Whole Foods Eating Recommendations
Need help knowing what to eat, what’s good for you and what’s not? This guide has great whole foods recommendations for any day of the week, in any situation, to help facilitate your detox or to just eat better.
FOODS RECOMMENDED
FRUIT
• Eat fresh or frozen fruit
• Dried fruit is fine if unsulphured and no additives are in it
• Best to eat fruit in season and native to your area
• Eat a variety of fruits daily. Avoid always eating the same things
• Juice should be kept to minimum and it is best to drink fresh juice.
• Dilute juice with water at 1:2.
• Chew fruit well.
• Wash fruit with a soap from the health food store or use essential oil of lemon
VEGETABLES
• Eat a variety of different vegetables of different colors daily.
• Include a large amount of green leafy vegetable and cabbage family vegetables i.e. collard, lettuce, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, mustard greens, chard, etc.
• Keep nightshade vegetables to minimum (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers, eggplant)
• Include sea vegetables if possible ( nori, kelp, dulse, kombu, wakame)
• Sprouts are a good source of vitamins and minerals too.
• Eat raw, cooked, steamed, or sautéed in olive oil.
• Chew vegetable very well.
• Wash vegetables in a wash from the health food store or in essential oil of lemon.
LEGUMES
• All dried beans including navy, white, black, mung, garbanzo, pinto, split peas, lentils,
kidney beans, green beans and soy beans.
• Soy bean products may also be included such at soy milk , soy beans, soy nuts, tofu, Tempe
• Dry beans should be soaked ovenight. Pour off water and rinse before cooking.
• Avoid canned beans with sugar and preservatives added.
• Bean dips without additives may also be used.
NUTS AND SEEDS
• The best way to eat seeds is sprouted as alfalfa, radish, sunflower, etc
• Good seeds are sunflower, sesame, and pumpkin seeds.
• Nuts should be eaten in small amounts as snacks .
• Best choices are almonds, cashew, hazel nuts, peacans, walnuts, brazil nuts
• Chew nuts and seeds very well..
• Nuts should be kept refridgerated. Eat raw, and unsalted.
• Use only pure nut butters with no additives and hydrogenated fats.
WHOLE GRAINS
• Brown rice, white rice, millet, oats, buckwheat, barley,
amaranth, corn, spelt, kamut Quinoa, whole wheat, teff
• Try to limit the wheat products and substitute with:
• Rice crackers and cakes
• Spelt, corn, rice and quinoa noodle and pastas
• Spelt, rye, millet amaranth breads
• Eat flat wheat such as pita and tortillas
• Cereals with rice or oat base are best such as granola, puffed rice, puffed millet, oat
bran, oatmeal, cream of rye
• There are many wheat alternatives but if you must eat wheat — eat whole wheat breads or sprouted grain breads such as Ezekial brand.
DAIRY PRODUCTS
• Eat Organic dairy products when at all possible.
• Susbtitute cows milk with goats mik or nut milks such as soy, almond, rice, etc.
• Eat organic yogurt. Watch for added sugars.
• Use plain yogurt and add simply fruit jams or fruit to it.
• Avoid cheeses with colorings added .
• Soft, white cheese are best such as cottage, ricotta, mozzarella, goat, feta, brie, etc…
FISH
• Cold water fish is the best source of omega 3 fats: salmon, cod, halibut, bass, haddock, sardines, herring , trout, tuna
• Wild-Caught fish is highest in omega 3 fats.
• Best method of cooking is baking, broiling and grilling.
• Always eat fish with green food. The greens will bind mercury to prevent heavy metal toxicity.
POULTRY AND EGGS
• Eat only organic free range chicken and eggs.
• Eat whole egg.
• Best preparation for eggs is poaching, hard/soft boiled, steaming, or frying in olive oil
or organic butter.
• Chicken can be baked, grilled, or broiled.
• Avoid lunch meats.
MEAT
• Eat organic free range meat when possible.
• Bake , broil, grill is best preparation.
• Avoid lunch meats and smoked meats as they are high in nitrates and nitrites.
• Use cuts with less fat.
FATS AND OILS
• Cook only in Olive Oil.
• Use butter over margarine but use sparingly.
• Purchase expeller pressed or cold pressed vegatable oils in the unrefined forms such as Canola, sesame, sunflower, almond, walnut, etc…..
• You can add a few drops of vitamin E to preserve the oils longer.
• Flax seed oil or ground flax seeds at 1 tablespoon per day is great.
• Avoid hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats such as margarine, Crisco, Pam type cooking sprays and the endless amount of packaged foods with this in it.
BEVERAGES
• Drink filtered water and herbal teas at room temperature or hot preferably.
• Avoid water and fluids when eating if you have digestive problems. This dilutes the Enzymes
• Fruit juice should be avoided or diluted at 1:2 with water
• Limit caffeine intake to 2 cups per day in the A.M.
• Try to drink organic coffee and tea whenever possible.
• Some good substitutes for coffee and black tea are:
• Green tea, Yerba matte, ginseng tea, herbal teas, roasted grain coffee substitutes
• Hansen Natural Sodas and Ginger Brew are good soda substitutions. They are available at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, etc.
WATER
• Drink spring water or filterd water.
• Well water and tap water need to be filtered.
• Avoid distilled water.
• Drink water out of glass or stainless steel
• A very good water purifier is Multi-Pure, which I highly recommend it. Check out my aritcle on purified water and the $59 discount available for Multi-Pure filtration units.
SPICES AND CONDIMENTS
• Salt in moderation. Sea salt is best.
• Pepper, herbal spices without preservatives, garlic, ginger, onions
• Bragg liquid aminos
• Use mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard from the health food stores.
NATURAL SWEETENERS
• Substitutions such as honey, fructose, molasses, maple syrup.
• Use natural sweeteners when possible
• Stevia is a sweet herbal substitute you can get at health food stores.
• Never use sugar substitutes such as nutrasweet, aspartame, splenda, saccharine.
FOODS TO AVOID OR LIMIT
REFINED SUGARS
• Includes cookies, cakes, candies,
• Avoid corn syrup and corn sweeteners, sucrose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, etc.
FOOD ADDITIVES
• Includes artificial colorings, dyes, and preservatives
• Avoid diet additives such as nutrasweet, saccharine, aspartame, splenda
• Avoid nitrites, nitrates, sulphites
• Avoid fake fats such hydrogenated fats and Olestra
• MSG, Natural flavors, hydrolyzed vegetable protein
REFINED WHITE FLOUR PRODUCTS
• Includes bread, pasta, cookies, cakes, crackers, pastries.
• Avoid Wheat products when possible substitute.
MILK
• Avoid pasteurized Cow’s milk when possible
COFFEE/TEA
• Limit caffeinated coffee and tea to 2 cups per day
ALCOHOL AND DRUGS
TAP WATER
• Avoid well water and tap water unless purified
• Avoid distilled water too.
HYDROGENATED FATS
• hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats such as margarine, Crisco,
• Skippy like peanut butters, packaged products of all sorts.
FRIED FOODS
• Fast foods, deep fried, greasy foods.
PACKAGED FOODS
• Canned, frozen, packaged, and prepackaged foods should be avoided when at all possible .
SODA AND SOFT DRINKS
Avoid regular and diet sodas, canned teas and canned juices.
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