While this may sound like a silly, simple question I wanted to know: What are healthy foods and why do people eat them?

To us, healthy foods are those that are nutrient-rich. This means that they contain an abundance of nutrients including vitamins, minerals, fiber, phytonutrients (nutrients only found in plants, many of which are antioxidants). Nutrients are important because your body needs them to grow, create energy, and maintain its physiological functions. Nutrients can also help to reduce inflammation and antioxidant nutrients protect your body from free radical damage, which can cause disease.

Healthy foods include whole foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, fish, beans, and other whole foods. Whole foods are real foods, the form in which the food is grown or raised. Whole foods are not processed with additional chemicals, preservatives, and additives.

People eat healthy foods for many reasons. The main one is because when they eat them they feel better—they have more energy, more vitality, they might catch colds less, their skin may look better, they experience better heart health, etc. and they experience many other benefits to their health.

Many people who eat healthy whole foods do so because they feel that what they are eating is real food and feel that foods that are processed and manufactured are not really food as they envision food to be.

Many people who eat healthy foods do so because it helps them to feel connected with the earth. Plus, they taste great.

When people don’t eat healthy foods, they may not have as much energy. Studies have shown that healthy foods can help improve memory and learning. Research shows that those who eat healthy foods have less disease and therefore those who don’t eat healthy foods run the risk of having diseases such as heart disease and some forms of cancer.

References:

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Solfrizzi V, D’Introno A, Colacicco AM, et al. Dietary fatty acids intake: possible role in cognitive decline and dementia. Exp Gerontol 2005 Apr;40(4):257-70.

Whaley SE, Sigman M, Neumann C, et al. The impact of dietary intervention on the cognitive development of Kenyan school children. J Nutr 2003 Nov;133(11 Suppl 2):3965S-71S.

Willett WC. Nutritional epidemiology issues in chronic disease at the turn of the century. Epidemiol Rev 2000;22(1):82-6.

Willett WC, Sacks F, Trichopoulou A, et al. Mediterranean diet pyramid: a cultural model for healthy eating. Am J Clin Nutr 1995 Jun;61(6 Suppl):1402S-6S.

Van Dyk K, Sano M. The impact of nutrition on cognition in the elderly. Neurochem Res 2007 Apr-2007 May;32(4-5):893-904.