Our ability to think and act is a reflection of our state of physical and mental health, which has as its foundation the food we cook and eat. You could easily say cooking is what separates man from beast, as it developed as an art along with culture. Appropriate food can continually heal our bodies, as recognised by Hippocrates, who taught that food should be our medicine and our medicine should be food. In most traditional medicine systems, wholefood plays an integral part and common foods are often used for medicinal purposes.
It seems that when people experience health-related issues, they try so many avenues dealing with personal relationship issues, changing careers, medication, counselling etc. Eventually, they come to changing their eating habits. This is really the simplest thing to do to effect change in health. Healthy, natural wholefoods are a major influence on healing and maintaining good health.
What are wholefoods?
By definition, wholefoods are foods in as close to their natural state as possible. For example, an apple is a wholefood as opposed to commercially prepared apple juice, or a bowl of brown rice as opposed to 10-minute white rice. Wholefoods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and refined as little as possible before being consumed, and retain most, if not all, of their original nutrients and fibre. Wholefoods typically do not contain added ingredients such as sugar, salt or fat. Examples of wholefoods include unpolished wholegrains; fruits and vegetables; legumes; unprocessed meat, poultry and fish; and non-homogenised milk.
A benefit of eating wholefoods is that they retain their natural flavour and, once we get a taste for wholefoods, we notice the full, naturally sweet flavour of many vegetables, grains, nuts and fruits.
Diets rich in whole and unrefined foods, such as wholegrains, dark green and yellow/orange-coloured vegetables and fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds, contain high concentrations of antioxidants, fibres and numerous other phytochemicals that may be protective against chronic diseases.
The term wholefood is often confused with organic food, but wholefoods are not necessarily organic, nor are organic foods necessarily whole. The true definition of a wholefood is one that has nothing added and nothing taken away. In practice, this must inevitably lead to a compromise. Because of the lack of basic processing, some wholefoods have a very short shelf life. A processed product with unnecessary additives cannot be classed as a wholefood.
In terms of what is sold in wholefood and healthfood stores, this means the best possible compromise is sought.
The science of wholefoods
Nutrition experts from the Harvard School of Public Health created the Healthy Eating Pyramid. The Healthy Eating Pyramid takes advantage of extensive research and offers a broader guide that’s not based on a particular culture but on the best available scientific evidence about the links between diet and health. The Healthy Eating Pyramid is described in greater detail in Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating, published by Simon & Schuster (2001).
Long-term studies of thousands of men and women by the Harvard School of Public Health show that those who followed its Healthy Eating Pyramid reduced their risk of heart disease by nearly twice as much as those who followed the USDA’s Food Guide Pyramid. Focusing on individual food groups, the pyramid endorses both good carbohydrates (wholegrain foods) and good fats (plant oils) and is designed not for short-term weight loss but lifelong health.
The Harvard medical scientists recommend that wholegrains be eaten at most meals. Naturopaths, nutritionists and macrobiotic practitioners have always recommended a plentiful consumption of wholegrains. They are essential as the body needs carbohydrates for energy. Recommended wholegrains include brown rice, oats, millet, quinoa, barley and rye.
The body can’t digest wholegrains as quickly as it can highly processed carbohydrates such as white flour. This keeps blood sugar and insulin levels from rising, then falling, too quickly. Better control of blood sugar and insulin can keep hunger at bay and may prevent the development of type 2 diabetes. Plus, a growing body of research suggests that eating a diet rich in wholegrains may also protect against heart disease.
The experts at Harvard also recommend an abundance of vegetables and fruits. It’s important to consume plenty of wholegrains, vegetables and healthy fats, such as olive and flaxseed oils, nuts and legumes. It’s not necessary to eat animal proteins and dairy, according to this scientific evidence. However, if you eat meat, fish and poultry are the best choices. They are protective and can decrease the chances of having a heart attack or stroke, possibly protect against some types of cancer, lower blood pressure, help you avoid the painful intestinal ailment called diverticulitis, guard against cataract and macular degeneration, which are the major causes of vision loss among people over age 65, add variety to your diet and wake up your palate.
