Maximizing Health with Functional Foods

Eating healthy foods is one of the most fundamental components to your healthy living puzzle. There is a huge difference between eating foods that are good, versus the ones that are good FOR us. Today we’re going to talk about the difference between fun foods and functional foods.

Fun foods have one claim to fame – they just plain taste good. They don’t have a lot of vitamins or minerals, they don’t have much fiber, they’re usually higher in fat and calories, and we generally call these “junk foods.” What’s interesting about these types of foods is that they usually come in boxes, cans, bottles, jugs, or jars, they’re pretty inexpensive, and you can usually find them along the center aisles of the supermarket.

Functional foods on the other hand have their own claim to fame – they are actually good FOR us. They are loaded with vitamins, minerals, and fiber, they’re generally pretty low in fat and calories, and this is what most people would refer to as “health foods.” Since these types of foods don’t come in boxes, cans, bottles, jugs or jars, there’s a lot less processing that goes into making them “shelf ready” for months or years on end. Functional foods of course are fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats and poultry, fresh seafood, nuts and seeds, legumes, etc.

Action Step: Now that you know the difference between fun foods and functional foods, your action step is to eat more foods that are made BY plants, and fewer foods that are made IN plants.

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