What Would You Like To Know?
Whole foods are as mother nature intended with the correct balance of fibre, vitamins and minerals
Whole foods are processed and refined as little as possible and are grown in a natural way without chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilisers
When consumed, they should resemble the original ‘whole’ food as closely as possible i.e. an entire apple as opposed to apple juice
What are Whole Foods?
Find out how even "healthy food", like an apple, can become unhealthy
“Whole foods“ are plant foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or as little as possible.
Whole foods are nutrient dense so the words are often used interchangeably, however, I decided to dedicate a short section to whole foods as there is a subtle differentiation that deserves a mention.
The word “whole’, when used as an adjective,
means “in an unbroken or undamaged state;
in one piece’.
If I pluck an apple from a tree and hold it in my hand it would be in an unbroken state, it is a whole apple. If I decide to take the peel off the apple and put the flesh into a juicer in order to separate the liquid from the pulp. I now have three parts of the same fruit (peel, flesh and juice) and although everyone will agree that it is still an apple it most certainly is no longer whole.
If I take this one step further and decide to use the apple pulp in a cake that I am baking, I will no longer be able to separately identify the fruit once I’ve mixed it in with all the other ingredients.
In this example, I have shown that the more I process this fruit the less identifiable it is as an apple.
A fresh, organically grown juicy whole apple contains dietary fibre in its skin and core. About 10% of an apple is made up of carbohydrate and 4% of an apple is made up from a variety of vitamins and minerals. The rest of the apple, more than 80%, is water. A medium-sized eating apple contains about 40 calories; one Kilogram of fresh apples provides approximately 2100kJ of energy.
Excluding the peel and core of apples from the diet halves the amount of vitamin C and dietary fibre consumed, but makes very little difference to the sugar intake.
The significance of eating a whole apple versus one that is peeled and cored becomes clearer; especially with regards to the way in which it is digested and used for energy.
The apple peel is rich in insoluble fiber, and is particularly beneficial for bowel health and regularity. Insoluble fiber binds to water rather than dissolving in it, a quality that allows it to make stools larger, softer and easier to pass. It also promotes more frequent bowel movements by keeping material moving through the intestinal tract.
By consuming the fibre in the peel, you are also ensuring that the fruit sugar in the apple (fructose) is released slowly into the blood stream thus keeping your blood sugar stable and keeping you feeling fuller for longer.
"If I were to discard the peel and pulp and were to only drink the apple juice, I would be consuming as much sugar as a bar of dairy milk chocolate"
With almost seven teaspoons of sugar in a single serving, apple juice contains more than the recommended daily amount for adults who want to stay healthy.
Furthermore, fructose is metabolised entirely by the liver and is converted straight into fat if not immediately used to supply fuel for the body!