Whole food

Types of whole food

Examples of whole foods include grains, fruits, vegetables, dried beans, nuts, seeds, unprocessed meats, and fish.

Public health advocacy

In 2018, unprocessed or minimally processed foods were named as Group 1 of the Nova classification adopted by the Pan American Health Organization of the United Nations.

Research

The Mediterranean diet has been studied as an example of a whole food diet having minimal processing and potential health effects that may include a lower risk of several diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases, childhood obesity, and metabolic syndrome.

Definition of "natural"

The US Food and Drug Administration interprets the term "natural" to indicate that a food contains no artificial or synthetic substances (including color additives from any source) that would not typically be expected in that food. The FDA interpretation does not encompass food production practices, such as the use of pesticides, nor does it explicitly address food processing or manufacturing methods like pasteurization, thermal technologies, or irradiation, and does not define "natural" as having any nutritional or other health benefit.

References

References

1. (1 September 2024}} {{web archive). "What are whole foods?". [[British Heart Foundation]].
2. (3 May 2022). "Canada's Food Guide: Eat whole grain foods". [[Health Canada]], Government of Canada.
3. (4 April 2024}} {{web archive). "Heart-healthy diet: 8 steps to prevent heart disease". [[Mayo Clinic]].
4. (July 2023). "Mediterranean Diet-Based Interventions to Improve Anthropometric and Obesity Indicators in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials". [[American Society for Nutrition]].
5. (2018). "The UN Decade of Nutrition, the NOVA food classification and the trouble with ultra-processing". [[Cambridge University Press]].
6. (22 October 2018). "Use of the Term Natural on Food Labeling". [[US Food and Drug Administration]]}} {{web archive.