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Eat Whole. Be Whole. By Leslie-Ann Berg
Jenny pulled into the Kroger gas station on Ford Avenue. After scanning her card and selecting regular, she waited patiently while her car drank. When the tank was half full, Jenny replaced the nozzle on its base and grabbed five 2-liter Cokes from her backseat. Jenny poured the contents of each bottle into her tank, replaced the cap and drove away, satisfied with the full reading on her gas gauge.
Would you ever fill your gas tank with anything but wholesome, pure gasoline? Then why do we fill our bodies with anything other than wholesome, pure food? Ask
yourself this question as you walk the supermarket aisles, choose items from a restaurant menu and while picking ingredients for home-cooked meals. The gas and soda combination in the above example is equivalent to the nutrients and additives in processed foods. While processed foods contain portions of wholesome nutrients, they are heavily accompanied by chemicals, additives and preservatives, as well as lots of sugar, fat and salt. Just like a car fueled with a combination of gas and soda, our bodies when fueled with a combination of nutrients and additives are bound to run into problems down the road. Consuming whole food is the most important step to healthy eating, preventing disease and prolonging life.
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food&entertaining ✴ shop the perimeter Whole Food, Defined:
How to Become a Whole Food Consumer:
A whole food is a food that is processed as little as possible, is eaten in its natural state and is free of additives. A processed food, on the other hand, is a food that is altered from its natural state; it is consumed as individual fragments of whole foods, contains additives and is most often packaged. Fresh or frozen strawberries, rolled oats, spinach and brown rice are examples of whole foods. Strawberry jam, boxed cereals, canned creamed spinach and white rice are examples of processed foods.
Now that you can define a whole food, can identify a whole food in the supermarket and know the importance of whole foods in promoting health, use these tips to successfully increase your whole food consumption:
Identifying Whole Foods It can be incredibly challenging to identify whole foods at the supermarket. To whole food shop with ease, read the ingredients on every packaged item you plan to purchase, and ask yourself the following questions:
Prepare.
We lead busy lives that leave little time for cooking; therefore, whole food eating doesn’t just happen… it takes preparation! Carry out these three steps: 1) Create a whole food
meal plan 2) Create a whole food grocery list based on your meal plan and 3) Schedule weekly shopping trips, purchasing only those items on your list. Remember, the food you put in your
kitchen determines what you will eat on a daily basis; you can’t eat what you don’t buy!
• Is the ingredient list five ingredients or less? Shop the Perimeter. Most whole foods are located on the pe • Can I pronounce the ingredients and are rimeter of the supermarket: fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood, raw nuts and seeds, minimally processed dairy products and frozen they familiar to me? • Would my great grandmother recognize fruits and vegetables. Shop the perimeter first for these items. Only venture into the center aisles for 100% whole grains, dried beans and the ingredients? • Can I find these ingredients in my kitchen? lentils, dried fruits and natural nut butters. If you answer YES to all of these questions, you most likely have a whole food in your hands. If you answer NO to ANY of these questions, the food is most likely processed.
The Benefits of Whole Foods As long as our recommended nutrient intakes are met, why does it matter if our nutrition needs are met with whole foods or with processed foods? A calorie is a calorie, right? Wrong! When whole foods are consumed and metabolized by the human body, the benefits they possess over processed foods are overwhelming.
Obesity. Since 1982, money spent on processed food has doubled and not without consequence: Adult obesity rates have also doubled, while childhood obesity rates have tripled.
