The Whole Food Blog

Obtaining the best pregnancy nutrition today requires pregnant women to learn more about including plenty of whole foods in their diet.  Whether expecting or not, the need for a balanced diet that includes vitamins and minerals from whole foods is common sense.  This is even more significant when pregnancy nutrition is involved as a healthy diet that includes plenty of whole foods is a perfect way to help the baby develop to its full potential.

Since weight gain is always a consideration for pregnancy nutrition, it’s a good idea to know in advance how many additional calories are needed.  According to the Institute of Medicine, “Active pregnant women need about 2,500 to 2,700 calories per day during the second trimester and 2,650 to 2,850 calories per day in the third trimester. Inactive women will require fewer calories.” One way to avoid any lack of proper pregnancy nutrition is to eat the best whole foods while avoiding empty calories.  Fresh fruits and vegetables are relatively low in calories for the amount of nutrition they provide.

In addition, excellent pregnancy nutrition can be obtained from all natural whole food concentrates and supplements.  Research shows that supplements made from whole food ingredients are absorbed by the body more efficiently than those formulated with isolated vitamins and minerals.  Raw, whole foods and all natural whole food concentrates prepared at low temperatures are more likely to contain live enzymes, which can allow for more effective absorption of the nutrients into the cells.

By choosing the right whole foods as part of any pregnancy nutrition plan, both the mother and baby will have the best prospects for a healthy birth.

Whenever you are feeling an energy slump and want a surefire boost, focus on consuming as many all natural foods and health drinks as you can.  At one time or another, we all become lazy and fall out of the groove of exercising regularly, so if you need a jump-start to get back into healthy habits, try this natural approach.  By adding more “live”, all natural foods to your diet and consuming fewer processed,  “dead” foods, you will begin to feel like a workout is necessary just to burn off all the excess energy.

When you hear the term “live foods” it usually means they contain active, living enzymes.  Often overlooked by the average consumer, these live enzymes are an important component of raw, whole foods such as fruits and vegetables.  They are the “life force” in all natural foods and health drinks made with whole food ingredients.  Different from processed foods and drinks, these energy boosters are not “enhanced” with isolated vitamins and minerals, but instead contain nutrients in their whole food structure.

Your body literally wakes up when you start consuming more whole foods that are closer to their natural state. Enhance your water with health drinks that contain live enzymes and you get an even bigger boost. This works best if you avoid sugary drinks or caffeine, so stay away from those convenience store energy drinks and candy-colored bottled waters.  While they may give you a short-term boost, the inevitable crash will just make it harder to get going again.  Look for health drinks made with whole food ingredients that are carefully formulated to keep those plant enzymes alive and active.

By adding something powerful to your water, like natural health drinks with live enzymes, you are boosting your body’s ability to absorb nutrients.  Those living plant enzymes are the catalysts that speed up the processes allowing your cells to take in vitamins and minerals.  This gives you better hydration and more energy, faster.

The fastest, easiest way to get a boost from all natural foods and health drinks is to try some of the concentrated formulas available today.  Just blend the powder mixes with healthy liquids, and within seconds you are on your way.  If you are buying foods and drinks that have been heated or pasteurized in the packaging and bottling process, then it is more likely that the live enzymes have been destroyed.  Cooking whole foods for too long at high temperatures, or blasting them in a microwave, may destroy the valuable nutrients as well.

This natural approach is one step toward gaining the kind of energy that will help you get out of lazy mode and into a more active state. Everyone needs a boost now and then to find the motivation for reaching new heights of health and fitness.  All natural foods and health drinks with live enzymes may be just the kick-start you need.

While there are numerous characteristics of a healthy body, these three ingredients are essential starting points.  Keep them in mind to maintain youthful energy, avert premature aging and stay healthy for life.

1.  Consume enough alkaline foods and drinks - Experts recommend a ratio of 80% alkaline foods to only 20% acid forming foods for optimal health.  Do you know your daily alkaline/acid consumption?  Take the free Alkaline Food Test to find out.

2.  Stay closer to nature – Choose more all natural foods.  These are considered to be minimally processed and do not contain any artificial ingredients.  All-natural foods are not “enriched” with isolated vitamins and minerals made in a laboratory.  They do not include ingredients such as refined sugars, refined flours, milled grains, hydrogenated oils, chemical preservatives, artificial sweeteners, dyes or, flavorings. Many experts agree that a diet consisting of mostly all-natural foods will give you a better chance of preventing health challenges such as obesity, diabetes, cancer, and heart disease.

3. Choose natural health drinks - Avoid those candy-colored sport drinks and vitamin waters that are usually loaded with sugars and high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners and isolated vitamins.  Instead, look for health drinks  made with natural, whole food ingredients such as fruits and herbs.  These will be more alkaline and they will contain real vitamins, not man-made.  Try to find healthy energy drinks with live enzymes as they promote better absorption of the nutrients.  Some powder drink formulas are more likely than bottled liquids to contain live enzymes, as they have not necessarily been heated or pasteurized in the bottling process.

In this era of highly processed foods it’s not always easy to make the most positive nutritional choices.  You have to think carefully about what you are putting in your body every time you open your mouth, and your wallet.  Look beyond the nutrition fact labels to be certain that you are giving yourself the highest quality ingredients for a truly healthy body.