The Whole Foods Diet

Do Good To Yourself And Your Loved Ones

Whole foods diet are more popular among people who are health conscious. The others? They just seem to ignore the whole concept of whole foods.
Before we dive in, let’s see what do the experts mean by whole foods!

What are whole foods?

Whole foods are nothing but food items that are in their most natural form. They are either totally natural, just as they are grown or produced, or they are close enough to natural. This essentially means lesser or no processing!

Whole foods are just the antonym of processed foods. Processed foods usually have many other “extra” ingredients other than the main food item. For instance in a can of tuna, you will have preservatives, flavoring and coloring agents other than the tuna itself.
All the extra synthetic ingredients are certainly not good for our body. Not just that, they simply do harm. So instead of reaping the health benefits of eating tuna, you invite the negative effects of the extra ingredients, which is quite bad.

Whole foods doesn’t always mean organic

Many people have a confusion here. Organic refers to the method in which a product is produced. For instance if greens are produced without pesticides and other chemicals to boost growth and freshness, then those greens are organic. But a packaged salad made of organic greens is not a whole food!
Similarly chicken grown in farm under natural conditions and with natural food is organic. Such chicken are not given any antibiotic shots or drugs to accelerate growth. However a chicken burger or canned chicken “something” made with organic chicken is not “whole”.
I hope you get the idea!

So why bother about whole foods diet?

Whole foods are natural and they are packed with fiber, minerals and the good fats. By eating whole foods you naturally add the goodness and benefits of the food you eat to your system. If you continuously consume whole foods, you are naturally reducing the risk of some of the fatal diseases including cardiovascular disease, a few types of cancer and also diabetes.
Given that the rate of people who have any of the above mentioned diseases is increasing dramatically and the age at which people are affected by these diseases is decreasing dramatically, whole foods are a natural and effective option to go with!
Since whole foods are made by nature they have all the good ingredients your body needs. This includes fibers and good fats. Whole foods also do not have the extras like unnecessary fat or the bad fats.

Whole foods are expensive, aren’t they?

Well, not always! The more processing a food item needs, the more will be the cost. That’s according to the logic. But there are also certain store bought whole foods (mostly the branded ones) that are really expensive – that doesn’t mean you should not opt for whole foods.
There are indeed a lot of cheaper and even frugal options available with whole foods (hint: grow your own veggies if possible).

So what’s stopping you from adopting a whole foods diet?

Well there could be some concerns! I discuss some of those concerns below and tips to survive them!
First if you are concerned about the price, as I said grow your food as much as possible. If you’re not into gardening or if you don’t have the space to have a garden, find a local farmer or a supplier who can supply you with whole foods.
While shopping go for the cheaper option of whole foods – be it grains, bread, whatever!
If you are concerned about the time and effort it takes to prepare your own food from scratch using whole foods, think about the health benefits your family is about to get. Also you don’t have to spend time everyday with cooking. You can do all the major cooking for the week and store the food appropriately to save time!
Make sure you buy seasonal fruits and veggies only during the season. We all know that seasonal fruits cost a lot during off season. Hence avoid looking for seasonal fruits of veggies during off season – you will simply end up paying more!
Since whole foods usually come in reasonable prices in full (say a full chicken, or a full pumpkin, sort of ), you need to make sure you don’t waste food – my personal opinion is that whole foods are kinda rare and precious. So please don’t waste them. Use all of them. Chop them and store them in the fridge or freezer as necessary. And use it all
This doesn’t mean you should eat the whole chicken for the rest of the week. Yes it is so, but you can make different dishes as well as soup from different parts of a chicken. Same with other whole foods too – you get the idea!

What do you say?

So there’s nothing really stopping you from consuming whole foods and switch to an all-healthy diet. You will only be doing good to yourself, your family and your surroundings.