A couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend a Health Starts Here tour at Whole Foods and my interest was immediately piqued.
Since I no longer live near a Whole Foods, I figured I wouldn’t be able to attend and was quite bummed since Ryan and I used to love Whole Foods events when we lived in Orlando. (We attended a number of restaurant cooking demonstrations and had a great time at a Greek cooking class! I know I’ve mentioned Whole Foods events on the blog before, but I highly recommend them for fun, inexpensive date nights!)
When I responded to the invitation, I happened to mention my travels to Jacksonville for my sister’s bridal shower last weekend and we were able to set something up since there is a Whole Foods in the area. Woo!
The Health Starts Here tour is free to everyone and I met up with Heather Olsen, the Jacksonville Whole Foods healthy eating specialist, for my tour in the late afternoon. Heather gave me a ton of information about the Health Starts Here program, which I never knew existed at Whole Foods until our tour began!
Health Starts Here is a mindful approach to healthy eating that’s rooted in simple ways to build better meals. The program is essentially an in-store guide that you can use to choose the healthiest foods.
Fun fact I learned from Heather: The average American cycles through the same 10 fruits and vegetables!
The Health Starts Here program includes the following Four Pillars of Healthy Eating:
- Whole foods: Health Starts Here foods only use recognizable ingredients in their purest, unprocessed forms.
- Plant-strong: Plant-based foods are the foundation of Health Starts Here.
- Healthy fats: Health Starts here foods does not use any extracted oils or processed fats but included healthy fats from natural sources including nuts, seeds and avocados.
- Nutrient dense: Health Starts Here meals contain a rainbow of nutritious whole plant foods with high Aggregate Nutrient Density Index (ANDI) scores.
As Heather escorted me around the store, she pointed out Health Starts Here logo stickers that can be found on a number of food items within the store that follow the four pillars of health.
If you’re visiting the Whole Foods salad bar, hot bar or prepared foods section and noticed the Health Starts Here logo, you can be sure that the food you are eating is a healthy choice. It’s a great way to take some of the guess work out of healthy eating!
The program also offers a grocery list for stocking your pantry the healthy way and tips and tricks for cooking fast and healthy meals using quick-cooking whole grains, canned no-salt-added beans and frozen vegetables and fruit.
I left very impressed with the Health Starts Here program and know I’ll be looking for the logo as I select foods from the hot bar and salad bar during my next trip to Whole Foods!
Whole Foods Giveaway
When I said I’d be writing about this tour on my blog, Whole Foods was kind enough to offer a giveaway to one reader for a $50 gift certificate to Whole Foods. Since I know you guys get just as excited about food as I do, I have a feeling this one may interest quite a few of you!
To enter this giveaway, simply comment below and tell me about one healthy food you’ve recently started incorporating into your diet or a favorite healthy food that has been a staple in your diet for quite a while.
I will randomly select a winner on Friday.
Good luck!
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I’ve recently started buying frozen edamame! I like the subtle flavor and added nutrition. Thanks!!
I’ve recently fallen back in love with sweet potatoes. They are so versatile and delicious!
I have recently become a huge fan of quinoa! I love that it’s a great source of protein and a good carb! This gift card would be awesome!
omg $50 at WF sounds soo good! i’ve recently started eating more quinoa & brown rice instead of white
I have learned to incorporate more fresh items like spinach in my smoothies and salads.
I’ve been on a major smoothie kick lately! To make them as healthy as possible, I try to add protein powder and throw in some spinach. It’s the perfect way to kick off my mornings!
I’ve been a carrot maniac lately, I wouldn’t be surprised if I turned orange.
I started eating KALE- KALE SALAD is so yummy!!
So many good suggestions above! I’ve been eating more quinoa, and I’ve always loved sweet potatoes. I also made my first batch of kale chips a few weeks ago.
I continue to make green smoothies every week after starting to try them about a year ago. I’m hooked!
Excited to check out the program! I have been eating more roasted sweet potatoes lately in an effort to incorporate more complex carbs (instead of the delicious bad ones). 🙂
Even though I hate it, I’ve been trying to eat yogurt more often.
It isn’t a.new idea, but I recently started having a green smoothie for breakfast. Love starting my day with vegetable nutrition! I want to start experimenting with other greens besides spinach and kale.
Avocados and sweet potatoes are my staples!
I’ve recently discovered I’m intolerant to gluten, and since I loooove pasta I’ve started making noodles out of spaghetti squash. Super easy and it actually tastes awesome!
I am doing Veguary … vegetarian for February. I have also given up commercial juice … and ma trying to drink less coke zero.
