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Red Lentils: Nutritional Values and Calories of Legumes

Legumes are becoming increasingly popular in the kitchen. And rightly so: Red lentils in particular are real little powerhouses. Here you can find out why they should not be missing in any menu.

Red lentils as a healthy filler

With around 343 calories per 100 grams, red lentils may not seem like light food at first glance. But the low fat content of around two grams and the high content of complex carbohydrates make them a healthy food.

The fiber content is also impressive: With 11 grams of fiber per 100 grams, they even trump oat and spelled flakes. This is also the reason for the legume’s low glycemic index. This means that after eating red lentils, the blood sugar level rises only slowly. This will keep you full longer and avoid cravings.

Red lentils are real protein bombs

The small legumes contain around 26 grams of protein per 100 grams. They are in no way inferior to many animal products and are not only a healthy source of protein for vegetarians and vegans. It is best enjoyed with a portion of rice to provide your body with all eight essential amino acids.

Red lentils score with many vital substances

Last but not least, red lentils provide our body with important minerals such as iron, zinc, folic acid and magnesium, as well as a number of B vitamins. They are also rich in antioxidants, which supports our body’s defense mechanisms.

Cooking and kitchen tips

Unlike other types of lentils, you don’t have to soak red lentils. That’s because they’re already peeled. So we only eat the inside of the lentil, which is reddish in color. Unprocessed, they have a brownish skin. Before you cook them, it’s important to rinse the lentils well using a sieve. Then cook them for about 10 to 15 minutes, depending on your needs. Use two cups of water for one cup of lentils.

You can find many Indian recipes that use lentils as they are actually a staple food in India. They definitely deserve this status because of their valuable ingredients.

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Peanut Butter – It’s so Healthy: Nutritional Values and Tips

You can refine both sweet and savory dishes with peanut butter. Here you can find out how healthy the creamy paste is and what you should pay attention to when buying and using it.

Peanut butter is often confused with peanut butter. In fact, the nut butter does not contain any additives and consists of pure peanuts. Only the salty versions contain some salt. Peanut butter, on the other hand, has a much more spreadable consistency. This is because it contains hard fats, mostly palm fat, as well as sugar and possibly other additives.

With peanut butter you therefore fall back on the healthier version. We will explain to you which nutrients the nut butter provides you with and how you can use it.

Peanut butter: macronutrients

Peanut butter is about half fat. For example, 100 grams of peanut butter contains 49 grams of fat. At first glance, this doesn’t seem healthy. However, the majority of these are unsaturated fatty acids. Our body needs this, for example, to produce hormones, to maintain a healthy immune system or to utilize certain vitamins. By the way, saturated fats are not bad per se. It only becomes critical if we consume too much of it.

With only about eight percent carbohydrate content, peanut butter is also one of the low-carbohydrate foods. You can also use the nut butter as a vegetable protein source: it provides 26 grams of protein per 100 grams.

As a high-fat food, peanut butter also contains a relatively large number of calories: that’s around 590 kilocalories per 100 grams. However, if consumed in moderation, you can use it as part of a balanced and healthy diet.

Peanut butter: vitamins, minerals & Co

Peanut butter not only provides healthy fatty acids, but is also rich in various micronutrients. Specifically, it provides you with:

Vitamin E: This vitamin acts as a component of the cell membrane and is therefore essential for the structure of our body cells. It also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. That means it fights free radicals and is important for a healthy immune system.
some B vitamins: peanuts are particularly rich in vitamins B1, B3, B5 and B7. These play a central role in metabolic processes in particular.
Potassium: The mineral is important, among other things, for a balanced acid-base balance and growth processes. It also enables healthy heart function and regulates blood pressure.
Magnesium: This nutrient is particularly important for our bone and skeletal structure.
Iron: As a trace element, iron enables the transport of oxygen and is therefore essential for cell formation.
Zinc: As a component of enzymes and protein, zinc is particularly important for wound healing and cell growth.

