Natural Whole Foods

Question: Eating natural whole foods for the first time!? Can someone give me a list of foods i could buy. I want to start eating only natural, whole foods, nothing artificial. I'm lost and besides for fruits and veges i don't know what else to buy, and eat?

Answer: you're going to want to build up a pantry full of raw ingredients.....a whole foods diet is wonderfully healthy, but it's going to take a lot of effort because you'll have to make a lot of things yourself that you're used to buying pre-made. i don't know if you're intending to be a vegan or vegetarian, but this is a great site for a new raw vegan: http://www.rawvegan.com/ good luck with your new endeavor!

Question: why is it that just eating whole natural foods will make you lose weight? and of course excersize, it allways has worked well for everyone I have known to do this? what is is about this natural stuff that does this to the body?

Answer: Because eating "whole" or "natural" foods is not the same as eating other non-"natural" food. WHY? Because when packaged or restaurant food is made, we use extra fats and oils (listed as "hydrogenated" oils and saturated fats on food labels) that make the food taste better and last longer. There are extra fats in all kinds of foods, from bread to hamburgers. Pretty much anything that had to be prepared by someone else before you eat it. "Natural" foods are made without those extra fats. So natural foods might not taste quite as good, and usually expire sooner. But they have less calories because they don't have the extra fats. So, eating natural foods makes you lose weight because they usually have fewer calories.

Question: Where to find natural, whole foods, health food stores in the Williamsburg/Newport News, VA area? I frequent Trader Joes and am familiar with GNC. I need more of a variety to suit my holistic lifestyle. Peace and Respect :)

Answer: Have you tried foraging? I find amazing, natural foods every where I go. Why just this morning while I was taking the dogs out for their walk I found these beautiful mushrooms. They were blue and green and had this really wonderful irridescent stripes that reminded meof the colors in the fishbowl me over an call me stupidbut whatsthatmusicand whoarethosepeople..........

Question: How would my body react if I stopped eating all processed food? Natural, whole foods only.

Answer: Your body would love it! Processed foods are high in sodium, fat and usually preservatives and other chemicals. Switching to a completely natural and whole food diet is excellent for you. Unfortunately it can be inconvenient, but with a little pre-planning of meals, and some simple recipes it can be done!

Question: Whole Foods, Trader Joe's or Wild Oats? Which one do you think is the best natural food store and wy? I do about 75% of my natural grocery shopping at Trader's Joe and the rest at Whole Foods (Wild Oats is not close to my area but I thought I ask anyways :). I find Trader's Joe cheaper then Whole Foods, although it's hard to beat Whole Foods variety! In short I love shopping at both stores!

Answer: We love Whole Foods, for the same reasons you mentioned. There's so much more fruits and veggies. Now, I've never been to a Wild Oats.

Question: Are fats from eating whole food bars, whole foods, organic foods, natural foods, OK to eat regularly? I mean it's still fat, and alot of saturated fat in all of those as well. But is it safe and okay to eat regularly, or should all types of fat be eaten as little as possible including good fats from whole foods, organic foods, fish, etc? Aren't we supposed to include fat in our diets? The ONLY fat that's technically bad for us is trans fat right? Saturated fat is OK? Trans and saturated are different type of fats.

Answer: No, trans fat is not the only bad fat. Saturated fat is bad for you too. Too much fat of any kind is bad for you. The FDA recommends that you consume no more than 20-30% of your daily calories as fat, and only 10% of that should be saturated. The rest really should be polyunsaturated or monounsaturated. The AHA recommends no more than 7% be saturated. It doesn't matter if the fat is organic or not to your body. The coconut oil from your organic snack bar is just as bad for you as the stuff dripping out of that burger. Saturated fats raise blood cholesterol levels, and dietary cholesterol does the same thing. So in the end, you still need to limit fat intake from all sources. Just because it's organic doesn't make it healthier all the time. Organic just means no preservatives, chemicals, or pesticides, etc. The nutrients remain pretty much the same to your body. So the vitamin A it contains is the same whether it comes from an organic carrot or a regular carrot. And the fat from an organic cow is just as bad as any other.

