents and teachers among others that eating a balanced diet is essential to leading a longer, healthier life. This means taking eating lots of fruits and vegetables, some meat and dairy products while avoiding processed foods. However, as you grow older, it is no longer as simple as picking the right types of foods from the local supermarket. The shelves are filled with foods that have been genetically modified, contain chemicals or both. Redefining what whole food means is important to selecting the healthiest foods for you and your family.

A loose definition of the term whole food points to foods that undergo no to negligent amounts of processing. The aim is to consume these types of foods in the state closest to how they naturally exist. This means eating the fruit, vegetable, nut or seed raw to retain and consume most of its nutrients. Any additional preparation such as cooking, baking, frying, adding spices or mixing with processed foods will make the food lose a large percentage of its nutrients.

When it comes to whole food, any type of food that undergoes any processing becomes non-nutritious or can make you sicker. For instance, corn syrup is high in fructose which can contribute to the development of diabetes. On the other hand, there are foods that need to be processed in order to be consumed. For example, olive oil is only available after subjecting olives to processing. The type of processing can also affect the amount of nutrients that remain intact. Using the previous example, cold-pressed olive oil contains more of its original nutrients than heat-processed oil.

There are several ways of finding whole food. One way is to eat fruits and vegetables that are in season. Fruits and vegetables that are in season are more nutritious and flavorful than those that are not. Eat a variety to get all of the nutrients that you need. Grains are a bit trickier. People normally eat foods rich in refined grains which lead to the development of diseases and allergies.

To prevent developing allergies to grains such as wheat, people are advised to eat a variety of different grains. When it comes to foods that contain whole grains such as pasta and bread, read the list of ingredients carefully to make sure that the food product does not contain refined sugars which can take away any nutritional benefits of the whole grain. The same goes for nuts, seeds and legumes.

For meat, poultry and dairy products, pick meats and products harvested from animals that were raised naturally. This means no antibiotics, growth hormones or toxins have been injected into the animal. Remember to consume seafood such as salmon, mackerel and trout. These types of whole food contain omega-3 fatty acids which are beneficial for one’s health. They are important for increasing HDL levels in the body, reducing the chances of developing heart disease.