The first time I ventured into Whole Foods, I thought I struck gold.
I said to myself, “I can finally eat healthy without worrying about food ingredients.”
I had no idea eating healthy at Whole Foods was an illusion and a well orchestrated one at that.
David Copperfield is a master illusionist but he has nothing on Whole Foods!
In magic, the hand is quicker than the eye but in real nutrition this isn’t the case.
Illusions are sleights of hand but when exposed they never have the same impact.
I’m not as “giddy” about Whole Foods as I once was because I now see through the facade.
Swap Meet For Addictions
I’ve been guilty of this in the past and I was afraid to admit it. I used Whole Foods as a healthier junk food option.
I always thought the cookies, cakes, and chips were better than those at a regular store.
If you think about it, it makes perfect sense because people fear eating healthy.
Why? Nearly everyone equates eating healthy with giving up foods they enjoy.
This is because most of those processed foods are addictions.
I’ll be the first to admit I had a bad vanilla cookie habit.
It couldn’t be a good thing to sit down and eat a whole box of cookies now could it?
Well, I rationalized the cookies in Whole Foods were healthier because they were labeled natural or organic.
It took me a long time to admit sugar was sugar even it was organic or pure cane sugar.
This is why I’m not surprised when I see mainstream diets with their versions of healthier junk food.
In a sense, it still caters to food addictions but I guess it’s justified if it’s healthier.
Meat Mayhem
Whole Foods gets an “F” on the food bar.
Is the meat in Whole Foods grass fed, grain fed, or vegetarian fed?
Is it wild caught or farm raised? Do you know or do you even care?
On my first trip to my local WF I went ‘mother freakin’ meat crazy.
I bought ground turkey, chicken, and fish. It wasn’t until 4 years later I started to ask the butcher is this grass fed or grain fed?
In my horror, I realized most of the meat was vegetarian fed. My soy sense tingled like crazy!
There’s no joy in soy! There are not many vegan animals other than cows, horses, and some humans.
So, what’s my beef? (pun intended) Whole Food offers a large selection of meat from animals which aren’t fed their native diet.
Even the cows, unless labeled “grass fed” are fed grains and this isn’t good.
It changes the meat’s profile, most notably, the fatty acid content.
The body becomes imbalanced as a result of these “franken” meats and illness and disease ensue.
Improperly fed animals, in my opinion, is the reason why red meat has come under fire.
The push to turn everyone into a vegan is roaring loudly with each new research study.
Food Bar Follies
At 12:00 pm during the week, you could find me at Whole Foods hanging out in front of the prepared foods bar.
I would grab a container and start preparing my lunch.
It never occurred to me to read the labels posted on the glass above the food trays.
As I became less oblivious to the “shine” of Whole Foods, I could’ve kicked my own a**.
I saw things like canola oil, yeast extract, and soy.
My mother use to have a saying, “Everything that looks good to you isn’t necessarily good for you.”
I can relate to it now in more ways than one… can you? Whole Foods has gone from an A to an F on the real nutrition exam.
Canola oil is a definite no no, so is soy.
Yeast extract doesn’t seem like a big deal until you realize it’s a sneaky way of hiding Monosodium Glutamate or MSG.
MSG is an excitotoxin and has been linked to Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.
If you thought everything in WF was healthy, you now have a different perspective.
To the untrained eye everything in Whole Foods looks healthy. Looks can and often are deceiving.
The deception can be unveiled when you know what to look for and educate yourself.
This is worth repeating “Everything that looks good to you isn’t always good for you”.
Whole Foods, like David Copperfield, is a master illusionist.
Its easy to forget about reality when you walk in, grab your shopping cart, and stroll the aisles.
It takes some thought, education and a dose of reality to not become hypnotized by the illusion of eating healthy at Whole Foods.
If you know someone who’s been blinded by the light of whole foods share this with them.
Don’t forget to leave a comment about your whole food experience below!