A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend a Health Starts Here tour at Whole Foods and my interest was immediately piqued.
Since I no longer live near a Whole Foods, I figured I wouldn’t be able to attend and was quite bummed since Ryan and I used to love Whole Foods events when we lived in Orlando. (We attended a number of restaurant cooking demonstrations and had a great time at a Greek cooking class! I know I’ve mentioned Whole Foods events on the blog before, but I highly recommend them for fun, inexpensive date nights!)
When I responded to the invitation, I happened to mention my travels to Jacksonville for my sister’s bridal shower last weekend and we were able to set something up since there is a Whole Foods in the area. Woo!
The Health Starts Here tour is free to everyone and I met up with Heather Olsen, the Jacksonville Whole Foods healthy eating specialist, for my tour in the late afternoon. Heather gave me a ton of information about the Health Starts Here program, which I never knew existed at Whole Foods until our tour began!
Health Starts Here is a mindful approach to healthy eating that’s rooted in simple ways to build better meals. The program is essentially an in-store guide that you can use to choose the healthiest foods.
Fun fact I learned from Heather: The average American cycles through the same 10 fruits and vegetables!
The Health Starts Here program includes the following Four Pillars of Healthy Eating:
- Whole foods: Health Starts Here foods only use recognizable ingredients in their purest, unprocessed forms.
- Plant-strong: Plant-based foods are the foundation of Health Starts Here.
- Healthy fats: Health Starts here foods does not use any extracted oils or processed fats but included healthy fats from natural sources including nuts, seeds and avocados.
- Nutrient dense: Health Starts Here meals contain a rainbow of nutritious whole plant foods with high Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) scores.
As Heather escorted me around the store, she pointed out Health Starts Here logo stickers that can be found on a number of food items within the store that follow the four pillars of health.
If you’re visiting the Whole Foods salad bar, hot bar or prepared foods section and noticed the Health Starts Here logo, you can be sure that the food you are eating is a healthy choice. It’s a great way to take some of the guess work out of healthy eating!
The program also offers a grocery list for stocking your pantry the healthy way and tips and tricks for cooking fast and healthy meals using quick-cooking whole grains, canned no-salt-added beans and frozen vegetables and fruit.
I left very impressed with the Health Starts Here program and know I’ll be looking for the logo as I select foods from the hot bar and salad bar during my next trip to Whole Foods!
Whole Foods Giveaway
When I said I’d be writing about this tour on my blog, Whole Foods was kind enough to offer a giveaway to one reader for a $50 gift certificate to Whole Foods. Since I know you guys get just as excited about food as I do, I have a feeling this one may interest quite a few of you!
To enter this giveaway, simply comment below and tell me about one healthy food you’ve recently started incorporating into your diet or a favorite healthy food that has been a staple in your diet for quite a while.
I will randomly select a winner on Friday.
Good luck!
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Ahhh where to start!! I recently have been adding 2 tablespoons of chia seeds to cold brewed green tea for an afternoon pick-me-up. I am also really LOVING kale chips lately.
I am utterly obsessed with pomegranates. I get the fruit– cut them open and deseed and then go on to eat the seeds like they are candy. I love Pomegranate juice and in a salad the seeds are just wonderful.
I am also all over ginger–love the ginger in most anything.
I recently started eating more fennel – the licorice smell as it is cut up is amazing. I’ve always ate a ton of broccoli to. It’s a staple ingredient in many of my meals!
Kale! I finally gave in to the craze and am so glad I did! I’ve been having massaged kale salads and blending it into my morning smoothies.
I recently starting adding maca powder and spirulina to my smoothies for an extra boost of superfoods. I’ excited to find some other recipes to incorporate them into.
I love adding spinach, avocado and chia seeds to my 3year old smoothie. They are super healthy and he loves it!
I have a recipe to try this weekend using millet, which I don’t think I’ve ever had before!
I’ve been trying to make sure the meat I eat is raised ethically and locally, which isn’t always cheap and/or easy! $50 at Whole Foods would bring healthy meals to my family all week!
I start my day with a green smoothie of avocado, carrots, spinach, lemon, ginger, and green apple. So delicious and nutritious!!
I’ve always liked beets, but recently I have been adding raw beets to my smoothies!
I’m waaaay late to the game, but I simply cannot get enough kale and brussel sprouts. Kale salads, shredded brussel sprout salad, kale chips, kale in soup, saute kale with pasta, and my holy grail dinner item: roasted brussel sprouts.
My favorite healthy food is kale. I also incorporate avocados and seasonal veggies into my diet. I try to explore new produce, for example, buying beets, turnips, new fruits like cherimoya, and collards. There’s so many resources online and especially in the Whole Foods store; it shouldn’t be overwhelming for folks to try new types of fruits and vegetables.
I think I may have a slight obsession with Whole Foods. I go in with a list and end up getting twice as many groceries as I need! I’ve been on a quinoa kick lately, making different salads and stir fries. I’ve also always added lots of kale, spinach, and organic fruits to my morning smoothies. Gotta get those greens!!
