Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Define Whole Foods

Whole Foods. In my mind this term means any food that is in the condition that God made it. Take an apple for instance and picture it in a pie, baked, or fried (I'm not really sure if people fry apples, but it wouldn't surprise me!). All of these things may seem harmless, especially if there have been no sugars added or other things. That's a whole other subject than the simplicity I am trying to portray right now, but they are not exactly harmless. When a food is cooked at a temperature higher than 118 degrees or so, it loses a lot of it's nutrition. The vitamins are cooked to death and you are left with a dead food! I have seen actual pictures of energy around a live apple slice and a cooked apple slice and the difference is staggering. You can see it for yourself on the documentary The Gerson Miracle - it's on Netflix.

If you want to live, eat live food. Your body is craving the vitamins and minerals in whole foods that you can't get from processed food that is void of life. Obesity can in a large way be attributed to these dead foods because people are not getting full! The dead foods fill their stomachs but leave them craving more because their bodies are crying out for nutrients! This is not to mention the additives in most processed foods that make them highly addictive.

I love the way whole foods have made a difference in my life. They, along with herbs and essential oils, have kept my weight stable, give me energy, and believe it or not they are easy on my budget. Because I can grow many of our foods and can buy my grains, beans, nuts, and seeds in bulk, I save on my grocery bill and we haven't been to the doctor for a cold or flu for years.

I realize that there are things that need cooked like potatoes and beans. I sprout my beans and grains as often as possible to get the most nutrition out of them and then low heat cook them so I don't boil away the vitamins. Here is a breakdown on how I get the most whole foods in my diet that I can without being a total raw foodist. Breakfast = freshly juiced fruit: Lunch = a big salad with whatever veggies I want and beans, quinoa, rice, or nuts; Dinner = a main meal made primarily of veggies, a cooked veggie for a side dish, and another big salad.

Just as a disclaimer I will say that my family does not eat the pristine diet that I would like us to. We have junk food Fridays so we have anything we might have wanted during the week. Usually we get sick Friday night and are more than ready for another healthy week. We are toning it down lately since we have noticed this cycle and now just enjoy homemade pizza, a salad, and 1 special dessert. My kids are all super athletic and are always winning this prize or that so I know we are on the right track. Right this minute my oldest boy is making a smoothie packed with greens because he wants major energy for a scout activity tonight.  :)

I would love to hear what you think of when you hear 'Whole Foods'. Is it similar to what I have described or different?

In a nut shell - whole foods to me means 'in it's whole and unaltered state'. I love whole foods!

Elisa Wadsworth

1 comment:

  1. This was an exellent article Elisa. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it!

    ReplyDelete