Eleven factors that healthy foods have:
1. Healthy food is always WHOLE food. Healthy food does not come pre-wrapped, or individually packaged in a cardboard box. Healthy food always comes whole and un-processed. If you are buying something that says “all-natural” but has many ingredients and chemical additives do not trust that it is a whole product. Whole foods would include: fish, steak, or chicken that is bought never frozen and was raised organically, wild caught, or free-range/grass fed accordingly. Fruits and vegetables straight out of the ground are another great staple. Nuts, seeds, grain products, and fats such as olive oil or coconut oil that are minimally processed I would also place in this category.
2. Healthy foods do not provide any discomfort or negative reaction within the digestive system or the rest of the body. A food that provides a negative reaction like inflammation, a skin rash, or low energy could be something that you are intolerant or allergic to. Many times even healthy foods like nuts or fruit fall into this category. One person’s nutrition can be another’s poison.
3. Healthy food is typically organic, locally grown, and in the case of meat: free-range, grass-fed, and for fish: wild caught. Food that is organic in general tends to be produced with less pollution than foods that are not organic, it can vary for produce but for meat this distinction is extremely important. For buying red meat at the very least grass-fed is a must and is generally a good sign. Fish should always be wild caught, and chicken should always be free-range and organic to ensure the best quality animal products.
4. Healthy food has a strong vibrational imprint. This is one that takes a bit of time and period of eating clean to pick up on. But one of the reasons I believe so many people are flocking to the vegan fad is because living food like fruit and vegetables have a strong energetic glow to them. If you cannot feel a pull towards a certain fruit or vegetable it probably has a weak imprint and should be avoided. Even certain meats that are recently killed or caught can have this glow. One food that I have observed to have a great energetic vibration is high quality olive oil. This is the reason why juicing fresh and living foods can have such a powerful impact on our energy, almost like we had a more wholesome cup of coffee after drinking fresh juice. The health benefits of food that is alive and contains living enzymes, as is the case with juice, can noticeably carry a strong vibration that one who is very in touch with their body can feel upon consumption and for a few hours afterwards.
5. Healthy food is always FRESH food. The fresher the food the lesser the chance it has to become stale or lose its nutritional potency. Once the fruit or vegetable is picked it is no longer receiving a line of nutrition from the plant and oxidation begins to come into play rapidly, this is even more so for grain products. The same goes for seafood and meat, the fresher you can get it the higher quality it is going to be, because even meat from an animal that is dead still contains a life force and when cooked lightly it will still be accessible by the body. However this life force diminishes quickly over time. A great way to ensure maximum freshness would be to buy from somewhere that is rapidly cycling through the food you are purchasing which means that it does not sit out on the shelf waiting to be sold.
6. Healthy foods usually contain many essential minerals and fat, or many fat-soluble vitamins. The fat-soluble vitamins are what I would consider to be the staple of good health, getting them from nutritional powerhouses like organ meat healthy vegetables and fish would be good examples. Vitamins A, E, D, and K, are needed for optimal health and to get these vitamins in concentrated doses we can eat more good animal products such as: Organ meats, fatty cuts of fish and meat. Another example of a healthy food would be hemp seeds, which have an amazing macronutrient and micronutrient profile including many minerals, which brings me to my next point.
7. Healthy foods always have an optimal balance of Omega 6 to Omega 3 Fatty acids.
Humans should consume a ratio as close as possible to 1:1 for Omega 3 to Omega 6 fatty acids. Healthy fats are the key to limiting inflammation and good health, such as fatty fish like salmon and sardines, avocados, coconut oil, hemp seeds, and chia seeds, are all extremely balanced and healthy sources of fat. Do not fall for the saturated fat is bad scam, or the low-fat scam.
Right now the Omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio in the Western world is anywhere from 15/1 to 16/1 which is way too high. In an assessment of heart disease, it was found that those who had a much lowered ratio of 4/1 Omega 6 to omega 3 had a 70% reduced chance of heart disease and mortality rate. The omega 6 to Omega 3 ratio imbalance from processed and industrialized oils is probably one of, if not the biggest, dietary problem in America today.
Omega 3 fatty acids reduce inflammation and optimize the conditions for cellular repair and regrowth. Optimizing the conditions for healing and limiting inflammation over the long term is what prevents illness and chronic disease. Avoiding industrialized vegetable oils is imperative to optimize this balance.
Again, this is why buying organic is so important, meats and eggs that are organic tend to be lower in Omega 6 and higher in Omega 3, proving that it is processing methods that determine whether or not a food is unhealthy, not the food itself.
8. Healthy foods always contain an ample supply of micronutrients for the caloric content. This means that for the calories you get from food, that same food also contains a rich supply of vitamins and minerals, this is a quality of very healthy food. Luckily just by eliminating processed food you will no longer be eating food that can be utilized only for energy or heat, you are going to switch to whole foods that contain energy and micronutrients to help cells function on a microscopic level. Some examples of foods with a high micronutrient and low caloric content would include: Chia seeds, spinach, carrots, apples, kale, organ meats etc. Our bodies are constantly balancing the need for energy, which could be considered in raw calories or macronutrients, with the need for complex cell functions and repair on a microscopic level that requires vitamins and minerals. Protein is broken down into amino acids, complex carbohydrates are broken down into simple sugars, and fats are stored and put to use for energy. While these macronutrients are being broken down the body is also breaking down and absorbing different vitamins and minerals that are essential for bodily function. There are many different vitamins and minerals that the body needs, as well as trace minerals and anti-oxidants.
