Whole Foods are foods that have been processed or refined as little as possible or not at all and are free from artificial additives.
Fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes and whole grains such as brown rice are considered to be whole as they remain in their natural state. They have no added sugar, salt, oil, colours, flavour, or preservatives. Whole foods generally don’t contain a lot of energy (calories/kilojoules) but do offer an abundance of nutrition such as vitamins and minerals. They are considered to be the most nutrient dense foods and our diets should comprise primarily of whole foods.
Nutrient density is a measure of the nutrition a food provides compared to how many kilojoules (energy) it contains. Nutrient dense foods contain the most nutrients for the fewest amount of kilojoules. For example, fresh fruit and vegetables have a very high nutrient density as they contain many vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, essential fatty acids and fibre but yield little energy. On the other hand, a bag of Doritos has a low nutrient density as it carries a high energy load but offers little to no nutrition.
It is important we include nutrient dense foods in our diet as often as possible as this gives you the important nutrients your body needs in a concentrated amount, without overeating. This means we can eat our 5 daily serves of vegetables and 2 daily serves of fruit plus adequate amounts of whole grains, beans and legumes, dairy, eggs and meat without overdoing the calories.[/text_block]