Dr. Dae s Summary of Whole Food Nutrition Do you want to be healthy? Do you want to change the way you eat and still enjoy your food? Do you want to use food as medicine to help you get healthy? Then you want to eat whole foods. What are whole foods? Whole foods simply refer to eating foods in their natural state. These are foods that do not contain additives and preservatives, like high fructose corn sugar or flavoring or coloring. These foods have not been highly processed with all the nutrients being removed, like white flour. Whole foods have a high nutrient density, essential and nonessential amino acids, essential fatty acids, phytochemicals, fiber, and micronutrients required for metabolism and restoration. Examples of whole foods are vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean meats, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, or dairy products. The Great Carbohydrates
Vegetables, fruits, and grains are ALL considered carbohydrates. Vegetables and fruits are healthy sources of fiber and micronutrients. Eat and enjoy them raw, sautéed, roasted, blanched, or pureed. Eat them in as large of portions as possible. Limit dried fruits which can be overly sweet and impact blood sugars negatively. Here is a video for the serving size of fruits and vegetables? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyecfzbejas&t=1s Whole grains include any grain that has the fiber part intact. For bread, cereal, and pasta labels look for the words Whole Grain or Whole Wheat Fiber. Wheat Flour, Unbleached Wheat Flour, or Enriched Wheat Flour are not acceptable so be careful. Other examples of whole grains are steel cut oats, millet, barley, brown rice, wild rice, amaranth, quinoa, couscous, spelt, bran, or corn. Proteins Provide Power Proteins, both animal and plant-based, are a requirement for daily nutrition and a whole foods diet. Plant-based protein options are nuts, seeds, beans, and legumes. Animal based proteins are any foods that come from an animal like red meat, white meat, poultry, dairy, or eggs.
Good choices for plant-based foods are nuts, almonds, pecans, walnuts, and cashews. Examples of legumes: pinto beans, navy beans, green peas, string beans, lentils, black-eyed peas, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), lima beans, and soy beans (tofu). There may be some other options but these are my favorite. Meats should be organic, grass-fed or free-range and nitrate-free whenever possible. Red meats or pork should be lean and be limited to once per week. Chicken, turkey, or poultry should be lean whenever possible. Eggs from free-range chickens are high in essential fatty acids and don t cause cholesterol problems. Fish are best if they are cold water because they have the most essential fatty acids cod, flounder, halibut, herring, mackeral, mahi mahi, red snapper, salmon, swordfish, trout, or tuna. The best cooking methods are baked, broiled, or roasted. Fats are Fuel for our Brains and Hormones Healthy Fats that come from Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Coconut Oil are great cooking options. Avocadoes, Olives, nuts and seed have essential fatty acids for our normal hormone regulation and brain function. Cold water fish like mentioned above can also have great oils for our bodies. Here is an article about healthy fats. (http://www.healthydaes.com/blog/2014/9/8/identifyinghealthy-fats-3-things-you-should-know)
As you can see there are so many choices of healthy options with whole foods that you can have numerous and delicious options for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. Whole foods have been shown to improve your energy level and health issues like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Here is a quick glimpse of what is a balanced plate. (http://www.healthydaes.com/blog/2012/10/21/drdae-what-is-your-idea-of-a-balanced-diet ) To Your One Sweet Life, Dr. Dae Naturopathic Physician FREE ONLINE PROGRAMS JUST FOR YOU!!! I have created some free online programs to help you create healthy habits. You can join one or as many as you would like. EAT MORE PLANTS 7-Day Challenge This is an email based 7-day challenge designed to increase your servings of fruits and vegetables (or plant-based foods in general). I will send you a 7-day meal plan, grocery list, and meal preparation handouts before you start your challenge. I will also send you daily emails with encouragement and information about how make healthy eating tasty and fun! http://bit.ly/eatmoreplant7days GRATITUDE 30-days of gratitude to increase your health and attitude! This is an email-based program that sends you daily gratitude quotes and a 2-3 minute gratitude exercise each day for 30 days. It is one of my most popular programs hundreds of people have enjoyed it. http://bit.ly/30daysgratitudedrdae Dr. Dae s DIABETES Tips to Manage Your Blood Sugars to Normal Mini Course This is an online video program that gets delivered to your inbox. It gives you tips about how to use food, exercise, sleep, and stress management to improve your diabetes or pre-diabetes. http://bit.ly/drdaediabetestips
HEALTHY EATING - 5 Quick and HEALTHY Meals for Busy People Mini Course This online video mini course shares 5 meals that you can make in minutes. You will get the recipes as well. It is great for busy people that want to learn to make meals fast! http://bit.ly/freeclassquickhealthymeals