Unprocessed, food being unprocessed is a very important subject to me.  I don’t like to be controversial but sometimes I really just want to get up on my soap box and shout from it.  Today the topic I want to share about in short (we will see how short by the time I get done with this post) is about not buying processed food, go figure.
Some people think that buying food, any food at Whole foods, Trader Joes, Coops, or health food stores means they are healthy and okay to consume.  While some of the products might be better than what you get at the average grocery store, don’t let the words natural and even organic fool you if it appears on the outside of a box, package or can.  Not all items on the shelf are bad, but fresh and as a whole food is so much better.
We need to remember to get back to the basics and strive to make most of what we but in our bodies from scratch.  That means shopping the perimeter of the Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s and Coops. Better yet,  hit the farmers markets or become part of a CSA.  That will result in buying more fruits and vegetables and making more of a whole food plant-based meal.  Buying your food in the produce and bulk foods area should be a priority and this is where buying organic counts.

Buying organic as much as possible is one of the most important things to remember when cooking and eating a whole food plant-based lifestyle.  Sometimes the pocketbook, ie:cash in hand, doesn’t always allow that, so if you can’t always do organic at least try to follow these two lists, the  clean 15 and the dirty dozen plus.  The dirty dozen plus consists of plants and vegetables that you should definitely buy organic, by doing this  it limits your exposure to pesticides.  Pesticides are toxins and toxins are not what you want to be putting into your body.    The Environmental Working Group provides us with the dirty dozen plus list and the clean fifteen list.

 Strive to make your meals from scratch and not from a box.  Know what’s in your food.  As far as whole foods, well just think out of the box, literally, anything that comes packaged in a box has most of the time been processed in some way.  We are going for unprocessed here. Whole food is just that a  WHOLE food.  Plant based is just the icing on the cake, ok maybe that’s not a good saying to use in describing a plant-based diet.  After all icing and cake aren’t exactly plant-based but there are ways to make even those on the healthy side.  Shoot a girl’s has to have her sweet treats once in a while.  Moderation is the key to sweets, I’m still learning that.  Now back to plant-based.  The  majority of my meals are filled with food that comes from plants.  The fresh green kind, vegetables, and fruits and berries. The more colorful the better.

I eat this way for my health first, like Hippocrates  said “Let thy food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.” Now that I have been living this lifestyle for three years I can’t imagine eating any other way.  I know it’s not for everyone, but we can all try to eat a little healthier.  Even if it’s giving up meat one night a week, or making sure you have some form of vegetables at each meal.  Baby steps, change a little bit at a time.  Compare the S.A.D to the whole food plant-based diet and you might think twice about what you are fixing for dinner tonight.

Tags:  organic plant based whole food