Nuts, seeds and beans are also recommended by the Harvard School of Public Health. These plant wholefoods are excellent sources of protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals. Beans include black beans, navy beans, chickpeas, lentils and other beans that are usually sold dried. Many kinds of nuts contain healthy fats. Enjoy small amounts of almonds, walnuts, pecans, peanuts, hazelnuts and pistachios, which are good for your heart.
The Harvard nutrition experts suggest eating fish, poultry and eggs 0–3 times per day. Animal foods are good sources of protein, but this advice also supports the decision to eat only vegetarian sources of protein.
A wealth of research suggests that eating fish can reduce the risk of heart disease, since fish is rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fats. Chicken and turkey are also good sources of protein and can be low in saturated fat. Eggs, which have long been demonised because they contain fairly high levels of cholesterol, aren’t as bad as they’re cracked up to be.
The Harvard School of Public Health says, “In fact, an egg is a much better breakfast than a doughnut cooked in an oil rich in trans fats or a bagel made from refined flour. People with diabetes or heart disease, however, should limit their egg yolk consumption to no more than three a week.â€
Surprising was the recommendation of a dairy OR calcium supplement. Building bone and keeping bones strong takes calcium, vitamin D, exercise and a whole lot more. It’s recommended that if you can eat dairy, watch how much fat they have. If you don’t eat dairy products, taking a vitamin D and calcium supplement offers an easy and inexpensive way to meet your daily vitamin D and calcium needs. From a wholefood point of view, there are great sources of calcium in vegetables, sea vegetables, legumes, nuts and seeds. Notably, red meat, white rice, white bread, pasta, potatoes and sweets are at the top point of the pyramid in the “use sparingly†section.
According the most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted, The China Study 2005 (T. Colin Campbell PhD, Thomas M. Campbell II), those eating a plant-based diet have far less incidence of heart disease, cancers, diabetes, MS and other chronic disease.
The China Study refers to the China Project, a survey of death rates for 12 different kinds of cancer for more than 2400 counties and 880 million (96 per cent) of their citizens conducted jointly by Cornell University, Oxford University and the Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine over the course of 20 years. The authors introduced and explained the conclusions of scientific studies, which correlated animal-based diets with disease. It was concluded that diets high in animal protein (including casein in cow’s milk) were strongly linked to diseases such as heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes. The authors recommended that people eat a wholefood, plant-based diet and avoid consuming beef, poultry and milk as a means to minimise and/or reverse the development of chronic disease.
Another recent study involved the investigation of “Blue Zones†— regions of the world where people commonly live active lives past the age of 100. Scientists and demographers have classified these longevity hotspots as having common healthy traits and life practices that result in higher-than-normal longevity. The term Blue Zone seems to be first employed in a scientific article by a team of demographers working on centenarians in Sardinia in 2004. People inhabiting Blue Zones typically share common healthy lifestyle characteristics that contribute to their longevity. Blue Zones also refers to a related project from Dan Buettner’s Quest Network, Inc.
The best advice, particularly in the convoluted world of nutrition and diet, is to keep things simple. A plant-based diet is an essential part of any nutritional program, with overwhelming evidence from the four Blue Zones (Loma Linda, Nicoya, Sardinia and Okinawa) pointing to the regular consumption of vegetables, legumes and fruit aiding longevity. It’s important to note that you don’t have to become vegetarian to do this; indeed, not everyone living long and healthy lives in the four Blue Zones is vegetarian. However, meat consumption should become occasional instead of default.
How to choose wisely
There are many ways to make food choices. Our habits, tastes, concepts or models such as the high-protein diet, Weight Watchers, South Beach diet, Pritikin diet and the like can have enormous influences on us. However, it’s important to remember that making the right choices is essentially very simple.