Tips for buying and using

When buying peanut butter, you usually have the choice between “fine” and “crunchy”. In the crunchy variant, the mush is not completely pureed, but still contains individual pieces of nuts. In both cases, opt for organic nut butter if possible. In this way you avoid chemical-synthetic pesticides that are harmful to your health and the environment.

Alternatively, you can also make peanut butter yourself. To do this, simply puree organic peanuts using a food processor or a high-performance blender until a creamy paste is formed.

You can use peanut butter for numerous dishes that you want to give a creamy consistency and the typical nutty taste. For example, it is suitable as an ingredient for:

homemade porridge
smoothie
pie fillings
muffins and cookies
savory dips, sauces and dressing
soups
spreads

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Are Eggs Healthy? Nutritional Values and Important Information

Whether or not eggs can be considered healthy seems to be a controversial topic in research as well. Learn more about the nutrients, cholesterol levels and sustainability of eggs here.

On the one hand, eggs have the reputation of being healthy: they are supposed to promote our health due to their nutrient density and above all their protein content and support growth in children. In the form of scrambled eggs, omelettes or simply as a breakfast egg, they are also a traditional food for many. However, due to their high cholesterol content, eggs are often discredited. In this article we explain what this criticism is all about and to what extent it is based on scientific knowledge.

Eggs – Healthy Nutrient Bombs?

Eggs are primarily considered a low-carbohydrate source of protein. A medium-sized egg provides you with about 5.5 grams of protein at 62 kilocalories. It also contains about 4.2 grams of fat. Of that, 1.4 grams are saturated fat.

In addition, eggs are rich in healthy minerals such as calcium, iron and selenium as well as vitamins A, D and E and some B vitamins (especially vitamin B12). This makes them an important source of B12, especially for vegetarians.

But eggs are not only considered healthy: their comparatively high cholesterol content is responsible for their reputation as a health threat. An egg yolk already contains 185 milligrams of cholesterol. According to the 2015 US dietary guidelines, this is already more than half the recommended daily dose. This recommendation no longer applies, but you should continue to eat as little cholesterol as possible.

Eggs – Unhealthy due to cholesterol?

Cholesterol belongs to the group of fats. As such, it is an essential part of our body. It is part of cell walls, involved in hormone production and helps the body to produce vitamin D and cortisone. We absorb a third of all cholesterol from food. Cholesterol is not bad per se. It is important that there is a balance between the two types of cholesterol, LDL and HDL. There is only a need for action when this balance is upset.

The fact that eggs are generally unhealthy because their high cholesterol content promotes arteriosclerosis and thus cardiovascular diseases is now also considered outdated in research. No study can prove a clear connection between the consumption of eggs and an increased risk of heart disease.

According to Harvard Medical School, it’s probably more about how much total cholesterol you’re eating. Meat products in particular make up a large proportion of cholesterol sources.

According to the BBC, the connection between dietary cholesterol and cardiovascular disease must be questioned in general, as no study has been able to adequately prove it. Rather, there is evidence that the body simply produces less cholesterol itself when we consume more through food. In addition, trans fats in particular are responsible for an increased LDL cholesterol level and thus an imbalance. Trans fats are mostly found in products like margarine and fried and baked convenience foods.

How many eggs a day?

What do these studies and nutritional discussions mean specifically for our diet? First of all, as is so often the case: the dose makes the poison. Eggs are healthy if we eat them occasionally as part of a balanced diet. There is no uniform recommendation as to how many eggs are recommended per day or week. For example, according to Harvard Medical School, up to seven eggs a week are considered safe.

To protect yourself from arteriosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases, you can make sure you eat a diet rich in plants. Also, avoid processed foods and mostly cook yourself with fresh and wholesome ingredients.

You should only keep a closer eye on your egg consumption if you are already suffering from other health problems (e.g. high blood pressure) or if you have already been diagnosed with high cholesterol. In these cases, it is essential to seek medical advice for a possible change in diet.

