Whole foods - quality protein from animal sources, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains - have made it possible for mankind to survive, to be healthy and to procreate through the millennia. Unfortunately, today these nutrient-dense foods are regarded merely as raw materials to be converted into more profitable, refined and highly processed products. The potato, for example, is converted into chips and fries, corn-on-the-cob into kernels and the apple into juice. Similar fractioning of food has occurred throughout all the basic food groups. Food partitioning short-changes our health by diminishing important nutritional offerings and destroying vital nutrient relationships. "A Whole Foods Primer" demonstrates the wisdom of selecting whole foods for optimal intake of nutrients essential for good health. In it, readers will learn about the basic nutritional components of each whole food group and their specific functions and beneficial roles in the body: nutrient profiles and surprising facts about some hundred whole foods, their historical uses as food and medicine and the latest research that identifies their health-bestowing qualities. To help increase one's intake of this trove of nutrients, "A Whole Foods Primer" describes the special characteristics that consumers should seek when shopping so they can identify the peak of nutritional flavour and value in whole foods. It, also, provides instruction on the best cooking techniques and storage conditions to help minimise nutritional losses and the best methods to preserve fresh foods for future use. Useful tips and suggestions to increase the consumption of whole foods easily and to encourage experimentation with unfamiliar ones are included, as are practical resources for recipes and cookbooks.