Often confused with "organic food" (i.e., organically-grown food), whole foods aren't necessarily organic, nor are organic foods necessarily whole, although they do share a number of traits, such as an avoidance of chemically-assisted agricultural techniques. Because of the lack of even basic, organically-acceptable processing, many whole foods have a very short shelf life and are not easily sold outside of farmers' markets.

Examples of whole foods include unpolished grains; organically garden-grown fruits and vegetables; and non-homogenized milk. For some, it is preferable to eat whole foods raw to obtain the maximum nutritional benefit.

"Whole Food" has also been know to describe a food that is a complete balance in nutritional value by non mechanical means.

How can foods that are tainted, altered, genetically bio-engineered affect your health? A good example is in the industry of corn. To prevent corn from being destroyed by bugs a genetically altered ear of corn was created and chemicals were added to the corn- now when bugs begin to chew, they die instantly. Does it take a scientist to encourage people to not eat such ears of corn? What is happening in the human body by such corn?

During the last five years, several multinational chemical and drug companies – including Monsanto and Syngenta (formerly Novartis/Astra-Zeneca/Ciba-Geigy) – have quietly altered our food supply in an alarming way. Genes from bacteria, viruses, foreign plants and animals have been inserted into corn, soybeans, potatoes, tomatoes, squash, and papayas. These corporations plan to "genetically engineer" almost 100% of our food within a decade.

The genes inserted into these grains cause the plant to create new, foreign proteins, never before seen in nature. There has never been any long-term animal or human testing to determine whether the new proteins can cause allergies or other adverse effects.

What Can You Do?

There are many safe food advocates all over the world who are trying to stop the farming, production, and use of genetically altered food. You can join with them:

Ask your local supermarket and restaurants to supply and serve products that do not have genetically "engineered" ingredients.

If you live in a state that does it's own farming call or write to your state Director of Agriculture and your Farm Bureau to tell them that you won’t buy products that have been "genetically engineered."

The author of this article was personally affected by the reality of our food system. A simple thing such as removing genetically altered and chemically processed foods helped my body to heal itself the way it was designed. I used to battle severe connective tissue diseases. When I eat foods that are altered and are not in their natural state, my body HURTS.

A startling and eye opening movie is available at: http://www.thefutureoffood.com/

What can you do long term? Study sites like http://www.mercola.com It is not as difficult as you might thing to eat a whole food diet. Once you experience real health, you'll never go back to sick and tired again.

Sandi Krakowski is a specialist in online advertising and marketing. For a FREE consultation on how to build a low cost advertising campaign that will pay you for months visit: http://www.arealchangemarketing.com For more information on working at home, visit UriLife.com