What are whole foods? (2024)

Is the concept of whole foods helpful for healthy eating? Or is it just another fad?Senior Dietitian Victoria Taylor investigates.

How our body absorbs foods is about more than just the sum of the nutrients in them. The structure of foods – whether they’re left ‘whole’, in their natural state, or whether they’ve been broken up – can have an impact too.

You may have heard of ‘whole foods’ or a ‘whole foods diet’ before. But what do these terms mean and are they important?

Examples of whole foods

The term ‘whole foods’ generallydescribes foods that are left close totheir natural state. It can also describea way of eating that’s based on them.

There isn’t any official definition or listof whole foods, which means opinionsdiffer on what’s included. But there’s ageneral agreement that foods like fruitand vegetables, nuts and seeds, beansand lentils, milk, wholegrains, andunprocessed meats and fish are wholefoods. Meanwhile, foods like readymeals, processed meats or productswith added sugars, salt, fats or anyadditives are not.

Cheese and plain yogurt are alsooften included as whole foods. Even though the milk that they are madefrom will have gone through someprocessing to create these dairyproducts, the processing is seen asminimal. But this doesn’t includeyogurts with added sugars, flavouringsand sweeteners. It doesn’t includeprocessed cheese either, which hasadded oils or food colourings.

Do whole foods have benefits?

Eating more unprocessed foods has anumber of advantages for our health.

Fibre in whole foods keeps youfeeling fuller, which might mean youeat less overall. Eating less couldbe helpful if you’re trying to loseweight. Higher-fibre diets are alsobetter for your blood pressureandcholesterol levels.

Eating more unprocessed foods has health benefits

Whole foods have no addedsaturated fat, salt or sugar. So eatinglots of whole foods can help you lowerthe amount of these additives in yourdiet, which is good for your cholesterollevels, blood pressure, and weight.

Eating foods whole can limit howthe body absorbs the fat and sugarthat’s in them. Research has shown thatwhen almonds are eaten whole, wedon’t absorb all the fat that’s in thembecause the fat remains bound in thenuts’ cells. But grind the nuts up – thinkground almonds and nut butters –and the oil is released from the cells,making it more available for the bodyto absorb.

Similarly, the sugar in fruits isabsorbed more slowly than the sugarin fruit juice because it comes with fibreand other nutrients that help to slowdown the absorption. You’re also likelyto get less sugar when you eat fruit thanwhen you drink the juice. While youmight eat only one orange whole, you’lldrink the juice from several in one glass.

Interestingly, although cheese,yogurt and milk contain the same typeof saturated fat as butter, they appearto raise our cholesterol levels less. Thismay be because these products havea unique structure and combinationof nutrients called the ‘dairy matrix’.This ‘dairy matrix’ isn’t found in butter,where the fat has been separated outfrom the other parts of the milk.

• Find out more about dairy foods

Should we only eat wholefoods?

There are some downsides to limiting yourself to a whole foods diet.

Some nutrients are more availablein processed foods. For example,lycopene (an antioxidant which hasbeen linked to heart health benefits)is more easily absorbed by thebody from tomatoes that have beenprocessed, such as tinned tomatoes,than from fresh tomatoes.

And some processed foods arehealthy. For example, a store-boughthummus with limited added salt,or a tin of reduced-salt and -sugarbaked beans, can be the basis of ahealthy snack or meal. Both wouldbe excluded from a strictly wholefoods diet.

An exclusively whole foods diet isalso hard to stick to. Eating only wholefoods can mean a lot more time spentplanning and prepping food, as wellas having a narrower range of healthyfood to choose from.

Finally, take care with your mentalhealth. ‘Whole foods’ can sometimesblur with the concept of ‘eating clean’,making you feel some foods are ‘clean’or ‘good’, and others are ‘dirty’ or‘bad’. This could lead to obsessive orguilty feelings when you eat somethingprocessed, which isn’t good for you.

The takeaway

The key is balance. Don’t try to excludeall non-whole foods. Instead, includemore whole foods and make healthyswaps. Be open to some nutritiousprocessed foods in your diet. This canmake it easier and more convenient toeat more healthily, helping you to beconsistent over time.

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Published September 2023