March, 2009

First of all a ‘whole food’ is a food that has all its edible parts intact, food that is unprocessed and unrefined; food as close to its natural state as possible. ‘Organic food’ means food that is free from pesticides, chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and any other unnatural and detrimental products that are sprayed on the crops.

Whole foods, such as fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and grains, are made up of nutrients that the human body needs in order to survive and flourish. When these foods are transformed into shelf-stable, quick cooking convenience foods, they undergo a transformation.

The more a food is processed, the more of its nutritional value is stripped away. A food item that is healthy and nutritious in its natural form can become devoid of nutritional benefits once it undergoes processing. When foods are processed, artificial ingredients are added, and many of the natural characteristics of the food that make them healthy in the first place are taken away.

When you choose heavily processed foods over whole foods, you’re filling your body up with empty calories. This means your body is not getting the nourishment it needs so keeps sending out signals of hunger in the hope to get more nutrients. This is one of the main reasons we are undergoing an obesity epidemic.

It just makes sense that when you want to lose weight, it’s important that you choose nutrient rich whole foods that provide your body with the greatest amount of nutrition for the fewest number of calories. Simple really!