Health Starts Here is a program at Whole Foods Market…. and it couldn’t be more delicious! Look at how beautiful this is!
You may remember a while back I mentioned that Fred and I are currently on a customer advisory panel for Whole Foods Market. We have learned so much. It lasts for six months (once a month), this is the fourth month and the subject was healthy eating… and an introduction to their Health Starts Here program. They prepare food that is so very scrumptious, then give you time to eat and chat, then there is a talk. Sarah Jane at our local Whole Foods (Mount Pleasant, SC) was so interesting to listen to, and full of great tips and suggestions for healthy eating.
They also gave us a great booklet THE HEALTHY EATING HANDBOOK – it’s FULL of great information, recipes, guides (ideas for smoothies, breakfast bowls, dinner bowls (which we are hooked on right now!), salads, etc. – Click on the link to download!
Also note the BULK BASICS booklet… full of great info on all the different types of beans, whether you soak or don’t soak, the ratio of beans to water, how long to cook, etc. More than beans… so pick one up if you’re in the store!
The Health Starts Here program that Whole Foods Market has started helps take the guesswork out of eating healthy!
I had a white bean dip and an avocado dip with veggies, a scrumptious wrap, lentil chili, a wonderful salad with avocado vinaigrette, and raw apple crisp that was out of this world! I was so full. How often do I eat this many veggies at one sitting? Hmmmm, never! But this showed me that it was possible, and we’ve been adding so many more fruits/veggies ever since this meeting!
Healthy eating is much easier when you get an idea of some of the foods that you should choose… If you have a Whole Foods Market in your area, you’ll see some foods are labeled in the salad/hot bars, prepared food secretion and the self serve prepared meals with a Health Starts Here logo – if you see that you’ll know it’s good for you, and that it was prepared without any extracted oils/processed fats, they only use the healthier sources of fat… nuts, seeds and avocado… YUM!
All foods that have the Health Starts Here log follow their Four Pillars of Healthy Eating:
– They’re made using the purest whole foods, not the processed foods that many of us are used to!
– The ingredients used are plant based – which means there is fiber (that help keeps you full), protein and phytonutrients!
– They only contain healthy fats such as nuts, seeds and avocados!
– They’re high on the list of nutrient dense (containing the most nutrients) list… they have a great way to measure the super nutritious foods… At Whole Foods Market, in the produce section, the fruits and veggies have an ANDI (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index) score. So say you want to make a brown rice bowl and add some greens, you want the most nutrient dense greens, so you check the ANDI list and see the Kale is higher on the list then Arugula, so you choose that green.
With that being said. If you’re eating veggies, you’re doing good… this just packs a more powerful punch!
So I would like to shout out a big THANK YOU to Whole Foods for making healthy eating much easier!
Catch you back here tomorrow!
ARTFOODHOME.COM 
