We often hear the word “whole-food”, we read about how they are healthier, and we have made them a part of our daily diet.
But what is whole-food?
As the word suggests, whole-food is whole, and single-ingredient food. It’s unprocessed, rich in nutrients, and free of added sugars or additives.
It’s what our diet mainly consisted of for most of human history.
However, processed food gained popularity in the 20th century, causing a major shift in our dietary habits prompting us to consume fast food.
As a result of this, we stopped getting enough nutrients in our diet, and we had to start relying on synthetic alternatives, such as vitamin C tablets, multivitamins pills, etc.
But do these extracted alternatives work the same as whole food?
Some studies suggest that extracts may be dangerous to our health. But how do they differ from whole food ingredients?
While whole food is simply taken from natural sources, extracts are made artificially, and they contain only a few specific elements, making them less effective.
Whole food supplements are made from actual food, dehydrated and unadulterated.
The vast majority of currently available supplements in the market, such as vitamins, minerals, and nutrients are synthetic, artificial, and are mass produced in a laboratory setting.
They are designed to mimic the way a natural ingredient would act. But the way they’re produced has an impact in the way they interact with our body and may not be as easily absorbed as natural ingredients.
Why? When we eat whole-food, we consume a whole range of nutrients which is more efficiently absorbed, instead of having a single synthetic ingredient with a single function.
A famous study on Vitamin E absorption showed that this vitamin taken in a natural form is absorbed twice as efficiently as the synthetic form.
Several studies have confirmed that whole food helps to prevent several diseases, such as cancer and heart diseases.
However, there isn’t enough evidence showcasing the benefits or harms of artificial extracts as it’s still not clear what kind of effects they can have on the body. Some studies report increased risk of cancer or virtually no effects at all.
This is why It’s essential to be cautious and choose whole food over artificial extracts. It’s been proven by several years of research that synthetic ingredients cannot replace a healthy diet consisting of whole ingredients.