Some terms get confused with one another when
talking about whole, organic, and natural foods. The following should help sort
these terms out ...
Whole foods
Whole foods are foods that are unprocessed and unrefined, or processed and of
course refined as little as possible before being consumed.
Often confused with so-called "organic food" (i.e., organically-grown food),
whole foods aren't necessarily organic, nor are organic foods necessarily whole,
although they do share a number of traits, such as an avoidance of
chemically-assisted agricultural techniques. Because of the lack of even basic,
organically-acceptable processing, many whole foods have a very short shelf life
and are not easily sold outside of farmers' markets.
Examples of whole foods include unpolished grains; organically garden-grown
fruits and vegetables; and non-homogenized milk. For some, it is preferable to
eat whole foods raw to obtain the maximum nutritional benefit.
Organic Products
Organic is an "earth friendly" system of producing and processing agricultural
products. Weeds, pests and other natural factors are controlled with
environmentally sound methods that sustain the health of our planet and
therefore our own health. Chemicals such as pesticides, fungicides and
fertilizers, and other environmentally harmful substances, are forbidden.
Instead, organic farmers utilize a combination of old and new agricultural
practices to achieve similar results.
The USDA recently released a set of national organic standards that prohibit the
use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, sewage sludge and other
substances. These standards also assure uniform regulation and certification of
organic products, which varied widely from state-to-state in the past.
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100% Organic - products bearing this label must
contain 100% organically produced ingredients
-
Organic - products must be comprised of 95% or more
organic ingredients
-
Made with Organic Ingredients - products must
contain 70% to 95% organic ingredients
Natural Foods
As a solid example, the Natural Foods Diet is the avoidance of all unnatural and
refined/processed ingredients. These ingredients include refined sugars, refined
flours, milled grains, hydrogenated oils, artificial sweeteners, artificial food
colors, artificial flavorings, and other similar ingredients. Unlike most other
popular weight-loss programs, there is no counting required for practitioners of
the Natural Foods Diet.
Note that Sucanat, Stevia, raw honey, and maple syrup are allowed for
practitioners as sweeteners as they are non-processed and all natural. Sea salt
is also preferred over table salt.
Proponents of the natural foods diet argue that unnatural ingredients promote
obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and mood problems.
Proponents of natural food diets also claim that "the refined, degerminated,
demineralized and devitalized foods are a curse to us all. When the miller makes
white flour, he takes out the vital portion, or the part that makes a new
plant-the wheat germ, and also the bran. It is the part that contains the
minerals and vitamins which supply our bodies with blood-making material. A lot
of the foods that we eat on a daily basis have been treated in the same manner."
Proponents also argue that canning, cooking and baking are modern constructs
that at some prior time were unnecessary, wherein human diets varied with the
food products that could be acquired by the season.
Natural foods diet practitioners also advocate the ingestion of juices.