Question: I am looking for a way to build muscle but without any powders supplements? (Pure and whole natural foods)? I am a very active teen and I had surgery about eight months ago. Unfortunately surgery limited me to doing almost no movement for quite some time. I didn't diet correctly and I have soccer coming up. It is a very competitive try out and I have about 3 months to get up and back into great shape. I do not trust the supplements in the protein shakes today. I'm looking for an all natural diet plan if anyone knows please help me?

Answer: Meat, fish, nuts - all these things are protein and build muscle mass. However, you must be sure to balance the proteins with good vegetables, or your kidneys will be working overtime and you won't be happy! Most people do better keeping red meat to a minimum, but some thrive on steaks. If you eat a lot of fish, make sure it is low in mercury. (Buy from Whole Foods or someplace like it. Eat fish that grow fast - they have less time to store mercury. Salmon is good.) A great balanced meal is a stir fry: put in some green leafy stuff, high-mineral vegetables like mushrooms and potatoes, whatever else you like, and some high-quality protein. Serve it with brown rice. You also need plenty of good fats. Don't eat any transfats or hydrogenated stuff. Make sure you're getting a good balance of different kinds of fats, unrefined. Olive oil is good; so is butter. If you drink milk, it should be whole milk, not skim or 2%. All these things will give you the nutrients to build up your muscle mass, but the only way to actually get those muscles strong is through exercise. You have to work out every day, but don't overdo it. See if you can work with a physical therapist to get a good exercise program that builds you up without hurting you. (Michael Phelps eats 10,000 calories a day! But he also swims a zillion laps a day. Eat healthy, and exercise.) Good luck with the tryouts!

Question: How much is Wild Salmon at Whole Foods and other natural food stores? I usually buy farmed salmon at my local grocery store, but had some wild salmon and decided it was worth the additional cost...but I can't find any information about how much it actually is...? I usually pay $7-$8 a pound for the farmed stuff and figure that the wild is around twice as much? Thanks!

Answer: I paid $15.99/lb. for it (on sale) at the Whole Foods in Ridgewood, NJ just 2 days ago. Trader Joe's has it a bit cheaper; $13.99/lb. You can also check with your local fishmonger to see what they are getting for it. You are right; it is definately worth the extra cost. The Atlantic farmed can't hold a candle to it in terms of taste, texture, etc. Hope that helps.

Question: Is Xanthan Gum bad for health? What is a natural whole food alternative in a bread recipe? Trying to make brown rice bread, and cant find a recipe that doesnt include some time of food gum. Does anyone know if guar is better than xanthan? also, I would prefer to not use either and use a natural alternative, any ideas? Obviously these gums are not a whole foods and are man made, are they safe for health, gmo free, etc?

Answer: Xanthan gum is natural, it's made by fermentation of various vegetable products, cabbage, chick peas and even cassava. Many things we eat are fermented, cheese, wine, beer, bread to name but a few. The gum is used to replace gluten in your rice bread and will allow it to rise. Good Luck.

Question: What are some good natural beauty products sold at Whole Foods? Does anyone know of any good, natural beauty products that they buy from Whole Foods? I'm looking for things for my hair, skin, and body. Please let me know if you recommend anything or know anything that works well.

Answer: Alba! I love ALL of their stuff. It smells awesome! My favorite is the honeydew shampoo, its smells really good! They also have good smelling bath salts and body scrubs. Good luck! Oh and also, Target has them cheaper =D

Question: New to Natural Whole foods? Can someone give me a list of foods i could buy. I want to start eating only natural, whole foods, nothing artificial. I'm lost and besides for fruits and veges i don't know what else to buy, and eat?

Answer: I recently decided to do the same, and i found that Amy's kitchen is a great brand of organic products, they have frozen dinners, soups and other great stuff, if you like mac n cheese Annie's is great organic pasta. Also try Whole Foods market. another brand that is good and has great veggie chips is Nature's Promise. try going to a local farmers market, they should be opening up soon, and getting lots of fresh fruits and veggies. Also whole grain everything, rice, pasta, cereal, bread, don't eat any of the white stuff

Question: Can you shop online at Whole Foods or a natural grocers? My friends said you can make a list of groceries online at Whole Foods and then head in there and they will have it ready, this is good for me getting out of surgery, so I'm hoping she was right! Has anyone heard of this?

