Why we should eat whole foods

Most people today prefer to eat "white" refined diets, notably large quantities of foods containing white flour and white sugar.

Harder to metabolise and worse for one's heath than white sugar are the refined oils.

Here is a sample listing of refined foods found in most stores (including health food stores) and their quality counterparts that are recommended.

Refined, Denatured Food
refined white sugar, cane juice, dried cane juice (often used in natural food industry), cane sugar

Quality Choice
unrefined cane juice or powder, barley malt, date sugar, rice syrup, whole green stevia powder and green stevia extract

Refined, Denatured Food
Tahini - hulless sesame-seed spread

Quality Choice
Sesame butter - whole sesame-seed spread

Refined, Denatured Food
Whote folour, semolina, pastas

Quality Choice
whole-wheat pastas, spelt, brown rice, buckwheat and other whole grain pastas

Refined, Denatured Food
white flour wheat breads

Quality Choice
whole wheat breads, whole rye, barley, spelt, oat, corn, rice and other whole-grain breads

Refined, Denatured Food
refined oils and fats, canola oil, common vegetable oils, margarine, shortening and virtually all oils used in restaurants in fried and deep fried foods, nearly all oils in all prepared foods both in supermarkets and natural food stores, pastries, chips, breads, soups, treats

Quality Choice
unrefined cold pressed flax oil, unrefined olive oil, unrefined sesame oil and other quality oils (if you want a larger list - let me know)

Refined, Denatured Food
low fat dairy products such as low fat yoghurt, milk and cheese

Quality Choice
full fat diary products. Quality dairy is also organic and non-homogenised. Goat milk products are often superior for children and adults alike.

This is from "Healing with Whole Foods" by Paul Pitchford. It is quite a thick book, but one of the best books I've read on food. It also has some AMAZING recipes in it.

I know a lot of diets etc recommend low fat dairy products, but your body needs the fat in the milk to absorb the calcium. For the little amount of milk I drink during the day, I'd rather drink full cream (I drink Cleopatras Body Milk - which is non-homogenised and non-pasteurised)