Monday, August 31, 2009

Menu Monday - What Is A Whole Food?

Since one of my goals for this contest is too eat more whole foods, I was thinking I would post an ingredient journal on Mondays. That way I could keep an eye on things and see (actually see, visually, in the length of the ingredient list) how I am doing. For each meal, I'll list the "menu" followed by all of the ingredients. If you don't want to look through all the ingredients today, please skip to the bottom to discuss what constitutes a whole food.

Today's Menu

Post Workout
whey protein powder
creatine
water

Ingredients:
Whey Protein Isolate, Salt, Lecithin, Sucralose, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Carbogen, Enzyme Matrix™ (lactase, lipase, Bromelain, Glucoamylase, Invertase, Alpha-Galactosidase, Protease 3.0, Peptidase, Amylase, Protease 4.5, Protease 6.0, Protease AM, CereCalase), Aminogen (Patented Bioactive Polypeptide enzyme system)

creatine monohydrate

Breakfast
pumpkin oatmeal
water

Ingredients:
oatmeal
pumpkin
walnuts
cinnamon
Stevia packet (inulin fiber, Stevia)

milk and egg protein (Protein Blend [Calcium Caseinate, Egg White, Whey Protein Isolate], Vitamin and Mineral Blend [Calcium Phosphate, Magnesium Oxide, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Potassium Citrate, Ascorbic Acid, Ferric Orthophosphate, dl-Alpha Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Zinc Oxide, Copper Gluconate, Vitamin A Palmitate, d-Calcium Pantothenate, Ergocalciferol, Folic Acid, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamin Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Biotin, Potassium Iodide, Cyanocobalamin], Natural and Artificial Flavor, Soy Lecithin, Papain, Bromelain, Sucralose)

unsweetened almond milk (purified water, almonds, tapioca starch, calcium carbonate, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, soy lecithin, natural flavor, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, D-alpha-tocopherol [natural vitamin E])

Lunch
Bhoona over brown rice (from Eat Clean Diet for Men), fresh muskmelon, diet pepsi

Ingredients:
bison stew meat
tomato
pineapple
garlic
onion
rice vinegar (water, rice)
olive oil
garam masala (salt, spices, autolyzed yeast extract, dehydrated garlic, dehydrated onion, red pepper)
chili powder (chili pepper, spices, salt, silicon dioxide [to make free flowing], garlic)
organic coconut milk (organic coconut, water, less than 1% guar gum)
brown rice
muskmelon
diet pepsi (carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, caffeine, citric acid, natural flavor)

Snack
plain yogurt with berries, diet pepsi and water

Ingredients:
yogurt (cultured grade A nonfat milk, pectin)
strawberries
raspberries
Stevia packet (inulin fiber, Stevia)

diet pepsi (carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, caffeine, citric acid, natural flavor)

Dinner
Tomato pie, corn on the cob, fresh pineapple, diet pepsi

Ingredients:
flax seeds
almond flour (blanched almonds)
egg white
salt
tomatoes
basil
oregano
olive oil
Dijon mustard (water, mustard seed, vinegar, salt, white wine, citric acid, tartaric acid, spices)
Gruyere cheese (pasteurized milk, culture, enzymes, and salt)
sweet corn
pineapple
diet pepsi (carbonated water, caramel color, aspartame, phosphoric acid, potassium benzoate, caffeine, citric acid, natural flavor)

Snack
homemade berry cobbler, small scoop of fat free, sugar free vanilla ice cream

Ingredients:
coconut oil (100% raw organic unrefined cold-pressed extra-virgin coconut oil)
agave nectar (100% pure agave nectar)
spelt flour
oatmeal
flaxseeds
vanilla extract (vanilla bean, extractives in water, alcohol [35%], corn syrup)
almond extract (water, alcohol, almond oil)
cinnamon
sea salt
ginger
baking powder (corn starch, bicarbonate of soda, sodium aluminum sulfate, acid phosphate of calcium)
blackberries
cherries
blueberries
unsweetened vanilla almond milk (purified water, almonds, tapioca starch, natural vanilla flavor with other natural flavors, calcium carbonate, sea salt, potassium citrate, carrageenan, soy lecithin, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D2, D-alpha-tocopherol [natural vitamin E])

ice cream (nonfat milk, maltodextrin, sorbitol, whey, polydextrose, whey protein concentrate, glycerine, mono and diglycerides, natural and artificial vanilla flavor, locust bean gum, cellulose gum, guar gum, cornstarch, polysorbate 80, carrageenan, sucralose, vitamin A palmitate)

So here's the tally for today:

Whole foods (foods with ONLY 1 ingredient): 36
Other foods (foods with more than 1 ingredient): 13
On the fence foods (natural, but more than 1 ingredient): 6

The numbers above include the food each time it is used. For example, today I had tomatoes in 2 recipes, so I get 2 whole foods. Conversely, I had 3 cans of diet pepsi, so that's 3 "other" foods. I am not counting water, because I drink that throughout the day, and not just where I've noted it here. Also, I am putting things like spelt flour, cinnamon and oatmeal in the whole foods group, even though they are technically processed. I'm not grinding my own grain or spices. :) Unless they have other ingredients added to them (such as the garam masala), then they become "other" foods.

So What Is A Whole Food?
I was a little torn on items like the cheese, yogurt and rice vinegar. If I follow my own rules, they are an "other" food. But the cheese is made with pasteurized milk, culture, enzymes, and salt. Is cheese a "whole food"? How should I define whole food?

I want the food to be close to it's natural state. Take the yogurt for example - made with just milk and pectin. Two natural foods, but I should I put it under "other" because it has more than one ingredient? We could argue that the milk is processed, but let's not. :) And the Stevia packet - inulin and Stevia - whole food or not?

These thoughts created the third catagory - "on the fence" foods.

Anyone have an opinion on how I should add things up?

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