My Mother Thinks I'm Crazy...a.k.a. Dispatches from Whole Foods

I'm sitting at Whole Foods in Aventura, Florida, an empty glass of an all-greens juice, sans spinach, plus apple beside me. I'm in heaven. Before leaving her apartment for this excursion, my mother wryly told me to have fun." "I will!" I responded, "I love Whole Foods!" She looked at my skeptically, and said, "That's very strange."

Sigh. What can I say? The director of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition (which, if your new to the blog, or me, is where I study) likes to point out that we IIN students tend to be a little different from the rest of our families (okay, to be brutally honest, he said that we tend to be the kids who were the black sheep of our families). So noted. It's not really so bad, though that we're the types that like to go food shopping, especially if it's for expensive food that maybe not everyone else we related to has in their pantry (for example, I'm dying to try chia seeds).

You love what you love, and I love healthy food, which is not so easy to find these days. Not that I'm saying Whole Foods is a bastion of healthy food but it's better than your typical supermarket. So, first of all, let me answer a few questions I've been asked lately.

Q: Are all the foods in Whole Foods or natural food stores healthy?

A: No! Sadly, not by a long shot.

Q: How do I know what is?

A: As in any other food store, you don't know until you read the ingredient list. And I mean the ingredient list. Not the little box, somewhere on the package that touts some health claim. And, now that I think about it, if there's an ingredient list, be skeptical, unless it's a very, very short (3-5 ingredients) list.

Q: If you could only buy one or two things in a natural food store, what would it be?

A: If I could only buy one or two things from a natural food store, at this point in my life I'd starve. But, if you can only buy one or two things I suggest they be eggs, but only if they are humanely raised (truly pasture-raised in the sun, not debeaked, get to eat what chickens should, which is bugs at least part of the time). You have to ask to know the eggs were well-raised and not factory-farm raised - access to fresh air on the egg carton can mean raised indoors with an open window. Item #2 would be a good quality cod liver oil. We're so depleted in Omega 3's - you've heard this, it's been in the news...it's high on my radar these days. Get the capsules if you can't stand the idea of a spoonful of oil. I put the oil in smoothies, and even my picky, picky sons don't notice.

Now, back to my juice. I've been making green smoothies for breakfast when I'm home. I take kale, parsley, kefir (ooh, that's the other thing I'd buy at the natural food store if I could get three things), 1 T cod liver oil, 1/2 t flax oil, and an apple (or a handful of blueberries), whir it up in my blender and Voila!, I get a morning of energy! Today's juice, without the pulp I get from using my blender, tastes.....naked. As they're both so green, you may want to close your eyes the first time you drink one.

Salud!