I recently started buying red cabbage again. I steam it with a bunch of other fresh veggies and eat it with a few dashes of red wine vinegar, some chopped green onions and avocados. It’s about as healthy as it gets for getting a bunch of veggies down when it’s too chilly for a salad.
I’ve finally been more consistent with incorporating kale into my diet – and more green in general!
I have gotten really ino Brussel sprouts lately!
How exciting! I’ve recently incorporated kale. LOVE the kale chip craze! SO good!! 🙂
When I found out I had a gluten intolerance about a year ago, I bean incorporating GF oats into my diet. I now make oatmeal, homemade granola bars, and other portable snacks as opposed to processed foods. Love Whole Foods, too! Thanks, Julie 🙂
What an awesome giveaway! My husband and I recently started sharing our green smoothies with my 2 year old-she loves them and is not scared away by the green color (I took me awhile to warm up). It is such a great way to get extra veggies in her diet-I’m not sure why it took us this long to share with her!
Since I am from India, we tend to use different kinds of beans and lentils – black beans, chickpeas, dried peas, yellow lentils, red lentils, green lentils… all of these provide a boost to my protein intake as I am a vegetarian 🙂
Kale is my favorite healthy food. I buy a huge bag of it each week and put it in salads, smoothies, and other dishes. I work right by WF so the gift certificate would come in handy for sure!
Thanks for the post. I also don’t live very close to a whole foods but I still drive the hour and a half distance and bring a cooler since we don’t have a very good selection of grocery stores in my town. I bought several vegetable salads from the cooler/bar and the guy helping me kept saying HSH foods don’t have added oils in response to my questions. I had no idea what he was talking about buy now I know what to look for, so this was helpful.
I have recently started eating chia seeds and love them!!!
I have been loving quinoa. And recently started incorporating avocados into salads.
I’m loving coconut oil!
Recently I’ve tried to incorporate more spinach and kale into my diet. I add it to smoothies, salads, and sautéed dishes. I feel so much more energized when I eat clean. 🙂
One of my favorites lately has been roasted yellow squash and zucchini!
I must check this program out during my next visit to whole foods! I am terrible at getting enough veggies in so I have been making smoothies and adding kale and spinach with fruit YUMM!
avocado!
I’ve been drinking spinach or kale smoothies for years! My favorite combo is peach-mango-orange juice, 1/2 banana, frozen pineapple, frozen mango, and a heaping bunch of spinach or kale. Recently I’ve started adding chia seeds! My sister has recently gone gluten free and vegan, so I’d probably give the gift card to her. 🙂
Loving chia seeds…especially in overnight oats!!
I’ve started drinking green smoothies!
greek yogurt. it’s a perfect snack!
I don’t think I could live without avocados! I’m so glad to hear so much lately about all the health benefits from eating them!
Cool giveaway! COCOA VEGGIE POWDER has made it possible for me to through vegetables into almost everything without needing a blender! it gives a nice caffeine kick too
I discovered spaghetti squash and it is the only way I will eat spaghetti now. Delish.
I’ve recently developed a love for chia seeds. Particularly chia pudding! delicious! and a great way to start my mornings.
Lately I’ve been loving brussels sprouts!
I would love a WF gift card! I’ve recently made an effort to incorporate more chia seeds into my meals. I actually just put them in granola bars I just made.
I actually started brewing my own kombucha recently. Other than that, I’ve loved green smoothies, chia seeds, kale, and avocado for a long time now.
Quinoa is my new(ish) favorite. It is so versatile!
I am obsessed with cottage cheese! I try to add it into pasta dishes, with fruit or veggies, or mixed with salsa for a dip. It’s great for getting a little extra protein and for making snacks have more staying power.
Rainbow carrots! They are so fun and pretty to eat, my favorite are the purple ones 🙂
My favorite health food(s), it is so hard to pick one… Brussel sprouts roasted with onions,I can eat them all day long; I also LOVE steamed artichokes with garlic!
I’ve recently started incorporating more greens into my diet by having a salad along with whatever else I’m having for dinner or lunch. One healthy staple that I love and will always continue to love are berries! Especially blueberries which I can easily just snack on or top on my oatmeal or Greek yogurts.
The newest healthy food that I have been incorporating into my diet is flax seed! I have rekindled my love for them (again), whether it be on top of yogurt, salads, or mixed with a big spoonful of almond butter!
I’ve been eating a lot of roasted sunchokes (or Jerusalem artichokes) lately and they are delicious. They have healthy prebiotics and they taste nutty and wonderful.