Nutrition Month 2009:
How To Spot Whole, Fresh Foods

A simple way to eat healthfully is to emphasize whole foods or foods that are minimally processed. But how can you spot these foods at the supermarket? Just keep an eye out for:

• Foods that are as close to their natural state as possible, like an orange over orange juice.
  
  
• Foods that don't need a lot of splashy packaging and marketing. Think fresh corn over a snack food made with corn.
  
  
• Food products that do not contain ingredients and processing steps that you can't reproduce in your own kitchen. It's pretty difficult to make a batch of highly processed breakfast cereal at home, but a cinch to cook up old-fashioned oatmeal.