Whole Food Diet
Very simply, a whole food diet consists entirely of whole foods and traditionally-made foods, and entirely avoids industrially-made processed food.Whole foods include: fresh fruits and vegetables; whole grains; legumes; nuts and seeds; unprocessed meat, poultry, organ meat, and fish; eggs; raw milk.
Traditionally-made foods are homemade or artisan-made without high (industrial) temperatures, chemicals, or additives. These include specially-made butter, cheese, yogurt, expeller-pressed oils, whole-grain bread, unrefined salt, and others. There are many benefits of a healthy diet. But a diet based on whole foods can do much more. In the 1930s, Weston Price studied traditional diets around the world. He established the value of whole foods, but did more than that. He showed that: - Traditional diets contain from four to fifty times more vitamins and minerals than the American diet does.
- Ttraditional diets bring excellent health!
His book Nutrition and Physical Degeneration describes his discoveries.
Choices
Different approaches to the whole food diet have been developed in modern times. They all exclude industrially processed food, but have other obvious differences.The major controversies include: - The role of animal products and meat
- The role of fat
- The role of grains
- The role of cooking
- Choice of superfoods
Modern Approaches To Whole Food Diet
Some modern approaches:Weston Price diet: (also called WAP diet--Weston A. Price diet). Emphasizes Dr. Price's finding that the healthiest traditional diets always included organ meats, sesafood, or raw dairy products. Cultured foods diet Low carb high fat diet: a whole foods Paleo diet Raw food diets Macrobiotics
Principles
The following are principles common to most diets:Nutrient-dense food
Food with a high concentration of vitamins and minerals is nutrient-dense. Nutrient-dense food has more nutrients per calorie than low-nutrient food. The ultimate nutrient-dense foods are called superfoods; the ultimate low-nutrient foods are junk foods. SuperfoodsFoods with a super concentration of nutrition are often called superfoods. Frequently, they contain special nutrients with unique benefits that are hard to obtain elsewhere. High-enzyme foods
Enzymes are proteins that carry out all the functions of the body. Our bodies make these enzymes, but all wild animal diets and all healthy human diets include enzymes in food. More information is in the classic book Enzyme Nutrition. Special preparation methods
Traditional food preparation often increases the nutrient content of foods (and eliminates anti-nutrients). There is more information--why and how-to--in the cookbook Nourishing Traditions. Antioxidants
Antioxidants are nutrients that prevent cellular damage. Aging, disease, toxins, and even the normal functions of the body cause cellular (and tissue) damage through the process of "oxidative injury" or "free radical damage." Antioxidants can be vitamins, minerals, thiols, flavonoids, or enzymes, all from food. Phytochemicals
Fruits, vegetables, beans, and grains contain thousands of phytochemicals ("plant chemicals") that create the color, taste, and other properties of plant foods. Many of these pigments, flavonoids, and other phytochemicals are extremely beneficial. The book The Color Code tells how to crack the "code" of the healthful pigments of fruits and vegetables. Fat-soluble vitamins
These are vitamins A, D, and K2, primarily from animal products such as seafood, organ meats, eggs, and dairy products. They need dietary fat to be absorbed.
Healing Properties of Foods
Food heals, through these principles and more.For extra information, I can recommend an exciting new website:
Foods' Healing Power
Healthy eating has a tremendous impact on your health. Which healthy foods should you eat to heal yourself? Find out foods' healing power by applying the suggestions you find here to your life.
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