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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Hey there!
I start each morning with a green smoothie, and don’t think I’ll ever change! As for a new healthy food, I’m trying those green pancakes you shared this weekend! 🙂
Avocados are a diet staple for me 🙂
I finally broke down and bought a juicer – best investment ever! I love making juices at home and have at least one a day. Whole Foods is my favorite – great giveaway!
I cannot say I’ve incorporated anything new, but I do love sweet potatoes and grapes. Yeah I’m definitely one of those individuals who cycle through the same fruits and veggies 🙂
I’ve started cooking with eggplant a lot more. It is so good to add into a stir fry
One of my all time favorite healthy foods is Greek yogurt! I love it plain with a little bit of natural strawberry preserves. I love eating this after a sweat session!
Currently I’m making a lot of spaghetti squash! It’s very filling and easy to make. Thanks for the tip on the cooking classes, I’m going to have to check that out when the Whole Foods opens near me in a few months!
i have natures path oatmeal every morning. so good!
Spinach! Always in my salads and I like to sneak it in my smoothies too. I want to incorporate kale more. I recently saw a recipe for a delicious kale salad from Whole Foods I want to try.
I’ve recently discovered farro and it’s delicious! It’s a lot higher in protein than other grains and keeps me full longer.
recently I bought the super greens supplement to add to my protein shakes, it has tons of vitamins and greens in it 🙂 I love whole foods, I cannot go in there without spending like a million dollars, this gift card would come in handy!
I’ve recently started eating avocados! For the longest time, I hated them, now I can’t get enough
Oh man, quinoa and greek yogurt are totally staples in my diet! I love both of them so much!!!
I have been loving chia seeds for awhile – a pantry staple!
I have been obsessed with brussel sprouts lately! They are low in calorie, high in nutrients, and even higher in yumminess!
Sounds like a great tour and I’ll definitely look out for the Health Starts Here logo at Whole Foods. I’ve been incorporating chickpeas into my diet for awhile now – salads, soup, pasta etc. I have started to use kale more after trying a great kale salad at a restaurant. Thanks!
chia seeds have been a staple in my diet for about 3.5 years. my coach in college introduced me to them and i’m obsessed! 🙂
I have been eating a new oatmeal called “Better Oats” and I have been absolutely loving it! Delicious and healthy!:)
Lately I’ve been adding swiss chard to my salads, and I love it!
I finally got onboard with kale. I don’t love it, but I’m incorporating it into my morning smoothies.
Chia seeds!
Collards! I rotate around adding spinach, kale, and collards to my meals through the year, but I’ve been all about the collards since New Year’s. I buy the pre-washed, then chop them up, zap them with some water in the microwave for 30 seconds to wilt them a bit, and then add them to soup or even oatmeal (along with a cooked egg and spicy spices – yum!).
Ive been trying to be adventurous and try a new fruit or vegetable each week. So far so good! I love spaghetti Squash and Rutabaga fries! And Ive been adding spinach to everything for an extra nutritional kick..All the vegetables and fruits have noticeably given me added energy 🙂
This is so exciting! We have a Whole Foods being built now..supposed to open end of summer early fall and I can’t wait!! I think my all time favorite/most versatile health food is quinoa! I eat it all the time! I also have a new found love for roasted butternut squash. If you slice it pretty thin and roast it for a long time it gets caramelized and delicious!!!
Sweet Potato’s! I make my own seasoned fries for lunch, home fries for breakfast, or baked for dinner. They are so good.
I recently started making smoothies, so incorporating much more spinach and kale into my diet. Also, I have been adding quinoa and beets to my salads to switch it up!
I’m intrigued by the “Stock up your healthy pantry” card. If you can really get all of that for $99 I think it would make an awesome housewarming present put together in a gift basket, with that card tied to the front.
Thanks!
I’ve been trying to incorporate more protein in general into my diet lately. I’ve been on a huge plain greek yogurt kick with half a banana and a bit of homemade granola for breakfast, and then trying to eat cottage cheese as well.. I’ve always been weirded out by it, but I’m quickly becoming a huge fan, especially on salads!
I love kale and spinach smoothies and have recently discovered parsnips and acorn squash! Would love to win so I could actually afford to try out whole foods and their fabulous hot bar! I frequently go in there but usually just lust at all the goodies 🙂
We just bought a vitamix and have been making green smoothies for breakfast.
I’ve started incorporating more ground flax seeds and chia seeds into green smoothies and yogurt in an effort to get more omega 3s!
I’ve recently started using quinoa in dishes and love its taste and versatility!
Well, I can’t say that it’s a “new” food, but lately I can’t seem to get enough sweet potatoes!
I have been HUGE on making green smoothies and two-ingredient pancakes recently! They are so simple, delicious, and highly nutritious!
I have recently started adding kale to all my sandwiches and even started adding it to my 10 month olds meals
I’ve been making butternut squash a lot lately! I’ve always loved it, but I’ve made some incredible recipes with it recently.
My most recent healthy food addition has been a zucchini and squash combo. It’s so good baked in the oven with a little olive oil and salt and pepper!
I’d love to attend one of these events! I eat tons of fruits and veggies and I’m gluten free, so my diet is pretty high in nutrients. I just started making my own protein muffins and hard boiled eggs instead of buying snack bars
I love broccoli. I’ve been eating it all my life so it’s not “new,” but it helps me keep it full when I add it to eggs, salads, and more!
I throw hemp seeds into everything I can: oatmeal, pancakes, cookies, salads, I hide them in my kids peanut butter sandwiches…
I recently started eating quinoa pasta as an alternative to whole wheat pasta. I don’t have a lot of pasta to begin with but I find that I’m eating a smaller portion size with the quinoa and feel like it is healthier for me too!
Leeks are a yummy veggie that I’ve been incorporating into dinner more lately. I love whole foods!
I recently discovered goji berries! Not only do they have awesome health benefits, they are super tasty! I put them in smoothies, on salads, and just snack on them right out of the bag. 🙂
I have never been a huge grapefruit fan, but lately I have been incorporating them into salads and loving it!
I just started preparing a big salad each week so I am more likely to get my veggies in! I recently started adding red cabbage and radishes and it makes my salads so much more exciting! As for staples, peanut butter and berries are my favorites 🙂
i’ve been eating oatmeal for awhile now. I love to make it into overnight oatmeal and eat it for lunch.
I’ve gotten in to quinoa lately. Spaghetti Squash is a new favorite!
Haha, I can believe people cycle through the same 10 fruits and veggies! I’d be surprised if mine is even 10…
I LOVE Whole Foods! We’ve only been living near one for almost a year and I don’t know how I functioned without it before. I can’t find anywhere else to get certain items!! And I easily spend a bit more than I budget for every single time!!! What an amazing giveaway:)
Whole fruit is my go to food. I try to eat what is fresh in season so it tastes the best!
I started incorporating kale into my diet and at first, I was trying to eat it raw in a salad LOL but now that I found out how to make kale chips, and saute it, its amazing!
I’ve been cooking with coconut oil rather than cooking spray- tastes way better and its so much healthier!