Tips for sustainable eggs

While eggs are healthy, not all eggs are created equal. Conventional products from cage or barn systems usually come from huge fattening facilities. Laying hens are crammed together in the smallest of spaces and their basic needs are restricted. Diseases caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi are also transmitted particularly easily in this way.

A key problem in egg production is chick shredding: Many farms kill male chicks after hatching by gassing or shredding as there is no economic return from them. This is also partly the case with organic farms.

However, there are now initiatives against chick shredding (e.g. Spitz & Bube or Bruderhahn). These initiatives are committed to rearing the male chicks. Products with their logo, you can be sure that they are eggs without chick shredding.

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Peas are so Healthy: Nutritional Values and Ideas for Use

Peas are not only delicious, but also very healthy. You can read here what nutritional values they contain, whether you can eat them raw and what you can prepare from them.

The pea belongs to the legume family and is one of the oldest cultivated plants. It probably originally comes from the Orient and was consumed there long before the beginning of our era. In the following you will find out what makes the pea so healthy and nutritious and what you can prepare from it.

Peas: Healthy legumes with valuable nutrients

When looking at the nutrients of the small green legume, it performs extremely well. 100 grams of peas contain only 81 calories and only traces of fat, making them very suitable for healthy weight loss. Furthermore, there are seven grams of protein, four grams of fiber and eleven grams of carbohydrates in 100 grams of peas.

Peas also contain many vitamins and minerals. These include, for example, vitamin E, B and beta-carotene as well as magnesium, iron, phosphorus, calcium and zinc. Legumes also contain a number of important amino acids.

By the way: The pea not only provides very good macro and micronutrients, but is also easy to digest and has a positive effect on the blood sugar level. It is therefore well suited for diabetes or high blood sugar levels.

Peas: fresh, dried, frozen or canned?

Although peas are basically very healthy, they differ in their nutritional values ​​depending on their condition. You can buy them fresh, dried, frozen, or canned.

Peas are in season from June to September. During this time you can buy them fresh. If you decide to use fresh peas, you should use them as soon as possible, as they will keep in the refrigerator for a maximum of two to three days. When shopping, also keep in mind that from a kilogram of fresh peas in pods, only about 350 grams of peas are left. Tip: If you have bought too many peas, fresh peas are ideal for freezing. These have a shelf life of about a year.

When it comes to shelf life, dried peas are unbeatable. These have a shelf life of one year or longer and are also available all year round. They also contain almost twice as much protein as fresh peas.

Canned peas have a shelf life of three to five years. Compared to fresh, dried and frozen peas, however, they are the least recommended, as they are heated before filling and thereby lose many valuable ingredients. In addition, manufacturers often add salt, sugar and flavorings to the canned peas.

Frozen peas are shock-frozen before they are packed, which means they retain a large part of their nutrients. They also have a long shelf life, are easy to store and are therefore a good alternative to fresh peas if you also want to use them out of season.

By the way: You can also eat peas raw without any problems. They contain no toxins and can be eaten practically straight from the bush.

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Coconut Milk: Healthy Nutritional Values or Exotic Climate Killer?

Coconut milk has become indispensable as a vegan alternative to cream or for Asian cuisine. But is she healthy? We reveal more about their nutritional values – and the climate balance.

Coconut milk is a popular ingredient in Asian recipes such as curries or soups. Due to the high fat content of the “milk”, coconut milk is an excellent vegan substitute for cream or crème fraîche. However, it is not much healthier – and cultivation and transport are also ecologically questionable.

Coconut milk nutritional values: high in fat and calories

If you only look at the nutritional values of coconut milk, it is no healthier than cream made from cow’s milk. That’s because it’s high in saturated fat, which is considered to be rather unhealthy.

