Healthy Eating Starts Here Day 3 & 4
by cary, February 4, 2010 | Permalink
On the second day of this plan I woke up with a headache, suffered through it and went to bed, still with a headache. It was very frustrating. On Wednesday (day 3) however, headache was gone and I felt fine- I would even say my energy level was pretty high. I’m not craving anything and I like the challenge of eating so many more cooked vegetables. So far, so good……
I’ve tried to be low-key with the changes I’m making, but I have had to explain the plan to few people. It is a very specific plan, but it doesn’t fit in to the usual neat boxes that are usually assigned to similar eating programs. Eat Right America is based on Dr. Joel Fuhrman’s philosophy of eating nutrient dense food and thus is labeled “nutritarian” eating. The strategy is to eat foods that are nutrient rich and have a high nutrient to calorie ratio. This ratio is called an ANDI score (Aggregate Nutrient Density Index). Dr. Fuhrman’s criteria for a determining the nutrient density of food includes not only vitamins and minerals, but also phytochemicals that build and defend our immune systems. Not surprisingly, desirable foods tend to be green and vegetal, less desirable foods are laden with fat and/or sugar and are often highly processed. There is no ban on animal products, but their nutrient density and ANDI score is relatively low, so eating meat and cheese is not going to be central to this plan. Fat, in any form is approached with caution. Even olive oil is not going to score big in nutrient density and in the end will add far more calories and have fewer nutrients than say, a potato.
A few highlights of my new eating style: Water sautéed beet greens and roasted beets (delicious!), lentil soup with mushrooms and spinach and Napa cabbage salad which was basically chopped cabbage tossed with pineapple-mango salsa from our produce department (also delicious). Last night I made a soup with ten different vegetables- onion, celery, carrot, garlic, turnip, parsnips, potato, mushrooms, cauliflower and Napa cabbage. I’m still up in the air with this one- it was a very beige looking soup. Next time I’ll probably add some tomatoes- it definitely needed some acid because it was a little too sweet for my taste. Today I had some of the Garlicky Kale Salad at our Raleigh store that was really very good despite the fact that it was raw kale- I could definitely eat that fairly often. I’ll do some snooping in the kitchen and figure out (steal) the recipe and maybe post it here!
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February 23rd, 2010 at 4:39 pm
The people at the Cary store know me well. I am in there 4-5 days a week buying groceris for my family and for my clients and workshops! I am SO in love with my neighborhood WF because everyone greets me with a smile and is so passionate about what they do. I don’t think I would ever know if they had a bad day because of the greetings and smiles in which they welcome me with. It is a difficult task to find passionate employees in any industry, and if it were not for them, my shopping trips would be a little more of a chore, and a lot less fun!
I love the cold and hot bar there, and if something is out, they always bring another tray right away. I create healthy gift bags for my clients and I help them to Love themselves enough to make the nutrition and lifestlye changes they should make…for the rest of their lives. No dieting! Just wanted to say thank you to all the people that make Whole Foods Cary where I want to shop. Nutritious and local food is an investment in your health. Eat like your life depends on it…because it does!