Processed Food & Chronic Disease Risk. Processed food is also linked with disease risk. In a recent study, it was found that 62% of a typical North American diet is made up of processed foods. This type of diet exceeds upper limits for calorie, fat, saturated fat, added sugars and sodium intakes, and fails to meet fiber recommendations. These are all dietary characteristics that increase the risk for chronic disease (such as cancer, diabetes, heart disease, Alzheimer’s and stroke) and premature death. 8 6 R ic h m o n d H i l l R e f l e c t io n s
Increase fruit and vegetable intake. Increasing fruit and vegetable intake is a great place to start in displacing processed food calories with nutrient dense, whole food calories. With each meal, fill half of your plate with whole fruits and veggies. Still hungry? Grab seconds of fruits and veggies only. Try shopping the seasons (find what’s in season here: http://snap.nal.usda.gov/ and buying frozen produce as money savers.)
Shop Fresh.
Not all whole foods are nutritionally equal. A sweet potato organically grown in your backyard has a much higher nutritional value than a genetically modified sweet potato conventionally grown in South America with high pesticide exposure, traveling thousands of miles to your local grocery store. To
optimize the nutritional value of your whole foods, practice these habits: Shop organic, shop farmer’s markets (check out Richmond Hill’s Farmer’s Market starting April 2) and grow your own vegetable garden. The best time to start a garden is in March and April. Get started now with this veggie garden how-to guide: www.fruitsandveggiesmorematters.org/ starting-your-vegetable-garden.
Identifying Whole Foods • Is the ingredient list five ingredients or less? • Can I pronounce the ingredients and are they familiar to me? • Would my great grandmother recognize the ingredients? • Can I find these ingredients in my kitchen?
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food&entertaining ✴ shop the perimeter
Push Meat to the Side. To make whole food shopping more affordable, reduce your meat consumption. Animal protein not only costs five times more than vegetable protein, it is also less healthy for our bodies when consumed with every meal. Try replacing one meat dish per day (or per week) with a vegetarian dish to save money, optimize health and increase whole foods in your diet.
Remember, homemade meals don’t need to be elaborate or labor intensive, they just need to be whole. To
read more, visit www.richmondhillreflectionsmag.com and click “Be Whole” under blogs. q
Choose Whole Grains. Grains make up a large percentage of the American diet. Therefore, for the average American, switching from refined grains to whole grains can make a big difference in overall health and whole food consumption. Choose grain items
that make the following two claims:100% whole wheat or 100% whole grain. Avoid items that list the following refined ingredients: enriched, bleached, refined, potassium bromate, white flour, wheat flour, bromated flour, degerminated, bran and wheat germ. Avoid added sugars: Approximately 75% of foods available in commercial supermarkets contain added sugars. How do we avoid such large quantities of added sugar? Choose foods that contain only natural sugars (such as raw sugar, brown sugar, maple syrup and honey). As a rule of thumb, avoid foods that list sugar (any type) in the top 3 ingredients. For an extensive list of other sugar names, go to: http://www.choosemyplate.gov/weight-management-calories/calories/added-sugars.html
Try new foods: A wide variety of foods are important for optimal health. Experiment with new fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and legumes to keep your pallet interested in whole foods. Purchase a new whole food item each time you go to the store!
Spend time in your kitchen! The protective effects of whole foods are increased when foods are subject to mild processing, like cooking or chopping. For example, Lycopene, a phytochemical found in tomatoes, reduces prostate cancer risk, yet cooking enhances these benefits by ten-fold. Take pride in what you put into your body and cook whole food meals. Identify the processed items you consume most often and replace them with homemade, whole food versions. Choose one item per month to make and perfect. These items may include: salad dressings, pasta sauces, breads, crackers, tortillas, cereal, granola, granola bars, soups, spice blends, dips, etc. Make your homemade versions in bulk, freeze and store for convenience.
Leslie-Ann Berg, MSPH, CPT, has a Masters of Science in Public Health in the area of Human Nutrition from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She is currently a personal trainer, health writer and nutrition educator in Richmond Hill, GA. Contact her at: berg.leslieann@gmail.com
DISCLAIMER: This information is not the opinion of Richmond Hill Reflections magazine. Integrate into your diet at your own risk – not every diet is for everyone. Please consult a physician before making any drastic lifestyle changes.
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