What are whole foods?

Whole foods are healthy. You’ve probably heard that before, but you might be uncertain as to what whole foods actually are. Find out the whole food basics so you know it when you see it.

Whole foods defined. Foods that are considered whole foods are just what it sounds like — foods that are whole. This means unprocessed food that is not refined in any way or even pasteurized before consumption, according to Fit Nut corporate wellness programs. Whole foods do not contain added ingredients like sugar, salt or fat. If the cavemen ate it, it was probably a whole food. Michael Pollan, author of “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” and “In Defense of Food,” discusses the issue of fresh whole food in the New York Times article, “Unhappy Meal." His theory of the healthy diet centers on consuming these fresh, whole foods that are not processed. Focus on the whole food and less on the individual nutrients or health claims of a processed item.

Why are whole foods good? According to Pollan, whole foods are the only real food. Human beings' diet once consisted purely of whole food, a testimony to the value of consuming mainly whole foods. Pollan considers a whole food to be worth more than the sum of its parts. That is to say, the reaction of the body on the combination of nutrients that make up a whole food is healthier for you than any individual nutrient — particularly when used as an additive like whole grain in processed breakfast cereal. In fact, removing a given “useful molecule” from the constrains of its original form eliminates its value. The extracted healthy nutrient doesn’t work properly out of the context from which it came. As Pollan quips, if your grandmother’s grandmother’s grandmother ate it, it’s probably not processed.

Examples of whole food.

Greens

Vegetables

Fruit

Meat

Fish

Poultry

Unprocessed whole grain

Examples of refined foods.

White flour

Applesauce

Fish sticks

Frozen vegetables in sauce

Frozen french fries

Chicken nuggets

Chicken fried steak

Corn syrup

Low-fat milk

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