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 bananas! But my new healthy food is apples!
Kale! Kale! Kale!
I’ve never been a cooked veggie kind of person, but I recently tried zucchini and loved it! I’m hoping to incorporate more cooked veggies into my diet.
I try to eat a really balanced diet!!
Thanks to your introduction many moons ago, my favorite healthy food is overnight oats. I’ve recently started using PB2 instead of peanut butter and I seriously look forward to breakfast:).
I’ve loved quinoa for a while but just recently discovered red quinoa and love it as well.
We just got nutritional yeast….sprinkled on some vegan pizza the other night yummy
I’ve started buying more organic items like organic honey, eggs, and produce! I’ve also started to eat more veggies- right now, I’m really digging butternut squash!
I’ve finally started using coconut oil. So good!
Oatmeal with frozen fruit and chia seeds!
I love Whole Foods! I never really wanted to give Kale a chance, but I’ve found it can be cooked in so many different ways! It has definitely grown on me! I just spread the word to my coworkers about the Health Starts Here Program! Thanks for telling us about it!
kale and cannellini beans instead of pasta – so good!
Green smoothies is a healthy staple in my diet!
There isn’t one food in particular but my husband and I have decided to try to incorporate one new healthy food into our meals each week. This week it’s broccoli!
Cauliflower!
Lately I’ve been loving hemp seeds! They’re a great source of healthy fats and proteins.
I know I’m tardy to the party with this one, but I’ve started adding spinach/kale into my daily smoothies – love love love!
Peanut Butter! I didn’t start eating peanut butter, or peanuts for that matter, until I was 33. I’m making my own so I can control what goes into it. I love being able to smear some on fruit or whole grain bread and have a quick snack that keeps me going.
I’ve been obsessed with avocados ever since I took my “first hit” of guacamole, but I’ve recently been slicing it up and putting it on everything: breakfast toast w/ egg whites & avocado, spinach salads for lunch and dinner, and even as a quick snack with a little bit of agave and seeds.
I LOVE Whole Foods!!
I bought a huge bag of quinoa from Costco and have loved incorporating this healthy grain into my meals!
I just started using kale in my salads…I don’t love it yet, but it is growing on me.
After a long hiatus I’ve started putting hummus on EVERYTHING again. I got a little burnt out on it after doing this before, but my hummus obsession is back with a vengence!
I just recently started adding chia seeds to my oatmeal in the mornings! it’s been a great addition!
I’ve been trying to remeber to eat a healthy protein rich breakfast every morning. I have noticed on the days I skip breakfast I do not feel 100%. I know it is important to start the day off right and this gift card would help me stock up on supplies like eggs, oatmeal and chia/flax seeds!
Always been a fan of kale!
Spinach! I love it in salads, smoothies, eggs, you name it!
I love this post! I had no idea about the Health Starts Here logos, but I’ll be sure to look next time I’m in Whole Foods. I’ve been trying to eat a breakfast of greek yogurt with berries for an extra protein boost!
Quinoa! I love it and have been using it a ton lately. It’s so easy to make a big batch to have all week!
Spinach and kale – I’ve started throwing it in everything!
I recently tried beets and am now incorporating them into all my usual dishes!
I’ve been loving avocados with everything lately! I really notice a decrease in my hunger when I make sure to get enough healthy fats.
I have been eating vanilla greek yogurt with blueberries and pistachios.
I LOVEEEE Whole Foods! I eat their salad bar at least once a week. I am a green smoothie kinda girl, so that’s been my staple for awhile. Last night I prepared roasted brussel sprouts for my family. We were all in agreement that vegetables can be yummy if you prepare them the right way 🙂
I recently discovered how delicious brussel sprouts can be!!! And I have a new obsession with kiwi 🙂
I love all squash! It’s so fun to experiment with different kinds of squash and different ways to prepare them.
Green peppers! I’d never tried them before but I recently discovered that they are awesome to cut into strips and snack on!
I love Whole Foods’ Health Starts Here recipe for Garlicky Kale. It’s addicting! And so good for you! Trying to maximize my kale intake!
Spinach and a variety of veggies! I get in a rut of eating the same veggies over and over, so I’m trying out some new kinds to vary up the nutrients!
I first started using chia seeds about 4 years ago or so, and I never really understood what the hype was about them. Now, I LOVE the crunchy texture of them and can’t imagine having breakfast without them incorporated somehow!
I love hemp seeds. I’ve recently been incorporating them in my diet by sprinkling them on salads and smoothies. They have a great nutty taste and chewy texture!
I have been loving quinoa. It has replaced brown rice in my house! 🙂
Pomegranite seeds- I literally put them on everything!
I just added spinach much more often into my diet and LOVE it! It has so many great health benefits for your body.
I just now started incorporating sweet potatoes, but
I have always eaten broccoli! I would love love this giftcard because I’m a student who is struggling with coming up with money to keep buying healthy food!!
Definitely broccoli! I eat it all the time 🙂
I love protein pancakes/2-ingredient pancakes. So delicious!
I have been eating more brussel sprouts as of late…it takes me a bit to get past the smell of them cooking, but I really enjoy the taste of them!
Really want to experiment with cooking tofu at home. I’ve had the idea for months but haven’t had the guts to do it yet 🙂 Thanks!
I recently started using barley! I’m in college so making new or exciting dishes can be a challenge, but I’ve started using barley as an alternative to other grains to change things up a bit.
I love greek yogurt!