 Food terms tell nutritious story
“Organic,” “Whole Food,” “Unprocessed.” What do these terms mean? Why are they important?
“Unprocessed” can also include “Unrefined.” This means that food is in its most natural state. An example would be a fresh peach, rather than canned peaches.
“Whole Foods” are not processed or refined or have gone through as little processing and refining as possible.
Whole foods are not necessarily “Organic.” Organic means that the food was produced according to specific regulations. For example, only natural fertilizers can be used and things such as conventional pesticides and growth hormones cannot be used.
A food can be both organic and whole, but neither implies the other. You can buy a peach that was not organically grown. You can also buy organically processed food. This means that it was made with mostly organic ingredients.
So now on to the big question: Why is this information important?
First of all, processing and refining removes natural and valuable nutrients from food.
Sometimes manufacturers will put some of the lost nutrition back in as they do with enriched white bread, but there is no substitute for getting your nutrition straight from Mother Nature.
Simply put, the more our food is broken down before it goes into our bodies, the less work it makes our body do to process it.
When we eat food that is easily absorbed into our systems, our blood and cells are quickly overwhelmed. When this happens, insulin has to be produced to get everything back on an even footing. Your body sees this food as “extra” and then stores it as fat.
If you do this too often, over time your cells can become resistant to all of the extra insulin which may eventually lead to diabetes.
With organic foods, I believe that the biggest benefit comes from the processed products. Take any two similar products in the supermarket and compare the ingredients between the organic and non-organic versions. Chances are that you won’t be able to pronounce most of the ingredients on the non-organic product, let alone know what they are. If you are going to become more educated and conscious of what foods you are eating, you need to know what food is made of, otherwise you won’t be able to make an informed decision.
Obviously, most of us cannot go back to baking our own bread and growing our own food but we can become more conscious of the types of food we are eating and make more informed choices.
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Choose 100% whole grain for your breads and pastas
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Eat fresh fruits and vegetables in season
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As often as possible, prepare and cook meals yourself
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Spend a little time reading labels – you’ll be surprised how much you will learn
And remember, you don’t need to completely change your entire food routine overnight. Make changes one or two at a time and soon, you’ll be eating healthier and feeling much more satisfied with your choices.
Until next time, stay healthy and be happy. |
