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 been drinking smoothies for breakfast for the past two years and they have made all the difference! I love breakfast every morning, and that extra boost of nutrients is awesome. I love that I can incorporate greens like kale and spinach without even tasting them! I’ve recently been adding coconut oil for some added fat. Yum!
I recently tried farro and am thinking about trying it in some other recipes.
I’ve been eating more and more brussel sprouts surprisingly – and I’m experimenting with different ways to cook them so my friends will like them too!
I have been adding spinach to my morning smoothies and I love it! Easiest way to sneak in some greens 🙂
I have just recently started eating raw sugar snap peas as a snack and I love them. So yummy and very healthy!
avocados have been in my life for quite some time now! i actually mash them up to make a healthy “creamy” salad dressing instead of using the bottled version!
I’ve been incorporating a ton because I recently signed up for a CSA delivery program and I love it. This week they gave us Scarlet Orach (I had to google it) and it’s a nice sweet red spinach.
On my own, I’m obsessed with spaghetti squash. The flavor is so rich and I can make a week of lunches and dinners out of squash + veggies + protein.
I’ve been obsessed with zuchinni lately!
I’ve recently fell madly in love with brussel sprouts. I can’t get enough of them!!!
i’ve always been huge on eating a banana every morning! it sets a healthy tone for my day and is a great way to add some sweetness to whatever i’m having that morning 🙂
Definitely beets. I used to hate them as a kid (we used to eat the canned ones and that texture was just a no-go for me), but had them a few months ago in a salad with goat cheese, roasted chicken and balsamic vinegar and was instantly converted. I saw a recipe on Pinterest for a beet and goat cheese toasted cheese sandwich; maybe I’ll get a little crazy and festive for Valentine’s Day this year 🙂
I recently started cooking with lentils. They always intimidated me and one day I grabbed a bag and went for it. My husband and I LOVED what I concocted and now I feel more confident using them…basically in everything!
I’ve recently (slowly) been switching out pasta for squash and even more recently zucchini! My favorite right now is zucchini Lasagna-pretty sure my husband doesn’t know I’ve replaced the pasta in lasagna for a vegetable 🙂
I’ve been eating dates lately!
Salmon! My go to lunch lately has been toast with salmon and cream cheese. YUM.
I’ve recently been eating a lot more oatmeal for breakfast. It’s healthy and keeps me satisfied longer in the morning. I especially love it with a nice spoonful of peanut butter. Yum!
I’ve been using more kale instead of romaine in my salads. Also have been using dates more to sweeten my oatmeal.
I have been eating a ton of grapefruit lately. A great fruit to encorporate into my healthy snack routine. Love Whole Foods!
I absolutely love Brussels sprouts – roasted or raw in a salad are my favorite!
I’ve been trying to add more root vegetbales to our diet. Rutabaga is great!
I started to drink green smoothies in the mornings for an energy boost!
Been craving spinach lately! Not a new veggie per se, but one I hadn’t had in awhile.
I have really started to use quinoa as a healthy side dish for weekly dinner. Yummy and delish! I would love the Whole Foods gift card to get some more healthy foods! Love your blog!!
I’ve been swapping white potatoes for sweet potatoes. I was surprised at how much I liked sweet potatoes on their own.
Loving kale lately
I’ve been trying to eat more quinoa since I’ve recently had to start a gluten free diet. I’ve also been juicing for quite a while to get my husband to eat his greens and we are both loving it!
i have started using chia seeds in my smoothies!
I’ve been adding quinoa to everything lately, such as soups and chli. This is the best giveaway; I LOVE Whole Foods!!
Chard instead of kale in smoothies my new fav green
Flax seeds are easy to incorporate into smoothies, oatmeal and sprinkle on all types or foods.
Brussel sprouts! So many great ways to prepare them-shaved in salads, or roasted with garlic!
I started adding chia seeds to my protein shakes.
I’ve recently started eating mango more frequently. It wasn’t something I ate much or ever growing up, so I usually just passed it by at the grocery store.
My husband, who is Asian has recently gotten me into bitter melon. By itself it is a bit rough but stir fried it is actually pretty good.
I have started using Tahini and chia seed a lot!
The one food I’ve been incorporating is avocado. LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!!
I absolutely love mangos 🙂 thanks for the chance to win!
I’ve always liked chia seeds but I just started added them to my son’s oatmeal and he loves them too!
I’ve recently been eating more and more avocado!
Quinoa…I made a “Quinoa Party Salad”. Good for lunches at work!
What a great giveaway. The town I live in just got a Whole Foods! I’ve started to incorporate raw ginger in my post workout smoothies! It’s great to help relieve sore joints and muscles while I am marathon training!
I have recently started eating quinoa and love it! Fried rice, but with quinoa instead of rice is the best!
Nut butters are incorporated into my diet AT LEAST twice a day. I love them soooo much!! 🙂
Lately I have been loving avocados! I put slices on my hamburgers and chop some up into my salads and chili; I cannot get enough of their creamy texture. I would have to say bananas are my staple fruit. I try to have one everyday. This is such a great giveaway!
What a wonderful giveaway! I eat oatmeal every morning with some kind of fruit. I´ve noticed that I am full for several hours, not hungry at all. Awesome 🙂
Eating more beans!
I learned about chia seeds on your blog many moons ago and have included them in overnight oats and yogurt parfaits for some time now. Something so strange, nearly tasteless, yet I know it is so good for me! Thanks for the tip.
I love love LOVE wholefoods, such a fun place to explore whether solo or with someone else. Ive been incorporating more lean meats, I tried iron pills, but they didn’t work. I have noticed a difference too!
I have been eating more kale lately by putting it in green smoothies! Also I bought some frozen Rhubarb and have been throwing it into green smoothies and it’s not that bad.
I’m all about zucchini and asparagus. I have always been a fan but since my recent experimentation with vegetarianism – I am crazy for zucchini. You can really get so creative with it and make endless dishes with this one delicious veggie.