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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I love Whole Foods’ salad and hot bars! I’ve recently started putting chia seeds in my oatmeal and yogurt, and mixing them in with smoothies, too!
I love sweet potatoes! 😀
I’ve been trying to replace refined carbs with more whole grains, like brown rice and quinoa.
I have been trying to incorporate spaghetti squash into my life more. It really is versatile and easy to change up!
I had started eating chia seeds a while back and stopped. With my move, I have found them and re-committed to putting them back into my diet.
I have a sweet potato with dinner almost every night!
Quinoa!
ive recently been adding more greens! i have no problem eating fruit but i need more natural minerals in my diet
kale.
I was always scared of kale, only to find out, hey…it’s not bad at all!
i finally starting using chia seeds in my baking after reading about them on blogs for over a year! 🙂
I’ve started incorporating oatmeal into several recipes. I’ve always loved it for breakfast, but now I add it to pancakes, muffins, cookies…even meatloaf!
I’ve recently been into kale green smoothies! So yummy and good for you!
I try to get more cinnamon in my diet these days. Lots of my family members have high blood sugar issues, and I know cinnamon is supposed to help regulate that.
Edamame in my salads – yum!
I’ve recently been into making kale green smoothies! So yummy and good for you!
Coconut flour for Paleo recipes! so good as an alternative!
I really love rolled oats. Either in recipes, or just as a breakfast staple. Delicious!
I’ve recently started eating pearled barley! It’s so good for you and it’s chewy texture is perfect as a side to grilled chicken or added to soups and stews! We made chicken and barley soup and it was delish!
Great post, Julie! I’ve recently started eating edamame and I love it!
I’ve been trying to cook with coconut oil more. Also, I love using shrimp in my salads or dinners for protein that is low cal.
Mashed cauliflower! I’m obsessed.
I’ve recently fallen in love with juicing grapefruits. So delicious!
Love Whole Foods! I like to add raw almonds and golden flax seeds to my Nutriblasts.
I have slowly worked a lot of healthy foods into my diet over the past 8 months or so. The more recent additions are artichokes, chia seeds, hemp seeds, pomegranates, and coconut oil.
Since moving to Hawaii (hubby is military) this Southern girl has forced herself to live more local and like the locals! I’ve tried more exotic fresh fish, veggies and fruits than I knew existed!
i have started using quinoa and absolutely love it!
Avocados!
Sweet potatoes are my go to for everything!
Recently got into sweet potatos and now I love them!!
I bought some millet from Whole Foods this week. I recently found out I have a gluten sensitivity and am getting bored of my usual GF Oats for breakfast so I’ve decided to try a millet-based porridge to add a little variety! We’ll see how it goes!
My latest additions are roasted cauliflower and chia seeds.
I”ve been eating salads everyday and I always put avocado and quinoa on them! I’ve also been adding turmeric to my tea.
I love all the bulk food options at Whole Foods. Easy and affordable to stock up. Banana chips, oats, grains, dried fruits, granola…yum!
Quinoa! I kept ignoring all of the hype, but turns out, I love it!
My favorite healthy food these days is coconut oil. I use it in place of olive oil in my cooking. Soo good!
I’m not sure if it quantifies as a healthy food in the trendy way, but I’ve recently discovered jicama and find its the perfect compliment of hummus and satisfies my desire for something sweet to end a meal, which is a major win for me.
I have recently been including more black beans! I love them and have finally got my husband to enjoy them too!! Yum!
I have been adding more greens to my diet- spinach in smoothies, and kale in soups and salads.
In the past month, I’ve been using a teaspoon of coconut oil to scramble my eggs in for breakfast. Also, I’ve been using coconut oil to coat the pan I cook my chicken in. Gives a great, subtle taste and aroma!
I am a kale girl and have been for a while, I love homeade kale chips and even got my little boy hooked on them too!
I’ve started making green smoothies for breakfast and I love it! I feel like I have more energy to start my day
i have incorporated one day of meatless meals a week!
spaghetti squash is a staple for me. I want to get some chia seeds and flax seeds. plus i’ve recently gone gluten free.
Sweet potatoes are a new kick for me over the past year. I love them in almost way possible…And believe it our not brussel sprouts. My boyfriend and I tried them at a restaurant and they were delicious. I’ve been scared of them for years, and now I’m pinning recipes for them on Pinterest!
Brussels sprouts are a new-to-me faavorite healthy food!
Even though this May sound very simple bananas are my one staple that I eat everyday. There is rarely a day where I don’t start my day with one. They are full of B vitamins and pair perfectly with the local peanut butter that I buy for a brain feeding breakfast. But recently I’ve started adding chia seeds to my smoothies and using coconut oil for cooking and baking!
I recently started using spaghetti squash instead of noodles for spaghetti marinara and it’s delicious!
quinoa
I have started using quinoa a lot more and I love it!
I am obsessed with quinoa!!! i will incorporate it with every meal pretty much!