Whole Foods
What are whole foods, how are they different to processed foods, and why are they healthier than ultra processed foods?
Processed foods are foods that have been adapted from their whole, natural state in some way (1). A potato is a whole food. A crisp is a processed potato, that has been cut, deep fried in oil and salted.
Ultra processed foods have many more layers of industrial processing, like shop bought packet biscuits (1). First, whole grain flour is processed into white flour, then refined sugar is added, chemical and heat treated oil, salt and possibly artificial flavourings, preservatives and emulsifiers. If you look on a packet of shop bought biscuits or bread, the ingredients can look like a list of chemical additives, rather than understandable food.
When food is so heavily processed in this way, its nutritional value is depleted and can be actively disruptive to our digestion or metabolism (2).
Whole foods are the opposite of ultra processed foods, they are foods which are in their natural state, or as close to that as possible (3).
If you could pick it off a tree, or grow it in your garden, or catch it in nature, it’s a whole food. Potatoes, bananas, oranges, nuts, seeds, fish, eggs, meat, milk or olives are whole foods.
Minimally processed food is made from one ingredient, with little disruption, such as olive oil, butter, ground almonds or wholegrain flour.
There is a lot of research associating a diet high in ultra processed foods with conditions like obesity (4), depression (5) and metabolic syndrome (6). However, a diet rich in whole foods can offer health benefits, because it is naturally high in fibre, vitamins, minerals, essential proteins, essential fatty acids and beneficial phytonutrients (3).
It is possible to eat healthier, minimally processed alternatives to ultra processed foods.
If we are craving buttered toast, biscuits or cake, these foods can be part of a balanced diet, particularly if we buy a minimally processed version, or even better, make it ourselves at home.
If we make a cake at home from whole grain flour, eggs, sugar, butter and milk, it contains healthy whole foods from the eggs, butter and milk, which provide protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre, vitamins and minerals, and some moderately processed wholegrain flour and sugar, providing a sweet treat. What it does not contain are unnecessary additives, emulsifiers or chemical ingredients.
Therefore I would say, where possible, if you want something from the bakery, a sweet treat, or a snack, try to make it yourself at home, from minimally processed ingredients, rather than buying it pre packaged from a shop, full of a list of chemical additives, which aren’t really food.
That way, you can literally have your cake and eat it.
References
https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/how-to-eat-a-balanced-diet/what-are-processed-foods/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10260459/
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/heart-matters-magazine/nutrition/whole-foods
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2161831323002910
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-025-04002-4
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36516280/