Consume wholegrains daily
- Wholegrains satisfy hunger and taste, provide energy and endurance, calm nerves and encourage deep sleep. They promote elimination, quick reflexes, long memory and clear thinking.
Eat colourful vegetables and fruits daily
- Red foods like tomatoes and watermelon contain lycopene, thought to be important for fighting prostate cancer and heart disease.
- Green vegetables like spinach and kale contain lutein and zeaxanthin, which help protect against age-related eye disease.
- Blue and purple foods like blueberries and eggplant contain anthocyanins, which may help protect the body from cancer.
- White foods like cauliflower contain sulforaphane, which may also help protect against cancer.
Consume protein daily
- Protein builds our skin, bones, cartilage, muscle, blood, lymph, nerves, hair, nails and teeth.
- It is the major component in enzymes and hormones.
- Protein repairs tissues and builds new ones.
- It makes antibodies and immune cells.
- Protein transports nutrients in and out of cells.
- Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and are necessary for vitamins and minerals to be put to proper use.
I stress the value of vegetable quality proteins principally. Primary vegetable proteins are legume/bean-based and secondary are seeds, nuts, seaweed and miso. Seeds and nuts are difficult to digest; too many can stress the liver and gallbladder, which must produce and deliver bile for processing the concentrated oils in the nuts, so consume small amounts.
For those who want or need some animal foods, seafoods are the best choices as they are from the world of water, which is much more ancient or primitive than human life. Also, most seafoods are less contractive (yang) and acidic than other animal foods such as poultry, beef, pork or lamb. (Note: an excess of animal protein causes calcium and zinc to be excreted out of urine.)
Switching to a wholefood plant-based diet is clearly healthier and eating organically will help to prevent over-exposure to chemicals. There will be fewer burdens on the intestines and all organs of assimilation, metabolism and elimination. It’s also important to remember that a healthy wholefood diet is built on a base of regular exercise, which keeps the body’s energy in balance and weight in check.
Following a wholefood diet protects our wellbeing and that of the planet. If we want to preserve and restore our health and our environment, we must make changes to our diet and choose wholefoods wisely.
Foods to avoid
Concentrated or condensed foods such as red meat, eggs, hard cheese and oversalted foods. These foods make you stiff, tense, restless and easily agitated. They have what we call a contractive (yang) nature, so this will create strong cravings for very expansive (yin) things, such as alcohol, drugs and sugar.
Dispersing-expanding foods such as sugars — dextrose, sucrose and fructose — and foods such as softdrinks, chocolate, icecream and artificial sweeteners. Also included is Nutrasweet, an artificial substitute for refined sugars. Recent studies have implicated Nutrasweet in brain cancer. Other extreme substances include drugs and strong alcohol.
Congesting-congealing foods including dairy products. Milk can congest sinuses, while cheese can stagnate the bowel.
All non-human foods such as added pesticides, preservatives and flavour enhancers. These are toxic in the body over time. More demand to detox is placed on the liver, kidneys, colon and lungs. Antibiotics and hormones are also included.
There are over 350 pesticides allowed in Western farming, but researchers have estimated that over 70,000 other chemicals have been detected in our food chain and most of these have not formally been tested for Health risks.
These pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, fertilisers and industrial pollution are in our water because of rain erosion run-off from landfills and agricultural lands. There is also the presence of pesticides in our food supply — in plants, animals, fish and grains — and some of these may well have direct carcinogenic affects.
It’s particularly relevant to breast and testicular cancer that some of these contaminants also have a chemical structure similar to that of oestrogen and can cause abnormal hormonal activity by disrupting the normal hormone pathway. These toxic oestrogen mimics are called xeno-oestrogens and are presently found in large quantities in the environment with sources including pesticides, herbicides, plastics, car pollution and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs).
There are worries that xeno-oestrogens are not only contributing to increased risk of hormone-related cancers such as breast, testicular, ovarian and uterine but are also affecting sperm count and other infertility problems.