I’ve recently started having q’ia – a mix of buckwheat, hemp and chia! And a new Whole Foods just opened up near me that I can’t wait to check out!
I have been loving cauliflower lately. I love roasting it in the oven, mashing it to make “mashed potatoes”, or grinding it and hiding it in pasta sauce so my husband won’t know 🙂
I’ve been experimenting with local winter vegetables- kale or carrot chips, roasted broccoli or cauliflower. A newer food has been the introduction of almond beverage. Love the stuff!
Emilie
Vega One protein shake packets! The vanilla chai is my favorite and I prefer to blend the packet with almond milk, honey and a small banana. It’s 20g of protein and packed with veggies… and seriously delicious! I can have one for breakfast and actually feel full until lunch. You can also pick them up at Whole Foods 🙂
My health switch this year so far has been switching from eating cereal every morning for breakfast to changing it up to eggs, greek yogurt, and old fashioned oatmeal on most days, and only cereal occasionally. I know that highly processed and sugary cereals are not ideal for healthy eating and never kept me full anyhow so I am actually enjoying the switch!
I recently started portioning out raw nuts into little baggies. This way I can grab a quick snack to take with me that has healthy fats.
Recently I’ve been trying to incorporate more organic foods in my diet. I’ve been trying to purchase more organic fruits and vegetables!
I’ve started buying more frozen fruit…especially blueberries. It recently occurred to me that just because fruit isn’t in season in the northeast is no reason to miss out!
Lately I’ve been mixing frozen fruit with my greek yogurt instead of sugary granola! It’s almost like ice cream!
My favorite healthy food is kale. I’ve always loved it but lately we’ve been eating much more of it and I feel great!
I’ve been making green juice with a new juicer. Lots of kale, spinach, and a mix of fruits and veggies!
Lentils! I mix them in with soup and it is delicious!
I’ve always loved Greek yogurt and eaten it frequently for breakfast, but recently I’ve been getting a little more creative – using it as a sour cream substitute, stirring into soups for a creamy consistency, replacing mayo in chicken salad, the possibilities are endless!
Lately I have been having nuts (I especially love almonds) and fruits for snacks instead of things like chips and crackers. Also, making homemade soups this winter instead of eating canned soups has been delicious, and way lower in sodium (and easier than I would have expected!).
Trader Joes has a bag of frozen Pineapple that I buy weekly, I add it to my yogurt or eat it plain.
Smoothies! I have recently been so enticed by all the smoothie recipes on your blog that I pulled out my dusty Vitamix and have been putting it to the good use I PROMISED my husband I would when we bought it. I have been drinking a smoothie every morning for three weeks now and I love the energy they give me! I try and keep them veggie heavy and add in chia seeds for good measure. It feels really good to know I’m making a healthy decision at the start of my day!
For years and years I had written off butternut squash but I recently tried it roasted and I opened a whole can of worms with that veggie! What have I been missing?!
I recently learned how to roast beets and now I want to eat them all the time. Delicious!
I just started eating a lot more sweet potato, I dont know why but I love it with everything!
I have really been into baby spinach lately. Each week, I buy the 1lb. clamshell of it and add it to salads, soup, eggs, etc. throughout the week. I challenge myself to eat the whole 1lb. (a lot for spinach) by week’s end.
I seem to go through phases, but I recently started eating avocados again :-). Ps I love the new blog design!
I have been adding flax seeds to my yogurt each morning…and loving it!
I’ve been eating tons of kim chi lately! I know it can be cooked with, but I just love it plain as a snack. And all the probiotics, vitamins, and minerals don’t hurt either…
Avocado! Love baking it with eggs. A whole food is just opening in my town for the first time and I cannot wait!
Normally I just eat oatmeal or a fiber-rich cereal for breakfast, but for the last two weeks I’ve been adding a frozen berry and almond milk smoothie into the mix. I love the extra kick of nutrients in the morning! Thanks for the giveaway!
I’ve been incorporating quinoa into a lot of my meals. So easy and delicious!
Nuts & Seeds…Have been in my diet for so long!
I have always loved almond butter and kinds of fruit! Something new though… I’m starting to incorporate fresh juice! But that’s still fruit 🙂
I’m not a big vegetable fan…at all…so I put spinach in my smoothies! It’s the best I can do 🙂
I finally bought Qia for the first time (a mix of chia sees, buckwheat groats and hemp hearts). I am in love! This is sooo good sprinkled on yogurt!
I recently tried arugula- it is great for mixing with smoothies and other things because it takes on the flavor of the fruit!
quinoa!
I have recently discovered chia seeds!
Right now I have been on an egg kick. I love an over easy egg on top of some avocado toast or even on top of a salad! So good!! Eggs are also great for breakfast, they are one of the few morning meals that keep my full until lunch rolls around.
sweet potato! and flax seeds
I’ve been roasting sweet potatoes and eating them with quinoa and chicken for my lunches lately. It’s really good!
I can’t get enough of blueberries right now. Blueberry yogurt, blueberry pancakes, blueberry oatmeal, blueberry wine. 😉