Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible, before being consumed. Whole foods typically do not contain added salt, sugar, fat or preservatives. So, I am a dietitian that believes in eating real, unprocessed food majority of the time!
You wont see me telling my clients to open packets or use shake mixes to improve their health… I have a ‘food first’ mantra.
The term ‘wholefood’, is often confused with organic food, but whole foods are not necessarily organic, nor are organic foods necessarily whole (more on that later!). Examples of whole foods include unrefined grains, beans, fruits, vegetables, raw nuts, seeds, lean cuts of meat and fish, eggs, cheese, honey and milk.
A focus on whole foods offers three main benefits over a reliance on dietary supplements: they provide greater nutrition for being a source of more complex micronutrients, they provide essential dietary fibre and they provide naturally occurring protective substances, such as phytochemicals.
Stay tuned to this blog early next week as we look at ‘How to avoid processed food’.
Stay warm and stay well,