A comparison of the nutritional values of 100 grams of coconut milk and cream (30 percent fat):

Calories: 230 grams (cream: 280 grams)
Fat: 24 grams (cream: 30 grams)
of which saturated fat: 21 grams (cream: 18 grams)
Carbohydrates: 6 grams (cream: 3 grams)
of which sugar: 3 grams (cream: 3 grams)
Egg white: 2 grams (cream: 2 grams)
Fiber: 2 grams (cream: 0 grams)
Coconut milk is particularly rich in biotin. It is important for enzyme synthesis and metabolism. The potassium content is also not to be scoffed at: With 379 milligrams per 100 grams, you can cover a good ten percent of your daily potassium requirement.

Coconut milk also contains the following minerals: calcium, magnesium, sodium and phosphorus.

Coconut milk also contains, among other things:

vitamin C
Vitamin B3
Vitamin B1

Not so healthy: Coconut milk and saturated fat

Coconut milk has a little less calories and fat than 30 percent cream. The components of carbohydrates, protein and fiber, on the other hand, make little difference. But what makes coconut milk less healthy is the type of fat it contains: saturated fat. Not all of the fats contained in the cream are saturated, but in coconut milk they are.

Since saturated fats are considered unhealthy according to many studies, the World Health Organization recommends consuming these fats in moderation.

Coconut Milk Cultivation and Transport: Concerns for the Environment

According to the Okotest, every second coconut product contains harmful substances such as mineral oil, plasticizers or chlorate. In addition, coconut products have a very bad CO2 balance due to the long transport routes. And that’s not all: the growing conditions for coconuts are more than critical because they are being grown on more and more land, with more fertilizer and increasingly in monocultures. This effect is intensified by the fact that the coconut palm grows quite slowly and is not very productive.

It is interesting, however, that coconut milk has a better overall CO2 balance than animal cream. 100 grams of coconut milk emits 0.05 kilos of CO2, and 0.43 kilos for cream.

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Tigernuts: Nutritional Values, Special Features and Sustainability

Tigernuts are also becoming increasingly popular as a nut alternative in Germany. Here you can find out exactly what the small tubers are all about and what you should consider when using and buying them.

What are tigernuts?

The term tiger nut is used to refer to the entire plant or just its small edible bulbs, depending on the context. The expressions tiger or chufa nut are also often found. The herbaceous plant belongs to the sedge or sedge family and grows to a height of around 60 centimetres.

The plant thrives best in loamy-sandy soil and in a relatively mild climate. Today it is cultivated in Europe, especially in Spain on the Mediterranean coast. There the plant grows in spring and summer. Farmers then let them dry out completely from September. Then the tubers can be harvested by hand from October to December. In many regions, however, the tiger nut is an aggressive neophyte that displaces native plant species.

The tubers are brownish, round, the size of a hazelnut and have a white core. This tastes slightly sweet and is reminiscent of the taste of almonds. After harvesting, the tubers are dried for about three more months. You can then buy them either whole, peeled or ground.

How healthy are tigernuts?

The small tigernuts consist of around a quarter of fat and contain a high proportion of unsaturated fatty acids. These are an essential part of cells and as such are involved in numerous metabolic processes. In addition, regular consumption of unsaturated fatty acids can reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Tigernuts also have a high fiber content of around 24 grams per 100 grams. They keep you full for longer and get your digestion going. They also provide the body with many minerals, especially potassium, magnesium, calcium and phosphorus.

With around 370 kilocalories per 100 grams, tigernuts contain significantly fewer calories than many types of nuts. So if you want to make your diet a little lower in fat and calories, tigernuts are a good alternative. The small tubers are also interesting for allergy sufferers because they are generally well tolerated. They are an option that comes very close to the taste and consistency of nuts, especially if you have a nut allergy.

How to use the tubers in the kitchen

You can use tigernuts like nuts. For example, they are a nutritious and delicious ingredient in muesli, quark or yoghurt dishes or a varied topping for smoothie bowls.

In the ground state, you can also use tigernuts to bake bread, cakes, biscuits, etc., thereby reducing the flour content. Since the small tubers already have a certain sweetness, you can save on sugar.

