5 ms·

What is meant by “whole” when used in “whole food”?

by jjtheblunt 3y ago

riehwvfbk 3y ago
Leaving the whole contents of your wallet at the grocery store rather than partial.
- markstos 3y ago
  Ah yes, the "beans and rice are more expensive than beef" argument.
  - riehwvfbk 3y ago
    It's a joke. It went whoosh.
  - abduhl 3y ago
    Are beans and rice more "whole" than beef? Is beef not a "whole food"?
    - rmast 3y ago
      Beans and brown rice would be… unless you’re eating the whole cow. But actually, it’s surprising how many things like preservatives get added to things like ground beef.
      - abduhl 3y ago
        Sorry but this is a ludicrous statement. Beans and brown rice are more "whole" than beef unless you're eating the whole cow? You're not eating the whole bean plant or rice plant. Even looking at brown rice or beans off the plant, with brown rice you are still removing the husk and with beans you are removing the pod.
        rmast 3y ago
        That part was humor, sorry you missed it. I’ll elaborate. If it’s unprocessed beef it could be considered a whole food — but often people don’t bother checking the ingredients for the meat they buy and just assume that it doesn’t have things added. That said, there is research that points to eating too much beef and other red meats potentially being bad for health.
genezeta 3y ago
From the dictionary: "food that has not had any of its natural features taken away or any artificial substances added". That would mean unprocessed food: fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains (such as oats, brown rice and barley), nuts, beans, fish, shellfish and eggs.
bondarchuk 3y ago
It's what you'd call just "normal food" in the rest of the world.
- kwhitefoot 3y ago
  > the rest of the world. Much of the rest of the world but not all. The UK is following the US in pursuit of a diet consisting entirely of ultra-processed 'food'. "Ultra-processed foods account for 56.8% of total energy intake and 64.7% of total free sugars in the UK diet. Free sugars represent 12.4% of total energy intake, and 61.3% of the sample exceeded the recommended limit of 10% energy from free sugars. This percentage was higher among children (74.9%) and adolescents (82.9%). Prevalence of excessive free sugar intake increased linearly across quintiles of ultra-processed food consumption for all age groups, except among the elderly. Eliminating ultra-processed foods could potentially reduce the prevalence of excessive free sugar intake by 47%." https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e027546 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e027546
rmast 3y ago
Basically leave out things like added oils and refined ingredients (sugar).
bregma 3y ago
Maybe as in "I can't believe I ate the whole thing"?
klyrs 3y ago
Am I allowed to peel my orange? ... sounds like a smartass question; that's probably not where the line is drawn. Here's a website that describes something they call a whole-food diet: https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-a-whole-foods-diet-2241974 https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-a-whole-foods-diet-22419...
markstos 3y ago
In this context, it doesn't mean "no processing" but more like "nothing good removed, nothing bad added". Unlike veganism, which has yes/no test of "does it contain animal products", with WFPB there's more a spectrum as you move from "no processing" to "minimal processing" to more processing. And the science supports getting nearly all the benefits by being mostly compliant, even if you don't eat 100% whole-foods or 100% plant-based. People still have 5% or so processed foods are still having very good results.

What is meant by “whole” when used in “whole food”?

riehwvfbk 3y ago

Leaving the whole contents of your wallet at the grocery store rather than partial.

markstos 3y ago
Ah yes, the "beans and rice are more expensive than beef" argument.
- riehwvfbk 3y ago
  It's a joke. It went whoosh.
- abduhl 3y ago
  Are beans and rice more "whole" than beef? Is beef not a "whole food"?
  - rmast 3y ago
    Beans and brown rice would be… unless you’re eating the whole cow. But actually, it’s surprising how many things like preservatives get added to things like ground beef.
    - abduhl 3y ago
      Sorry but this is a ludicrous statement. Beans and brown rice are more "whole" than beef unless you're eating the whole cow? You're not eating the whole bean plant or rice plant. Even looking at brown rice or beans off the plant, with brown rice you are still removing the husk and with beans you are removing the pod.
      - rmast 3y ago
        That part was humor, sorry you missed it. I’ll elaborate. If it’s unprocessed beef it could be considered a whole food — but often people don’t bother checking the ingredients for the meat they buy and just assume that it doesn’t have things added. That said, there is research that points to eating too much beef and other red meats potentially being bad for health.

genezeta 3y ago

From the dictionary: "food that has not had any of its natural features taken away or any artificial substances added". That would mean unprocessed food: fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains (such as oats, brown rice and barley), nuts, beans, fish, shellfish and eggs.

bondarchuk 3y ago

It's what you'd call just "normal food" in the rest of the world.

kwhitefoot 3y ago
> the rest of the world. Much of the rest of the world but not all. The UK is following the US in pursuit of a diet consisting entirely of ultra-processed 'food'. "Ultra-processed foods account for 56.8% of total energy intake and 64.7% of total free sugars in the UK diet. Free sugars represent 12.4% of total energy intake, and 61.3% of the sample exceeded the recommended limit of 10% energy from free sugars. This percentage was higher among children (74.9%) and adolescents (82.9%). Prevalence of excessive free sugar intake increased linearly across quintiles of ultra-processed food consumption for all age groups, except among the elderly. Eliminating ultra-processed foods could potentially reduce the prevalence of excessive free sugar intake by 47%." https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e027546 https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e027546

rmast 3y ago

Basically leave out things like added oils and refined ingredients (sugar).

bregma 3y ago

Maybe as in "I can't believe I ate the whole thing"?

klyrs 3y ago

Am I allowed to peel my orange? ... sounds like a smartass question; that's probably not where the line is drawn. Here's a website that describes something they call a whole-food diet: https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-a-whole-foods-diet-2241974 https://www.verywellfit.com/what-is-a-whole-foods-diet-22419...

markstos 3y ago

In this context, it doesn't mean "no processing" but more like "nothing good removed, nothing bad added". Unlike veganism, which has yes/no test of "does it contain animal products", with WFPB there's more a spectrum as you move from "no processing" to "minimal processing" to more processing. And the science supports getting nearly all the benefits by being mostly compliant, even if you don't eat 100% whole-foods or 100% plant-based. People still have 5% or so processed foods are still having very good results.