January was a month of whirlwind production for me, keeping premium coaching clients on track, getting group coaching off the ground, and launching the Lifestyle Medicine Online Course for Physicians… WHEW And so I’ve taken the first few weeks of February as a period of reflection and renewal. With that, I have come out with a refreshed commitment to you to spread more knowledge in more ways!
One commitment I’m making to you is themed blogs and social media. Each blog each week will have a theme (connected with what I’m also sharing on social media), all focused on lifestyle transformation using the evidence behind food, sleep, exercise mindfulness and more. I’m SURE I will miss weeks (I’m a full time working momma!), so have grace with me as I hold grace for myself when this happens. (And I have a few more new commitments to you up my sleeve that I’ll reveal over the next few months 🙂
This week’s theme is digging in a bit to Whole Foods. Read on, and come on over to @wholisthealth social media to interact and comment so we can keep the conversation going (especially welcome to my free public Facebook group)!
What are whole foods? To simplify, just what it sounds like. Real food, not food products. Examples: The apple, not the apple sauce or the apple juice or the apple strudel. The corn, not the corn flour, corn syrup, boxed snacks. Eat the stone milled wheat (just cut up not ground down and extracted), not the wheat flour bread.
Why do we care about this? Oh let me count the ways… The more processed something is, the more things are taken out of the food, including vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein. A whole food is “nutrient dense”, giving you the most bang for your buck in terms of what your body needs per calorie. A processed food has been whittled down by food scientists to give you usually very little nutrients but is “energy dense” … meaning calories but not value. They also test exhaustively to find the perfectly irresistible (aka addictive) combo of high sugar and high fat combo to keep you coming back, but that is for another day. Plants are by definition whole! Whole grains can be trickier (see my resource below).
Evidence exists that touts the benefits of whole food living. Researchers have shown that a more plant-based diet may help prevent, treat or reverse some of our leading causes of death including heart disease, type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Plant-based diet intervention groups have reported greater diet satisfaction than control groups, as well as improved digestion, increased energy, better sleep, and significant improvement in their physical functioning, vitality, cognition, and endurance. Studies have also shown whole food eating can improve not only body weight, blood sugar levels and ability to control cholesterol, but also emotional states, including depression, anxiety, fatigue, sense of well-being and daily functioning.
Bonus tip! Put the plants and whole food in the middle of your plate and make it the star by being half the plate! Rest are garnishes. It’s a “protein flip”!
Resources: (click to go)
- WebMd: Whole Foods
- Food and Nutrition: Whole Foods
- Whole Foods for Optimal Health: An Athlete’s Story
- Whole Grains 101
Namaste, Wholist tribe, talk to you soon!
Remember, who you are matters, you are valuable, you are worth this, you are your WholeYou.
Heather
PS Can you lend me a hand? I want to know what your needs, pains, wants, interests are, so I can write and speak about what you want to hear. Fill out this super quick survey here so I can speak to YOU about what you need.
PSS Facebook Live on whole foods Monday Jan 18th at 6p ET/ 3p PT, will you join me? I’ll be here!
