(c) 2009, Kathy Fannon (Beautiful whole foods! Everything except the spinach was from my local farmer's market!)
What are whole foods? I assume everybody knows what I mean when I say that, but I was asked by a friend the other day exactly what they are. It reminded me that at one time I wasn't sure what they are either, so maybe a little clarification would be helpful.
Whole foods are foods that are whole. Whole foods are foods in their natural state. Whole foods are unprocessed and unrefined. They are the raw fruits and vegetables in the produce department. They are the cuts of meat at the butcher shop. They are the whole grains, nuts and seeds you buy - some of the few things you can buy in the 'evil center aisles' of the grocery store! Whole foods can even include raw milk and dairy products.
Whole foods are not frozen dinners, boxed dinners, canned soups or pasta products, bagged potato or tortilla chips, bakery items, hot or cold cereals, breakfast pastries, frozen pizzas, most yogurts, puddings, soda and thousands of other products.
So many so-called convenience foods are loaded with salt, sugar, chemicals, colorings, flavors and additives and are not considered to be whole foods.
The term 'whole foods' should not be confused with the term 'organic food'. A food can be whole but not organic; and an organic food can be a processed food.
I hope this helps you to better understand whole food.
I strongly encourage my clients to eat a whole foods diet and eliminate as much of the processed food as possible.
Do you still have questions about whole foods? I'd be happy to answer them for you, just leave them in the comment section below.