Tigernuts: sustainability and eco-balance

Since tigernuts require relatively warm temperatures, they are traditionally grown in subtropical and tropical areas. For example, they are imported from African countries or parts of the USA. However, tigernuts are also popular in Spain and are grown in relatively large quantities by farmers there.

In order to buy tigernuts with the best possible ecological balance, it is best to buy European goods, as the transport routes are significantly shorter here.

When buying, you should look for organic tigernuts if possible. In this way you support agriculture that does not use chemical-synthetic pesticides that have a negative impact on your health and the environment.

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Whole Foods: A Holistic and Sustainable Nutritional Concept

If you’re already making efforts to eat more sustainably, you may be unknowingly following the concept of whole foods. Organic quality, regional and seasonal food, zero waste and much more come together here.

What is the Whole Food?

Whole food is a comprehensive concept of a diet that is as healthy and sustainable as possible. According to the definition of the founders Karl von Koerber, Thomas Männle and Claus Leitzmann, whole foods (also known as whole food nutrition) are predominantly plant-based diets in which fresh, nutritious and unprocessed foods are preferred. The enjoyment and wholesomeness of the food are also taken into account in the whole food. The main foods used are:

Vegetable fruit,
Potatoes,
Legumes,
whole grain products
and milk and milk products.
Meat, fish and eggs only occur in small amounts in the full diet. Unheated fresh food should make up about half of the amount consumed.

In terms of sustainability, the environmental, economic and social compatibility of the food system is taken into account in addition to health compatibility. This means that in whole foods, primarily regional, seasonal and organic foods are used in environmentally friendly packaging. Such packaging can be, for example, plastic-free alternatives such as paper or reusable glasses. Products, especially from countries outside Europe, should come from fair trade.

Whole foods therefore pursue a variety of goals:

It should promote health
increase the quality of life
do not pollute the environment
promote fair economic relations and social justice worldwide.

Whole Food Nutrition Background

For a long time, nutritionists only considered the health aspect of nutrition, which is still largely the focus today.

Nutritional recommendations often only contain the nutritional-physiological and hygienic-toxicological knowledge – i.e. the knowledge about the effect of the food in the body and the contamination with harmful substances or pathogens. However, other aspects also flow into human nutrition, such as sustainability and social justice. A food can be healthy, but its production can take place under inhumane conditions and be harmful to the environment. In the long run, such production methods can endanger food security in the future. Because only an intact environment can produce healthy and sufficient food for the world population in the long term.

For this reason, nutritional ecology developed as an interdisciplinary field of science. It arose from a student initiative at the University of Giessen in the late 1980s. Nutritional ecology examines and evaluates the complex relationships within the entire food system. This system includes the following sub-areas related to food:

agricultural production
processing
Packaging
transport
trade
consumption
waste disposal
There are five dimensions that play a role in feeding the world’s population. They are considered equal:

Environment (ecological aspects: energy, land and raw material consumption, pollutants, generation of waste)
Economy (economic aspects: trading conditions, wages, livelihood security)
Society (social aspects: fair distribution of food, access to arable land and drinking water, working conditions)
Individual (health aspects: balanced, health-promoting diet, physical well-being, disease prevention)
Culture (cultural aspects: influence our eating style, meaning, values, habits)
The aim of nutritional ecology is to gain insights into the conditions and effects of our handling of food within the five interconnected dimensions. Realizable and sustainable nutrition concepts are to be developed and conscious eating behavior promoted. The diet should be compatible in all dimensions.

The practical implementation of these goals is whole foods as sustainable and contemporary nutrition. Since all dimensions are included, it is a holistic nutritional concept.

The Principles of Whole Foods

In detail, whole foods are based on the following seven principles.