9. Healthy food is never over-cooked, cooked using a microwave, or prepackaged. Just like oxidation can destroy good food, so can too much heat or in the case of a microwave, radiation. Microwaves are now known to completely destroy all of the nutritional content of any food placed inside them from the inside out. This is why microwaved food always tastes different. Take the time to heat food up only to the degree that is necessary.
When cooking fish and meat try not to overcook and cook it just enough to be heated thoroughly all the way through. I like to eat my meat medium rare to ensure I maintain its nutrient balance and do not cause excessive break down. We should only heat our meat just enough for it to be hot all the way through, parasites and bugs should not be a major concern IF: you are buying very high quality organic meats. Organic meats that are high quality are a completely different food than a factory mass produced animal product for example which often can and will contain harmful parasites.
Over-cooked meat has been linked to cancer causing carcinogens and chemicals.
10. Healthy food when eaten in meals creates a plate of food that digests synergistically allowing for optimal vitamin and mineral utilization. For a meal to be healthy we must eat the right combination of different types of food at once for our body to digest it. Some people do better eating a lot of carbs at once, while many others do better on protein and fats. I think that for a meal to be balanced you should not worry about it to much, but just make sure you get all three and then decide. A personal example would be: I have some carbs in the form of quinoa, fat in the form of olive oil, and protein in the form of chicken. When I make my plate I would simply take however much of each that I am craving at that moment. By combining these ingredients and eating them together you absorb the vitamins and minerals and break down the nutrients more effectively than if you ate them plain or by themselves. I believe that eating food synergistically and in the right amount allows our body to extract what it needs from each type of food. This has been proven by studies that find we absorb the vitamins in vegetables and supplements much better with some fat for example.
11. Healthy food is never over-eaten. For foods to be healthy we cannot overeat them! Over eating can overburden the digestive system and cause us to be sluggish or carry around undigested food. Do not put extra stress on your body by eating too much at one time.
12. Healthy food promotes regularity. A fail proof way to determine whether or not the foods you are eating are in-fact healthy for YOUR body is whether or not you poop regularly! If you are going on a regular and daily basis and it is easy to pass, not foul smelling, and normal size/shape, it is a great indicator that you are in fact eating healthy food. Remember that squatting to poop is also a must.
Healthy food is any food that the body can digest and utilize effectively that is eaten at the right time and in the right proportions. Food that is healthy must be effective for providing energy and nutrition for YOUR body. Not everyone will have the same needs or diet.
Eating food at the right time and in the right proportions is essential to not over-strain the digestive system. Digestion takes a lot of energy; digesting a large meal can use a lot of the body’s blood supply. So eating too much before an intense workout, or eating too much when mental focus and clarity is needed can divert precious energy needed for these tasks to aid in the process of digesting excess food.
Eating healthy foods at the right time requires discipline and knowledge of the demands we are going to place on our body that day or week. For example if I am planning a high intensity interval workout for early in the morning before work, I will always make sure not to eat too much, if at all. I know from my own experience that eating too much or not eating the right healthy foods before I workout can cause me to feel sluggish and drained.
I also have learned through experience exactly what healthy foods that my body may respond best to during a workout. If I am going to eat something right when I wake up before a workout I know to just have a banana or a scoop of high quality organic whey protein. I may even just drink water and that’s it. All of these things provide some nutrition to get my system revving so to speak, but they are not highly caloric and are easy to break down.
On the other hand of the spectrum I may have eaten lightly all day and know that the day ahead of me is physically demanding. If I feel like I have broken down a lot of muscle tissue that day I will eat some extra meat, and allow myself to eat as much food as my body is craving, no limits and no judgments.
Also about once or twice per week I allow my body a complete break from food and digestion for a fast that typically lasts anywhere from 16-20 hours of nothing but water. I may fast more when I am evolving through a period of personal and spiritual growth where I feel that going inward is necessary. This has for thousands of years been known to be beneficial to the body.
Without going into further detail on fasting, I am just trying to describe the different extremes and changes in my dietary needs. I aim to help you understand that we need to always listen to our bodies. For any food to be considered healthy, and to be a healthy food choice, it must never be more or less than what the body needs. This requires a deep and profound relationship to our own self. You must learn to listen to the subtle cues and cravings from your body. The only requirement to what you are allowed to crave and eat is that the food is not processed in any way.
I have long since been away from calorie counting or journaling, which are tools I do consider to be useful, because I have taken the time and done the aforementioned practices to know and listen to what my body is craving on a daily basis.
Conclusion: healthy food must always be eaten consciously and in the right time, place, and amount. Overeating can heavily burden the digestive system and make perfectly healthy food unhealthy by placing the body under stress. Organic foods are always healthier, they have less toxins, a better omega 6 to omega 3 ratio, and they should always be whole foods. Eat with loved ones and in good spirits. Follow these tips and enjoy consuming truly healthy food!