A whole foods diet comprises an assortment of fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, legumes, grains and unprocessed meats – this diet plan is low in fat, salt and sugar content.
Opt for foods that are whole and unprocessed as much as possible and look for products with the fewest ingredients on their Nutrition Facts labels, while keeping sodium intake below 2,400 mg a day.
Fruits and Vegetables
Addicting fruits and vegetables can help ensure that you are receiving an array of essential plant chemicals as well as vitamins and minerals, plus frozen, canned or dried fruit can make delicious additions to meals.
Botanically speaking, fruits and vegetables differ because fruit comes from flowers while vegetables develop from roots, stems, and leaves of a plant. Culinary classification can often be less clear-cut; tomato can serve either as fruit or as vegetable when served on its own.
When searching for foods, it is essential that they be minimally processed, which means avoiding certain items such as jarred pasta sauce, potato chips and cookies. You can find these options by shopping the perimeter or natural food aisles of your grocery store – adopting this whole foods approach may even prove more cost effective in the long run!
Grains
Grain products are packed with essential nutrients and fiber-rich, making them a staple in our store. Grains include wheat, rice, barley, rye millet quinoa and spelt berries – try substituting whole grains instead of pasta or rice to increase variety and bulk.
Whole grains refers to any plant seeds (or kernels) with all three parts intact: bran, germ and endosperm. By contrast, refined grains – those which have had their bran and germ stripped out during processing – tend to be less nutritious; such refined grains include white flour and white rice.
People who consume more whole grains tend to have lower risks of obesity and chronic diseases than those who don’t, including heart disease and diabetes. Furthermore, whole grains provide essential nutrition benefits like fiber and help lower cardiovascular risks; research also shows they improve gut bacteria by increasing beneficial Lachnospira bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids to counteract another bacteria species that contributes to inflammation.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds are powerhouses of nutrition, offering up protein, dietary fiber and heart-friendly monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats such as alpha-linolenic acid. Furthermore, nuts and seeds provide vitamins and minerals like magnesium and vitamin E – not forgetting their many other nutritional benefits!
Nuts may be promoted as heart-healthy snacks, but their caloric intake should be limited and in moderation. Combine nuts with low-energy dense foods like vegetables for optimal nutrition.
Seeds may not get as much recognition as nuts, but they should still be included as part of a whole food diet. They provide protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals such as zinc, iron and niacin; you can sprinkle them over salads, add them as toppings on yogurt or stir ground flax, chia and walnuts into oatmeal as toppings or use ground flax, chia and walnuts into oatmeal for breakfast. All nuts and seeds provide good sources of dietary fiber; an ounce provides approximately 28g which is equivalent to two ounces of meat poultry or fish!
Herbs and Spices
Herbs and spices add flavor, aroma, and color without increasing caloric intake. Furthermore, herbs and spices offer an effective way to decrease salt and sugar consumption in your diet while still creating tasty meals.
Herbal and spice plants produce chemicals with various scents and flavors that attract or repel pests, pollinators and animals that might otherwise consume or disperse their seeds. Furthermore, herbs and spices have long been recognized for their medicinal and therapeutic uses, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-tumorogenic and glucose-lowering effects.
At first glance, herbs are leafy plants like basil, tarragon and thyme while spices include seeds such as coriander, cumin and anise. But sometimes distinguishing between herbs and spices is more complicated; often leaves are used for spices while seeds serve as herbs – making defining exactly what each is difficult. Therefore, it may be useful to view herbs and spices more as a category of whole foods than individual groups of products.
