I've been asked recently about why we shop at Whole Foods and have noticed that I'm not the only one that takes the health of my family seriously. I thought I might add an email that I recently sent to someone asking about that very thing.
Enjoy and I hope you do your own research and make some good decisions for your own family.
My biggest requirements for the food that we buy at the grocery store are eliminating High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Soybean Oil, soy protein, MSG, all artificial sweeteners, sodium nitrates and nitrites out of packaged meat, artificial food coloring, and as many preservatives as I can. We also try to do as much organic as possible so that pesticides and hormones and excessive antibiotics are as far away as possible. I feel like I get on a soap box when I talk about this, but I really, truly feel like it has made a difference. Isaac was incredibly ill when he was an infant. Nothing that was life threatening, but it really made me look at how I could help him and us on my own. I just started doing research about the impact that the quality of food has in your life and it is amazing. Most foods are so jam-packed with things that are foreign to our bodies that our bodies have no way to process them and it stores them as fat or chemicals that rear their ugly head as diseases.
We do use quite a bit of the Whole Foods house brand. Even if it isn’t organic, if you read the ingredients, most words are recognizable and pronounceable. They are using a less-processed philosophy with their food. The closer to nature that your food stays in, the better it is for you. Seems simple, but it is so incredibly hard to achieve at a regular grocery store.
Jason and I first started at a regular grocery store reading labels and putting things back (very hard at first) if it did not meet our requirements. Pretty soon, we started to leave the grocery store without much food. Then someone told us about Whole Foods. Even their “junk food” remains pretty un-screwed around with. We’ve found a replacement for everything there. It might not taste the same because our bodies and taste buds get addicted to the super sweet, overly-processed foods that general America eats, but look at general America. It’s not a secret there is a problem with what’s going in their mouths. Once you get passed what big food companies want you to think food tastes like, you will really enjoy the genuine flavor of real food!
Now, we still go out to eat. The kids will occasionally get McDonald’s or Wendy’s and I have to admit, Mazzio’s has been my downfall this pregnancy, but if it’s in my house, it is not going to have that crap in it. That’s all it is, crap. Once you make the switch, you will never go back.
Now, if you really want me to get going, I could really dig into milk and how the pasteurization and homogenization of milk is honestly harming our kids and us. But, that’s not for the weak at heart and some things are better discovered on your own. I don’t want you to think I’m too crazy about our food…but I really am. ;)
In order for you to figure out what is best for your family, do your own research, so you can own the decision. That way it’s not some food fanatic saying what you are doing is right or wrong, but it is you and your husband deciding the health of your family. I’m super excited to be able to share this with you and would love to answer as many questions as I can. I don’t know it all, but we have done some research and know what works for us or what is generally supposed to be “healthier”.
Here’s to Whole Foods and a healthy family!
