The Whole Food Blog

Here are 5 guidelines to follow for best results when considering healthy food for a healthy diet:

1.    Keep the colon clean by reducing or eliminating meat and dairy and eating more fiber.  Meat takes so long to digest that it often leaves behind a trail of toxic waste in the colon.  Dairy products create a lining of mucus on the inside of the colon that prevents valuable nutrients from being absorbed by the rest of the body.  Healthy foods high in fiber help keep the colon clean, scrub away the mucus and provide a feeling of satisfaction.

2.    Eat more whole foods.  Healthy diets rich in naturally healthy foods like whole grains, dark green and yellow/orange-fleshed vegetables and fruits, legumes, nuts and seeds, contain high concentrations of antioxidants, fibers and numerous other plant nutrients that may be protective against chronic diseases.

3.    Drink, drink, drink – not just water, but healthy drinks that make water intake more productive.  Use health drinks with live enzymes from whole food ingredients.  Bottled, enhanced vitamin waters are overly processed and do not contain live enzymes or whole food vitamins.  Eliminate sodas and junky sports drinks made with chemical isolates.  Also, be very careful with caffeine and alcohol.

4.    Get more nutrition in fewer calories, which is easier than ever using concentrated whole foods (better than juicing without the hassle).  There are plenty of healthy food concentrates available now to make this a good way to fill any nutritional gaps in a healthy diet.

5.    Eat frequent, small amounts throughout the day, rather than three big meals.  See this Daily Healthy Food Plan for more tips.

Following these 5 guidelines for healthy food selection makes it possible to maintain a healthy diet for life.  It gives the body power to REGENERATE rather than DEGENERATE.  Read more about the Philosophy of Regeneration and remember this quote, “whatever goes in the mouth either builds the body up or tears it down.”

Looking at the ingredients in most so-called health drinks it’s easy to see they are far from healthy.  Many of the sport drinks and vitamin waters on the shelves of convenience stores and health food stores are nothing more than candy-colored water.

When shopping for health drinks, here are a few ingredients to avoid:

·    High Fructose Corn Syrup – This is concentrated sugar that contributes to weight gain and abnormal blood sugar levels, which can also lead to diabetes.  Excess sugars have no place in health drinks.

·    Phosphoric Acid is just what it says it is – acid.  It is often defined as,  “A clear colorless liquid used in fertilizers, detergents, pharmaceuticals and food flavoring, irritating to the skin and eyes and moderately toxic if ingested.”

·    Artificial Flavors – Nutrition experts call them “Excito-toxins”.  Artificial flavorings in health drinks create substances that are more like soft drinks and candy.

·    Artificial Sweeteners – These are so unnecessary in health drinks today.  In addition to the acid forming properties of artificial sweeteners, nutritionists express concerns about their effects on the human body.  Many consumers now believe that artificial sweeteners may play a factor in diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s.  That is one reason why corporations such as Pepsico and Coca Cola are beginning to market health drinks and other products containing Stevia, an all natural sweetener that is actually beneficial.

·    Isolated Vitamins – When isolated, processed, heated, liquefied and bottled, vitamins and minerals break down before the body can use them.  Vitamins and minerals should be obtained from whole foods, not from so called health drinks that are really bottled, heated, highly processed waters with colorful dyes and artificial ingredients.

Here is an actual ingredients list from a well-known sports drink that many people believe is a health drink:
·    Sucrose Syrup (this is sugar)
·    High Fructose Corn Syrup (more sugar) – A total of 56 gms of sugar
·    Phosphoric Acid
·    Glycerol ester of wood rosin
·    Modified Food Starch
·    Natural and Artificial Flavors
·    Yellow 6, Yellow 5 and Red 40 (artificial dyes)

Buying quality health drinks in a convenience store, grocery store, or health food store at the mall is almost impossible.  However, truly healthy drinks are easily found online by searching for all natural health drinks.