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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Kale!! I know I’m really late to the party, but I’ve been really intimidated to try anything with it. Turns out I can’t get enough of it!!
I love having a green drink filled with kale and other healthy veggies every morning!!
I’ve been trying to add sweet potatoes and more beans to our diet.
Greek yogurt and chia seeds! I’ve started eating healthier breakfasts lately, like a smoothie with greek yogurt, banana, frozen berries, almond milk, granola, and chia seeds. It’s delicious and has made a big difference!
Lately I’ve been incorporating butternut squash in alot of recipies. I put in my grandmom’s chicken noodle soup recipe. I also add to my eggs in the morning with a little bit of shredded kale. It’s fun to break the routine! Great idea for a giveaway:)
I always have fresh berries and banana’s in the kitchen! I’ve recently been hooked on clementines 🙂
I’ve started putting a tablespoon of ground flax in my breakfast every morning. It does wonders for digestion!
I started adding chia seeds to my oatmeal every day a while ago!
I recently made the switch from regular to greek yogurt, and I’ve gotta say, the taste took a while to get used to, but now I LOVE IT!
Butternut has been my favorite food for a while! I love roasting it with olive oil, salt, and cinnamon, or using it for a soup. I’ve recently tried using coconut oil instead of olive oil though (your recent recipe post was a good reminder) – changes take time adjusting to!
Quinoa veggie bowls!
I eat sweet potatoes like nobody’s business! Love ’em.
Lentils, avocados, and coconut oil!
I have Gluten and Dairy allergies with a very sensitive system, so eating veggies is a huge part of my diet. Recently I have been working on getting off all my vitemans pills and just getting them from the fruits and veggies I eat.
I’ve started adding kale to more dishes. I have used spinach for awhile, but I knew I needed to experiment more with kale.
I have suddenly started really enjoying Kale.I make kale chips,eat it in eggs and in soups……love it.
I think of Greek yogurt as a healthy option, and I love it! I’ve been eating it for a while now.
Spaghetti squash! I’ve been wanting to try it and over the weekend I made spaghetti squash and chicken meatballs and I can’t get enough of it!
I love kale, but recently have started adding it to smoothies!
Love kale and chia seeds AND whole foods !!
I recently started adding chia seeds to my breakfasts!
While they aren’t a new-to-me food, I have been loving sweet potatoes lately. I eat them with everything!
I know I am VERY late to join the kale chip craze, but I just recently started making them and love that it’s such an easy way to eat greens!
Jicama! It adds great texture and taste to any salad and is high in vitamins C, A, and some Bs, as well as calcium and phosphorus!
spaghetti squash… its so versatile!
I’ve been eating more salad this year (school year) than every before. My friends and I started a Salad Club, so we all bring salads for everyone once a week, and each day we get to enjoy a new recipe or salad idea. The salads have been so fresh and flavorful, and it’s been a killer way to add more greens to my diet.
I recently started adding baby kale (from whole foods!) to my salads and it is really good!
I’ve been eating sweet potatoes like its my job! They’re super tasty and there are so many different ways to prepare them. I love roasting them and throwing them in salads or making a breakfast hash with them. Very versatile 🙂
Spinach is my go-to healthy add-on to almost all my meals; in my smoothies for breakfast, in pancakes, sauteed with eggs, in every sandwich / wrap I prepare, mixed in with almost any veggie I sautee. I can’t get enough of it, and its so inexpensive and versatile!
Goodbye pasta, hello spaghetti squash! We’ve also begun to drink kefir (y’all really should google this if you haven’t heard of it!).
i’ve been rediscovering / falling back in love with oatmeal! hot and with berries for breakfast, mixed with a frozen banana and greek yogurt for a meal replacement smoothie, with a little peanut butter and flax for a late night snack. i used to eat the stuff daily and i think i got burnt out on it… but it’s back again!
Plain greek yogurt! I have always had vanilla or fruit flavored greek yogurt as a snack, but I have been using the plain kind in sauces/dressings/toppings/etc. as a healthy swap!
On my to-try list: quinoa for breakfast! I’m thinking of making it with milk, then topping it with fruit and chopped walnuts. Maybe a drizzle of honey or maple syrup.
Kale!
My daughter is starting to eat small bites of bananas and avocados. I have never had avocado before and love them now!
I tried the whole green smoothie thing but had a super bad experience (didn’t blend the greens enough so it was super chunky) thus I’ve nixed my green drinking habits. However, that led me to trying this Apple Cider Vinegar drink from Whole Foods which is absolutely amazing! It only has a subtle vinegar taste in the beginning then tastes like apple juice-a great way to get an energy boost when you most need it!
I’ve between incorporating more beans into my diet for a plant-based protein source.
since I now manage a small health food store we make juices to order. I get to drink all of the leftovers so I drink a lot of green juices these days!
i’ve eaten kale out a lot/already bought it prepared but I have recently started making it at home on my own lately. love it!
They just redid the Whole Foods here in Memphis. We have had a great time exploring! I have half of an avocado just about every single day. I enjoy it with crackers as a healthy, fulfilling snack.
I love chia seeds now! I used to dislike the texture, but now I can’t live without it!
This makes me wish even more that we had Whole Foods in Canada! I recently started incorporating super healthy fats like avocado, walnuts and chia seeds into ALL my meals. 🙂
I flavor my food with more herbs & spices -such as cinnamon, tumeric and cilantro!
We’ve started eating more roasted cabbage lately and I’m loving it!
Coconut oil! I use it for ev-ery-thing. And it’s such a healthy fat that my body desperately needs.
Sardines
Chai seeds are one of my go to staples to add to my food. I have just starting cooking more with Kale as it is one of the few vegetables that grows in Iceland in the winter and I am loving it in soups.
I’ve recently incorporated a lot of butternut squash into my meals. It so delicious and versatile! You can have it in soups, salads, mashed, or roasted.
I’ve been eating a lot of avocados because I am pregnant and I know the fats and nutrients are supposed to be so good for you, especially during pregnancy! Being pregnant has made me more mindful of what I put in my body. A $50 gift card would help provide lots of yummy healthy food for the baby & I!
I have been trying to eat more spinach lately – I don’t love it, but I can make it work with some other yummy ingredients!