What does “whole foods” actually mean? Any food in its most purest, essential and basic form, basically foods that have one ingredient “they are what they are”. So for example a steak is a steak, a chicken breast is a chicken breast, a fillet of salmon is a fillet of salmon, a stalk of broccoli is a stalk of broccoli.. Make sense?
Favouring a whole foods rich diet is a simple way to ensure that the food you’re eating is micronutrient dense and free of unnecessary additives. Whole foods are the best ingredients for creating delicious healthy meals, and diets loaded with whole, unrefined and unprocessed food keep you extremely healthy.
Increase the diet-induced thermogenesis effect of food and burn more calories by eating whole foods rather than processed foods. Know you probably know what processed foods are and that they have far less nutritional value and often contain a heap of additives. Recent studies have shown that you will maintain a much better body composition by eliminating all processed foods from your diet.
What is the diet-induced thermic effect of food? It’s the amount of calories your body needs to break down food, synthesise the enzymes, and perform metabolic processes. It is approximately 10% of our daily energy expenditure. Protein burns the most calories, followed by carbohydrates and then fats.
Studies have shown that the thermic effect from eating whole food meals is almost double what it is after eating processed food meals, that is a massive difference! What this means is that you burn up to 50% more calories after eating whole foods. Equally as significant is the fact that when you consume processed foods your Basel Metabolic Rate (BMR) can actually drop below your average resting metabolic rate, which is the average energy needed to keep your body functioning at rest (which is described as being completely physically and psychologically undisturbed) during the 6th hour after eating. As oppose to eating whole foods which will only elevate your BMR.
The reason for this massive difference in the calories burnt from the two food types is due to contrast in the quality of the ingredients and fibre content between the two food types. Processed foods contain refined grains without bran or germ and about one third the fibre of whole foods. The refined quality processed food ingredients means it is easier to process and requires less enzyme production. It is more simply metabolised by the body, which ultimately means burning fewer calories in the process.
Eating a strict whole food diet of meat, vegetables and fruit without processing will increase the thermic effect even more. Eating a diet of whole foods can also help change your diet to include more protein and tends to make you get your carbohydrates from better sources i.e vegetables instead of grains, for better body composition.
Go get some guys!
Matt
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