Six Essential Whole Foods Everyone Should Be Eating
Are you interested in eating healthier and losing weight without a cleanse or detox? Eating whole foods is a fantastic way of losing weight, all while maintaining a steady supply of vitamins and nutrients. A whole food diet is very flexible and isn’t a diet as much as it is a goal. The goal of a whole food diet is to replace unhealthy foods with whole foods.
How Does a Whole Food Diet Work?
As stated before, the goal of eating whole foods is to replace junk foods. For example, you would replace potato chips with a real potato, or replace chicken tenders with an actual chicken breast. This diet calls for an inspection of your groceries. You must check labels to ensure that the food you are purchasing is not full of artificial ingredients, preservatives, and additives.
Eating whole foods will reduce heart inflammation, reducing the chances of heart disease. Whole foods will also help diabetics control and reduce their blood sugar. Instead of eating foods that are chock full of artificial ingredients that increase the chances of health risks, you should eat these six types of whole foods:
- Healthy Fats, such as avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, and unsweetened coconut.
- Starchy Vegetables, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, and butternut squash.
- Fruits, such as berries, citrus fruits, peaches, pineapple, pears, and bananas,
- Vegetables, such as kale, tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, carrots, asparagus, and peppers.
- Whole Grains, such as brown rice, farro, brown rice pasta, barley, quinoa, and rolled oats.
- Seeds and Nuts, such as almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and macadamia nuts.
Pros of Eating Whole Food
Compared to other forms of dieting, a whole food diet is one of the safest. There are few restrictions with a whole food diet, meaning that necessary nutrients and vitamins can still be obtained. Many cleanse and detoxes leave out these nutrients and vitamins, causing the dieter to become sick. The lack of restrictions is especially useful for those who are breastfeeding or on particular types of medication. Whole foods will eliminate unhealthy additives, as well as provide you with fibers, good fats, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.
Cons of Eating Whole Foods
The cons of eating whole foods do not relate to the food itself, but more of the dedication required for a whole food diet. For one, the cost of whole foods can get pricey. Many grocery stores now carry a wide variety of whole foods, but they all cost a bit more than foods with artificial ingredients.
A whole foods diet also requires a lot of meal preparation. It can be very hard to make time to prepare meals, especially if you have become accustomed to buying fast-food or unhealthy frozen foods. However, while this may be time-consuming, replacing processed foods with whole foods goes a long way with improving your health and wellness.
Healthy, Easy To Prepare Meals
Do you also struggle with meal preparation? It’s understandable! Whether you are busy with a job or caring for your family, there is little time to get groceries and make meals. Z.E.N Foods understands how busy life can be and offers great meals, delivered to your door. With a wide variety of meals to pick from, you could be eating a healthy meal or a vegetarian meal. Interested? Check out our selection of meal programs on our website!