Answer: I would check out the website..it should tell you there. I dont know where you are but check out Peapod.com..they deliver.

Question: I'm trying to eat less meat & processed foods & more natural whole foods, is it bad to use MuscleMilk? Will this pretty much ruin my "natural" diet as I am not quite sure what is in MuscleMilk.

Answer: ok. let me just put it straight to you: do you exercise (cardio not really necessary) with weights or your own weight (push ups, sit ups, etc)? well if you do, take muscle milk after you work out. it basically helps your muscle tissue heal faster and grow in a better way, so if you are just doing a diet, DONT DRINK MUSCLE MILK. even though its good, it will really just be something pretty caloric and with too many nutrients and proteins and all that good stuff that you could get from a good diet. I repeat, DONT DRINK MUSCLE MILK IF YOU ARE NOT EXERCISING (non cardio), good luck!

Question: Is it possible to have a vegetarian diet using only fresh whole foods? I cannot seem to stomach the taste of meat anymore. I have been working for about 2 years to put my husband and I on an all natural whole foods diet. Most of the people I know who are vegetarian eat a lot of junk food and vegetarian meat products, like veggie burgers and bacon. Can you be a healthy vegetarian without using "pretend" foods?

Answer: Absolutely. I have several friends in the same boat as you. They hate the taste of meat, and cannot figure why a vegetarian would want something designed to taste like meat. Lots of a variety of veggies, whole grains, and nuts & legumes can produce a perfectly healthy diet, though if you are vegan, you may need to take a supplement of B12, since it is mostly found in animal products. Keep on with what you are doing and ignore the meatless meat eaters around you! For extra protein, tofu and/or soy or almond milk are great additions. Tofu will take on the taste of whatever you put with it, so it can be used in soups, stews, salad dressings, "milk shakes" and simply cooked after marinating to flavor. Good luck and happy eating!

Question: For those living in Scottsdale Az, about Whole Foods Natural Market...? I just moved here from Montana and all of our natural food stores are extremly strict about the skin care products, I won't even get into that 'cause it sucks but, my question for you locals is, does your natural food market carry Dr. Hauschka products? If so, do they automatically "track" you after purchasing high priced items? I suppose I should get into details a bit... in montana the nicer products were kept under lock and key, in one situation, I spent nearly two hours in the skin care section because they only had photos of their skin care items, and the employees would have to retrieve whatever I'd ask for, and then hover behind me while I read the box to make sure that's the product that would work for me... needless to say, that process took WAY too long, all because I'd never used that product before, I had a budget I had to stay within, because she had to fetch everything and frankly, when someone is behind me "reccomending" other product, it's hard to make a decision. On another, equally as unpleasent visit to an alterntive grocery market, everything was kept behind glass. I ended up purchasing the rhythmic night conditioner and was actually CALLED, on my cell phone, by a member of management to confirm some information on my reciept because there was some product missing from the glass cabinet, and apparently I was the only one in montana to purchase from this cabinet? I don't know what there logic behind it was, the problem was, that they took my personal information to recive coupons and special offers, and used it to accuse me of stealing. I went to this store to "unload" (basically, bitch them out), and the suppliments lady said they found the missing product behind the customer service desk! Totally crappy experiences, always. Natural Food market employees are always so, stuck up towards me, with this, "holier than thou" attitude. They literally treat me like an idiot becase I'm new to all this alternative living... Now that I've unloaded onto a bunch of innocent people, and sorry for that, but I'm hoping you all could tell me about the "Whole Foods Market" in Scottsdale before I drive two hours to get there! Otherwise I'm going to Fry's >=[ Is it pleasent? Does it smell like old fish? Is it insanely priced? Do they have Dr. Hauscka; what kind of selection;are their samples of the skin care products; is everything in a glass shelf; is there all natural make up(that I can actually TRY first?); do they give people shit about making returns(I dreaded returning things in MT, they'd always throw such a fit ove it); is the produce local/organic? well anyways, I think I've ranted enough, please give me some honest opinions! thanks!

Answer: Natural products are almost always overpriced.

Question: What are some regular natural whole food? I'm looking for some typical whole foods? If you can help you get 10pts

Answer: Brown rice, fresh fruits and vegs, whole grain breads, pastas, cereals.