Foods that are natural, whole and unprocessed are typically more nutrient-dense than processed and refined foods. This means that they contain greater levels of the essential vitamins and minerals and many more of the secondary nutrients like antioxidants. These secondary nutrients are not ‘essential’ (in that you don’t need to eat them), but they are extremely health-promoting.
Foods that are natural, whole and unprocessed are typically more nutrient-dense than processed and refined foods.
Natural, unprocessed foods also have, in general, lower levels of carbohydrates and less potential to contain damaging inflammatory fats.
Research indicates that a ‘real-foods’ diet (like the ‘Paleo’ lifestyle) may reduce obesity and many cardiac risk factors (blood pressure, average insulin, average glucose, total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglycerides) while improving HDL cholesterol (commonly called ‘good cholesterol’) as well as body composition (your muscle to fat ratio).1, 2
MAKE SURE THAT AT LEAST 80% OF THE PLATE IS NATURAL, WHOLE, UNPROCESSED FOOD.
From Carb-Appropriate 101 by Cliff Harvey PhD
Carb-Appropriate 101 gives you 101 daily tips to help you achieve the energy, health & performance you deserve. It includes daily tips for nutrition, movement, exercise, meditation, mindfulness, sleep, stress-reduction, and more! These tips are some of the themes that Cliff has written and spoken about over his decades in practice, in ‘bite-sized’ mini-articles.
Read the book from cover-to-cover, applying a tip a day, or simply open the book to any page to find a valuable health and performance tip to help you feel and perform at your very best.