1. Preference for plant foods (mainly lacto-vegetable food)

Most plant foods contain more essential micronutrients (vitamins and minerals) at fewer calories than animal products. Vegetables are rich in many vitamins, but provide less energy than cheese or sausage, for example. Of course, this does not apply to all foods. Nuts, for example, are plant-based, but very high in calories due to their high fat content. With a mostly plant-based diet, you don’t reach your daily energy requirements as quickly. This point is so important for the founders of whole food nutrition because obesity is steadily increasing worldwide and has health consequences. Health-promoting dietary fiber and secondary plant substances are only found in plant-based foods. On the other hand, foods of animal origin sometimes contain large amounts of components that can become problematic if consumed in excess, such as saturated fatty acids, purines and cholesterol.

2. Organically produced food

It also makes sense from an ecological point of view to significantly reduce the consumption of animal products. If you want to include animal products in your whole food diet, make sure that they come from species-appropriate and ecological animal husbandry. Plant-based foods should also be sourced from organic farms whenever possible. In contrast to conventional farming, organic farming uses less energy and emits fewer greenhouse gases. In addition, organic farming improves the soil quality, since it pollutes the soil and groundwater less. All this protects nature as a habitat for animals and insects, which promotes biodiversity. In addition, organic food contains a larger amount of vitamins and other valuable nutrients than food from conventional cultivation. This is already confirmed by a meta-analysis by Newcastle University from 2014. The BZfE also states that organic is healthier. Because fruits and vegetables contain less water, the nutrient density is higher. They also state that animal foods from organic cultivation have a more favorable fatty acid composition.

3. Regional and seasonal products

Thanks to the national range in supermarkets, consumers have gotten used to being able to get everything at any time of the year. However, this advantage has its price: Long transport routes are energy-intensive and resource-intensive. In Germany, non-European groceries account for two thirds of the transport costs, although they only make up four percent of the total volume. If you buy regional groceries, you not only avoid long transport routes. You can also contribute to securing the livelihoods of local farmers and support the agricultural independence of a region. In this country, non-seasonal foods are grown in greenhouses and polytunnels, which entails high energy costs for heating. Fruit and vegetables with a long and therefore resource and energy-intensive transport route are sometimes harvested unripe so that they arrive ripe. This has a negative effect on the nutrients and the taste.

4. Preference for low-processed foods

Whole foods stand in contrast to the widespread convenience food. Although whole foods, unlike raw foods, do not require everything to be eaten raw, raw foods still take precedence over cooked and processed foods. When it comes to whole foods, the daily diet should consist of one to two thirds of fresh, raw foods. The reason for this is that many valuable ingredients can be lost during food processing. Many vitamins and secondary plant substances, for example, are not heat-stable. However, you should definitely cook potatoes and legumes, as they contain toxic ingredients in their raw state. The ecological footprint also decreases the less processed food you eat and the less you process food yourself at home. A current study by several universities was able to show that highly processed foods have a negative impact on the climate balance.

5. Fair Trade Food

The whole food does not completely dispense with well-travelled foods. But then you should choose fair trade products. With Fair Trade certified products you can support producers in developing countries and campaign for better trading conditions and against child labor. Fair pricing aims to cover the costs of production, decent wages and environmental compatibility. But greater attention must also be paid to fair trade within Europe – there are negative examples in Italy and Spain in particular. Also read: 3 bitter truths from the documentary “Europe’s Dirty Harvest”. Orientate yourself on the various seals for fair trade. In addition to the usual fair trade seal, there are others, such as the “fair+” seal from GEPA or the “Fair for Life” seal.

6. Resource-saving housekeeping

This point includes several aspects that make a diet with whole foods more resource-efficient.

