When it comes to choosing between natural whole foods and processed packaged foods, the healthy choice should be obvious. You should choose foods that provide you with the most nutrients. At the end of the day, the most nutrient-dense foods are made of natural ingredients rather than manufactured ingredients. "Enriched" Foods
Food labels can create confusion for those trying to make healthy choices. Food manufacturers often use the word "enriched" on their product labels. This makes it sound like the "enriched" ingredient is better for you; in actuality, the term "enriched," when applied to food ingredients, confirms that the food has been processed and depleted of many original nutrients.
For example: Enriched bread is bread that has been processed and most likely bleached. By processing the bread, the manufacturer has depleted it of its original plethora of vitamins and minerals. To compensate for this, the manufacturer enriches the bread with just a few vitamins and minerals--adding iron, calcium, etc., back into the bread.
These ingredients are then listed on the bread packaging, often misleading consumers into thinking that the current product is still a great source of those specific nutrients. But the reality is: whole grain bread, in its original, unprocessed form, provides you with a lot more nutrients than does enriched bread.
Therefore, you should make a conscious effort to purchase food items that are sold in a state as close to their natural, whole forms as possible.
Supplements
The whole food principle also applies to choosing supplements. Choose a whole food based supplement rather than a supplement that contains fragmented vitamins and minerals. This will provide you with the best guarantee of nutritional benefits.
A supplement helps to fulfill your body's vitamin and mineral needs. Ideally, you would meet your nutritional needs by consuming a variety of predominately organic non-processed foods. This means eating at least 5 daily servings of fruits and vegetables, plus whole grains, legumes, and lean protein. However, it is often difficult to consume enough healthy vitamins and minerals through eating regular meals. That is why supplementation is a great help.
However, the type of supplement you consume makes a big difference in contributing to your health. Whole food supplements are the best choice, as they provide the most vitamins and minerals, possibly fiber, phytochemicals and other antioxidants, and unknown nutrients with yet undiscovered benefits. On the other hand, isolated vitamin/mineral (non-whole food based) supplements--with synthetic vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, etc.--fail to provide essential nutritional components.
Statistics show that most of the public needs diet supplementation. Less than 25% of adults in the US alone eat the recommended daily servings of fruits and vegetables. Even more appalling, less than 7% of all children and adolescents consume the recommended 3 daily servings of vegetables. An isolated (non-whole food based) vitamin and mineral supplement may provide the body with some vitamins and minerals, but it cannot begin to offer the thousands of essential nutrients contained only in whole foods.
People are not suffering from a vitamin deficiency; they are suffering from a whole food deficiency. So look back to nature and include as many whole foods as possible in your meals, snacks, and supplements.
Deborah is the Health Director for Organic Liaison, has been a Registered Dietitian for over 16 years, counseling clients on nutrition and fitness, and is the author of 200 Superfoods That Will Save Your Life published by McGraw-Hill, Inc. Her mission is to educate Organic Liaison members to achieve optimal wellness through balanced eating and exercise. For more on Deborah - click here.
To contact Deborah, reach her directly at Phitter, a free health, diet, and weight-loss micro-blogging community, focused on getting 'phit.' Register for free, then send a phit to "olhealthdirector"
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Deborah is the Health Director for Organic Liaison, has been a Registered Dietitian for over 16 years, counseling clients on nutrition and fitness, and is the author of 200 Superfoods That Will Save Your Life published by McGraw-Hill, Inc. Her mission is to educate Organic Liaison members to achieve optimal wellness through balanced eating and exercise. For more on Deborah -
