Is Your Food Building Your Health or Hindering It?

by Anne Woodhouse, CHN

In Michael Pollan’s best seller In Defense of Food, he presents this tag line: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” Simple and obvious, why is it so difficult?

Every day we eat. Food is life and it should provide health and vitality, but sometimes it doesn’t! Now is a great time to explore your food, how you eat and question whether you are building health or hindering your health through food. As a new season of beautiful fruits and vegetables is blooming in the valley, consider exploring your foods and taking a few steps towards better nutrition.

Begin by looking at what you commonly eat. Ask yourself, “What has been done to the food since it came out of the ground or water? Does the food contain ingredients with names you can’t pronounce? Is the product full of stabilizers and preservatives?” This will reveal if your food is a “whole food,” with no processing or additions.

Why are whole foods better nutritionally? Whole foods have all the nutrients intact with the cofactors that make the nutrients bio-available to us. They also contain fiber which cleanses our system and is important in regulating blood sugar. Many processed food are labeled “enriched.” Enriched sounds good, but in fact it should be an alert that the food has been highly processed. Enriching is an effort to add in some of the nutrients that were denatured or stripped from the food during processing. Enriched processed foods are rarely as nutrient dense as natural whole food.

Shop consciously for your food! Be aware of your choices, and look for nutrient rich whole foods. Check where your foods were grown. Shipping distance will reveal how long it may have been in transit and storage. The time factor reflects the freshness, taste and nutritional value of the food.

The gold standard in connecting with food requires a visit to the farmer’s market. Here you can meet the faces and personalities of those who grow live food for our community. Freshly harvested and simply prepared, the foods at the market offer the highest level of nutrients and vitality available. I also find that local market fresh food nourishes the soul. Knowing where and by whom your food is grown allows gratitude to be directed to real people.

Subscribing to a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is another approach to a weekly supply of beautiful live food produced in our valley. When joining a CSA, you buy a share of the harvest for the entire season, and generally receive a box of produce each week. Most CSA’s run from late May to mid October, but some offer a broader harvest including locally raised grass-fed meats, eggs and cheese 12 months a year. See the following list of some of the CSAs in the valley.

Although these ideas sound simple, incorporating whole foods into a busy life can be tricky. Accept the challenge to eat whole “live” foods, but give yourself to tools for success. Meet with a nutritionist to set up strategies for choosing the foods that will best suit your needs and boost your energy. Learn how to meal plan so healthy foods fit naturally into your busy schedule.

Sign up for a cooking class to learn to cook accessible delicious whole foods. These steps will help you enjoy a bright and beautifully nutritious summer!

Boise Area Farmer Markets

CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture Farms