Eating a Whole Foods Diet Is Important for
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Wheat
Let's take wheat as an example. If you choose to include wheat in your diet--and this isn't wise for certain people because of a gluten sensitivity or allergies--then, eat it as whole wheat, as in whole wheat bread, whole wheat pasta, raw sprouted wheat berries, or cooked wheat berries that you might eat as a hot breakfast cereal or use in a casserole or salad.
The way most people consume wheat is as bleached white flour found commonly in breads, pastries, pastas, cookies, crackers, breading, you name it. What's wrong with this, you ask? Well, white flour is what's left over after all of the nutritious elements--wheat germ, wheat bran, many vitamins and minerals, good essential fatty acids--have been removed. What's left is basically poor quality proteins and fattening starch.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that buying flour products that are labeled "enriched" is a good choice, because they only add back about 4 vitamins and minerals compared to 15 that were lost, plus fiber and other beneficial nutrients like antioxidants and perhaps other good things that haven't even been discovered yet.
In addition, chemicals are used to bleach the flour. You might be getting oxide of nitrogen, nitrosyl or benzoyl peroxide, chlorine, or chloride with that loaf of fluffy white bread you and your children use to make your peanut butter sandwiches.
Potatoes
Potatoes are another good example of a nutritious whole food being turned into an unhealthy food. Let's compare a large baked potato with a large order of French fries from a fast food restaurant (I chose a restaurant that was not the worst and not the best, trying to get a fair representation).A large baked potato contains 278 calories, has no cholesterol, and is very low in sodium and saturated fat. It's a good source of fiber, vitamins C and B6, potassium and manganese.
The large French fries contain 570 calories and 47% of the DV (daily value) of total fat, of which 30% is saturated fat with 8 gr. of trans fat, and 14% sodium. To be fair, there's still some fiber, calcium, vitamin C, and iron, but wouldn't you feel better getting those nutrients from a food that hadn't been turned into a unwholesome nutritional disaster?
Try this quick and easy potato breakfast burrito.
How to Get Started
The idea is to buy foods which are as close to their natural state as possible with their nutrition intact. Avoid packaged, prepared, and refined foods. These are all considered whole foods: fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans, peas, lentils), nuts and seeds, and whole grains. Are you not sure where to start? Here are some suggestions of how to incorporate wholefoods into your diet:
- Purchase whole fruit juice instead of a fruit drink, but remember that fresh fruit is better than fruit juice.
- Order a baked potato rather than French fries.
- Buy whole wheat bread instead of white bread. Be careful, because brown bread is usually just colored with something. Read the label.
- Oatmeal instead of sugar coated junk cereal. Sweeten your oatmeal with raisins or dates.
- Buy whole wheat pasta.
- Cook with whole wheat flour or other whole grain flours. Don't even buy white flour.
- If this is new to you, consider buying a good, basic cookbook that concentrates on whole food cooking. As a start, I would recommend any of Dr. John McDougall's books. They're basic, simple and have delicious recipes.
Eat whole foods to give yourself an immune system boost.
Take good care of your own and your family's health. Avoid the chemicals and additives you'll find in most processed foods and obtain the nutrition you need from eating whole foods.
Return from Whole Foods to Healthy Family.
