Whole foods offer an affordable and healthy solution. Packed with essential vitamins and minerals, whole foods offer you all the nutrition your body needs for proper functioning.
Foods made with less processing typically retain more of their original nutrients while having fewer calories per serving.
No matter if you prefer shopping for your groceries at an upscale supermarket or cooking for yourself at home, whole foods are an important component of a balanced diet. Here are some strategies for starting to include them into your everyday mealtimes.
Fruits and Vegetables
At Whole Foods, you know you’re getting foods as close to their natural state as possible. Their fresh, frozen or canned offerings don’t contain added fats, sugars and sodium – plus they’re high in fiber and nutrients!
Botanically speaking, vegetables can be divided into various categories depending on what parts are edible from each plant – this might include leaves (lettuce), stems (celery), roots (carrots), tubers (potato) or bulbs (onions). Many soft stemmed plants produce fruit such as tomatoes or seeds such as peas which are still considered vegetables.
People often refer to fruits and vegetables with culinary terminology when discussing them; handing you a tomato and saying “this is a vegetable,” for instance, while spinach or beets might qualify as fruits. Consuming fresh produce provides your body with many beneficial plant compounds which could lower disease risks.
Grains
Grains are seeds from cereal plants and can either be whole or refined. Refined grains have had the bran and germ stripped away, leaving only carb-rich endosperm behind. Whole grains offer more health benefits due to being packed full of fiber, iron and B vitamins; additionally they slow the breakdown of starch into glucose more slowly for sustained energy and blood sugar regulation.
Whole grains can be found in products like brown rice, rolled oats, bulgur (cracked wheat), quinoa and barley. When shopping processed foods made with these ingredients, look for products labeled as 100% whole grain or “whole.”
When shopping for whole foods, aim for those that contain the least processed options available – these may be fresh, frozen or canned products – to minimize processing. Try to avoid purchasing highly-processed options like deli meats, cookies and snacks which tend to contain many additives and preservatives.
Legumes
Although beans might not be at the top of your mind when thinking about plant-based diets, legumes make an excellent protein alternative that provides all essential amino acids.
Legumes belong to the Fabaceae or Leguminosae plant family and include lentils, chickpeas and peas. Legumes are well known for their ability to fix nitrogen through an intricate relationship with bacteria that forms nodules on their roots and takes in atmospheric nitrogen from the atmosphere and converts it to something usable by their host plant.
Bean consumption has been linked with lower risks of heart disease. They have low glycemic indexes and provide essential fiber, potassium, folate, magnesium and protein content as well as iron.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are rich sources of protein, unsaturated fatty acids and minerals – essential components in many plant-forward diets, from Mediterranean to Paleo. Nuts and seeds make an easy source of quick protein as well as add texture, flavor and crunch to salads, sauces, vegetables or whole grains.
Many nuts and seeds are fruits in their own right, producing thick leathery shells (like pecans and walnuts) or growing within the pit of fruit like peanuts. Nuts that are actually seeds such as sunflower and sesame provide essential vitamins and minerals such as iron and zinc while others such as chia and flax provide heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.
Herbs and Spices
Herbs are leafy parts of plants while spices are seasonings made from fruits, seeds, bark, dried buds roots rhizomes or resins (such as asafoetida bay leaf oil or cinnamon) used for flavor and color in food preparation.
Spices tend to be lightly processed and used fresh; however, some varieties may also be dried for future use. Herbs usually have less intense flavors compared to spices which often come ground or whole in form of tea bags or capsules.
Chinese Five Spice contains cinnamon, star anise, cloves and sichuan pepper with fennel seeds as ingredients. Herbs and spices belong to the whole foods group because they contain important sources of vitamins and minerals; some can even be considered medicinal as they help with treating ailments like indigestion, cold and cough symptoms as well as adding flavorings to food dishes.
