What is a whole food?

Hello, all and thanks for reading my blog! I am so excited to share my healthy experience with you, as I am mentored by Pooja :)

As part of my healthy living experience, I try to eat almost all whole, natural foods.

A whole food is a food that has not been processed in any way, and usually is identical or almost identical to the actual item in nature. Whole foods tend to only have a few ingredients- they should not have more than one or two. 

For example, an orange is a whole food (one ingredient, which comes from nature), while a cheese puff is not a whole food (many ingredients, most of which are chemically/ man- made). Example of whole foods are fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, (unaltered, i.e. non-fried and no preservatives or colors added) meat, and unaltered dairy (i.e. skim milk is not a whole food because some of the fat has been removed).

Eating whole foods is an easy way to prevent disease and to make your body feel great! If you want eat more  whole, natural foods, an easy start is stopping by your local Farmer's Market to pick up a few fruits and vegetables. I love going to the Union Square Greenmarket because there are always so many farmers and bakers with delicious goodies :)

If you are totally clueless how to utilize the whole, natural foods your body needs, visit poojasway.com for recipe ideas (I highly recommend the Banana, Flax, and Raw Cacao Smoothie!).