FOUR PILLARS OF HEALTHY EATING

1. Focus on Whole Foods

No, we're not talking about concentrating on Whole Foods Market here. We mean "whole foods" – any food in its most essential, pure and basic form: an asparagus spear, a lemon slice, a scoop of quinoa or a fillet of salmon. Favoring a whole foods-rich diet is a simple way to ensure that what you eat is micronutrient dense and free of unnecessary additives. Whole foods are the best ingredients for creating tasty and healthy meals, and diets loaded with whole, unrefined and unprocessed foods may help keep you healthy.

Tips for success:

• Choose whole, fresh, natural, organic, local, seasonal, unrefined and unprocessed foods. You'll typically find the least processed foods around the perimeter of the store.
  

•  Eliminate artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, sweeteners and hydrogenated fats from your diet.
  

• Learn more about which ingredients and additives to avoid.
  

 

2. Eat Plant-Strong™

Whether you're going gluten-free or love your dairy, meat and seafood, every diet can benefit from a focus on plant-based foods. Begin to reconfigure your meals so that the majority of your plate contains raw and cooked vegetables, fruits, legumes and beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains. When you eat more plants, you're helping your body get the key micronutrients it needs to function at its best.

Tips for success:

• Beans, nuts and legumes are great sources of plant-based protein.
  

• Eat a colorful variety of plants to ensure you're getting the best nutrients for your body. So satisfying!
  

• Learn how to select, cook and store vegetables, beans, nuts.
  

 

3. Choose Healthy Fats

Believe it or not, fat is part of a healthy diet – but only if it's the right kind. Get your healthy fats from whole plant-based foods like nuts, seeds and avocados. Then, minimize (or eliminate) the amounts of extracted oils and processed fats you cook with on a daily basis.

Tips for success:

• Nuts, seeds and avocados (all plant-based whole foods!) are great micronutrient-dense sources of healthy fats.
  

• Minimize or eliminate extracted oils (like canola) and processed fats (like margarine).
  

• Learn healthy cooking techniques, which help you prepare foods without using extracted oils.
  

 

4. Consider Nutrient Density

A variety of nutrients – such as vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients – are essential for good health. Eat a rainbow of fruits and vegetables along with all kinds of whole grains, beans and other unrefined whole plant foods to get the most out of your diet.

     Tips for success:

• Build your meals around recipes that emphasize plant- based foods. For some Yummy Whole Foods recipes see: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy-eating/four-pillars-healthy-eating
• Choose foods rich in micronutrients when compared to total caloric content.

 

What's the difference between whole foods and processed foods?

Healthy whole foods: you might know that you're supposed to eat them. But do you really know what they are?

"We live in a society that eats so much processed and manufactured food, that I think there's some genuine confusion about what qualifies as a whole food," says Tara Gidus, RD, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. Even for the health conscious, the phrase gets tangled up with other terms. Whole foods might be organic, or locally grown, or pesticide-free. But they aren't necessarily. The definition of healthy whole foods is much simpler.

"When you eat whole foods, you're getting the food in it’s natural state," Gidus tells WebMD. "You're getting it intact, with all of the vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that are in the food." Basically, it's the healthy whole food, rather than the bits that remain after refinement and processing. It's the difference between an apple and apple juice, or a baked potato and mashed potatoes.

 

Adapted from: http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/healthy-eating/four-pillars-healthy-eating

http://www.webmd.com/diet/the-benefits-of-healthy-whole-foods