Is Whole Foods Market backing away from health?
I was recently made aware of Whole Foods’ latest strategy to promote a low fat, vegetarian diet as optimal by Jimmy Moore (Livin la vida Low Carb). There is some detail on the low carb community’s reaction to this move on this blog post.
This is a somewhat surprising move by Whole Foods to me. I realize that many of their customers are vegetarians and vegans, but Whole Foods over the years has been my source of some of the best tasting and healthiest meat I can find anywhere, as well as some of the hard to find items like buckwheat honey, extra virgin coconut oil, and quality fish oil capsules.
When it comes to beef, the healthiest (and tastiest!) beef they sell is typically the New Zealand beef, which is not the lowest in fat. This meat is grass fed, and contains the highest amount of omega-3 fatty acids, which are essential to our diet, than any other meat.
The deli meat is also high quality. I love turkey sandwiches and eat several per week! Their sliced turkey is without preservatives and tastes great compared with the nitrate & phosphate-laden deli meats you find in most grocery stores.
And, despite the fact that people will criticize Whole Foods because it is a big corporation, with high prices (I’ve heard “Whole Paycheck” before), from my experience, they are typically one of the less expensive health food stores around. This is especially true when compared with the smaller mom & pop local stores, which often have outrageous prices!
What Whole Foods is doing by recommending a low fat diet is a disservice to their customers. They are making a recommendation without taking all the facts into consideration. Hearing the low fat mantra coming out of the government and from highly-degreed nutritionists and dietitians is one thing, but for a private company like Whole Foods, I would expect a little more due diligence.
CEO John Mackey seems like a reasonable guy, as far as his most recent appearance on the John Stossel show. He is going against the proverbial grain when it comes to the health care debate. Now, is it possible that he can go against the literal grain- and change his tune on what he sees as a healthy (high carb) diet?
I suggest those of us armed with the facts that do shop at Whole Foods give Mackey & Co. some friendly suggestions! You can email the company on their website, or send a tweet to @wholefoods.
Sign Up here and receive:
“The Three Pillars of Achieving Your Perfect Weight Through the Mind-Body Connection” Audio
2 thoughts on “Is Whole Foods Market backing away from health?”