Green Electricity: The Whole Foods prefer foods that have been produced using electricity from responsible sources. This point is more to be understood as an ideal target, as it has so far been difficult to implement in practice. Producers are not obliged to indicate the type of electricity used on their products. It would be desirable to have green electricity in your own household. Here you have more room for manoeuvre.
Saving energy: In addition to the use of green electricity, it is important to save energy and therefore money in a diet based on whole foods. You should prioritize more energy-efficient devices and consider which devices you might be able to do without completely.
Shopping routes: A car trip can nullify the positive eco-balance of ecological-regional shopping in terms of CO2 savings. Where possible, you should avoid short trips and make purchases by bus, train, on foot or by bike.
Packaging: The masses of packaging waste pollute people and animals all over the world through recycling plants and direct pollution of the environment, for example through microplastics. For this reason, whole food nutrition stands for unpackaged and plastic-free alternatives.
Food waste: This point is also part of whole food nutrition. According to a WWF study, 2.5 billion tons of food end up in the trash every year. That is around 40 percent of all food produced worldwide.

7. Enjoyable and wholesome food

Whole foods have high ecological, nutritional and social requirements. But the pleasure of eating is just as important in this diet. Whole foods follow the motto “enjoyment takes time” and therefore advocates intuitive eating, which is based on more mindfulness when eating. Digestibility also plays an important role in whole foods. Digestibility, or tolerability, means that your body feels good when digesting, which also has a lasting effect on your well-being. Food that is too greasy, for example, makes digestion difficult.

Implementation of Whole Foods

The principles described above can be translated into a clear compilation of recommendations:

Eat plenty of vegetables and fruit, around half fresh.
Prefer whole grain foods to white flour products.
Use legumes and potatoes frequently.
Reduce fat intake to a healthy level and use cold-pressed, vegetable oils instead of animal and hydrogenated fats.
Prefer preferred milk (raw milk), whole milk or pure milk products without additives.
Use eggs, fish, and meat (if desired) sparingly.
Make sure the drinking water is of good quality. Drink herbal or fruit tea in addition to water.
Use salt sparingly and be creative with spices and herbs instead.
Choose fruit, honey or dried fruit for sweetening and avoid isolated sugar.
Buy organic, seasonal, local and fair trade foods.
The principles described above can be translated into a clear compilation of recommendations. Whole food is not a strict concept with prohibitions, but leaves enough room for individual tolerance and needs. Rather, it is a guiding philosophy and requires you to reflect on your eating habits.

Disadvantages and criticisms of whole foods

A point of criticism for some people can be that whole foods do not completely do without milk and other animal products. From an ecological and moral point of view, the criticism is also justified. Whole food nutrition is not designed for vegans, but can still be seen as a basis for them. Milk and milk products, and occasionally fish, meat and eggs, provide the body with essential nutrients that prevent the risk of deficiency symptoms. The supply of vitamin D (in case of lack of sun), B12, as well as calcium and iron occurs mainly or exclusively through animal foods. For this reason, these foods are found in whole foods. The health aspect is not the only focus here. If animal products, then in moderation and from responsible sources. If you would like to take advantage of whole food nutrition and eat vegan at the same time, then use this article as a guide and expand your knowledge of healthy vegan nutrition. For example, using the following article:

Another possible disadvantage of whole foods can be a lack of financial resources and poor local access to good food. Organic food tends to cost more money (and for good reason), which not everyone can fully afford. Not in every region (especially in rural areas) there are organic shops or unpackaged shops.

The transition to whole foods should be done slowly. If your body is not used to the large amount of raw food and increased fiber intake, it can react with digestive problems such as flatulence or constipation. For example, if your digestive power is limited by a disturbed intestinal flora, then raw food can lead to such problems. However, it is possible to rebuild a disturbed intestinal flora.

Conclusion: Whole foods as a sustainable and healthy diet

With the food selection mentioned above and the large proportion of unprocessed fresh food, you supply your body with all vital substances. This good supply strengthens the immune system and makes you less susceptible to diseases. Due to the increased fiber intake and long-chain carbohydrates (whole grain), whole food nutrition helps with weight loss and prevents obesity. The degree of saturation increases and cravings are counteracted.

Whole food can be recommended as a permanent diet for all age groups and offers a great opportunity in a social context to increase sustainability in connection with nutrition at all levels.

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