Why Eating More Whole Foods Will Keep You Healthy and Energized

With the holiday season behind us, it’s almost impossible to resist the temptation of eating to your heart’s desire, undoing much of the progress you and your body have made over the past year. However, you can still gorge yourself without worrying about putting dangerous ingredients and preservatives into your body. 

For those new to plant-based diets, which emphasize vegetables, fruits, seeds, grains, legumes, and nuts – you can still have the option to have meat, dairy products, eggs, poultry, fish, seafood, and other ingredients as accouterments.

By getting rid of artificially flavored foods, containing preservatives, excessive sugars, and high carbs, you can lose that holiday weight and still leave the table satisfied with a whole-food snack. 

Ellen Macks, founder of Ella’s Flats All Seed Savory Crisps, has been eating keto and whole foods since she was 18 years old. A health-conscious, energetic mom of three with an appetite, Macks only found it natural that she would be craving delicious, satisfying foods with real nutrition and none of the bad processed stuff that consumers seem to flock to every day. 

Launched in November 2015, Macks and her husband fell in love with homemade seed crackers that their friends/business associates were eating on a business trip. Subsequently, after making their own recipes at home, they decided they needed to make this a business, going to Whole Foods and finding every similar item they could on the shelf to understand the psychology behind the seeded crackers.

Photo Courtesy of Ella’s Flats

From there, Ella’s Flats was born – a certified gluten-free, GMO Project Verified, sugar-free, grain-free, high fiber, low carb, preservative-free vegan snack consisting of pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, caraway, flaxseed and other seeds. 

Having come across Ella’s Flats at Publix, I was surprisingly satisfied and filled after having just a few crackers. Ella’s Flats offers scrumptious crisps in five varieties: Sesame Original Flavor, Hemp, Caraway, Cumin and Everything which enhance the flavor of everything you put on them as crackers, chips, and a bread alternative, including bagels and croutons. 

Back in July, Ella’s Flats launched in over 300 Publix locations throughout South Florida, making it the fourth top grocer in the country to carry the popular vegan snack. 

I reached out to Macks to learn more about her venture and the current landscape the industry offers. According to Macks, one of the biggest challenges the food industry faces is making nutritious foods available and accessible to more consumers.

“Quality food has already been difficult to afford for many and more interest in education about nutrition is also needed,” Macks told Luxe Beat Magazine. 

“…add to that current rising prices and scarcity from the pandemic and big companies and whole governments making production decisions to produce more crops with less nutrition, and it does not look like it is getting any easier right now to provide affordable nutritious foods. The good news is that trends show increasing interest in healthier options, and more and more conventional grocery retailers are making healthier options available.”

Over the years, the vegan company has worked tirelessly to provide a better experience for consumers, encouraging them to swap their palette of foods full of sugar or fillers that contain very little nutritional value. “Our customers don’t have to sacrifice taste or texture to enjoy our five flavors and share them with their family and friends.”

For business owners who strive to start their own businesses, Mack provided the following three tips:

1. Understand what differentiates you, your product, or your process
2. Have a clear message about what exactly you make and why someone would want to buy it; and
3. Treat it like a serious business, not a hobby. What are your strengths and weaknesses, and how can you build on those? What are the costs? What can you charge? And do you have the passion to make a go of your product? Starting a new business is full of challenges, but is it good enough to make you want it so badly that you’re willing to overcome the struggles?

You can learn more about the plant-based whole food by visiting their website or finding them on shelves at Publix, Amazon, and Whole Foods.