Grocery Shopping – How to Choose Healthy Items

Grocery Shopping – How to Choose Healthy Items

What we eat begins at the grocery store. But once we enter the doors of our local grocery shop we are bombarded with tons of products all claiming to be ‘healthy’ and ‘all-natural’. It is difficult to decipher product labels and determine which products truly do offer the health benefits that we are searching for. There are aisles and aisles of options – which ones are really going to benefit us in the end? To make the hunt a little bit easier, I have put together a list of tips of what things to look for and to avoid when shopping for our families and ourselves. It all starts with looking at the nutrition facts label!

1.    Look for short ingredient lists

  • When you find a packaged food in the supermarket with a long list of ingredients on the label, just set it back on the shelf and look for a simpler version of the food. Many of those ingredients are various kinds of sugars and chemical additives.

2.    Frozen dinners – What to Look For

  • Choose options containing less than 600 mg sodium, at least 4 grams fiber, at least 10 grams protein, and less than 500 calories.
  • Good brands to look for: Kashi, Healthy Choice, Amy’s, Lean Cuisine

3.    Choose the true ‘whole grain’ items

  • Look at the ingredients – the first several ingredients should include the words ‘whole grain’ in them. Avoid fake whole grain products that contain ‘enriched bleached flour’ in the ingredients list.
  • The product should say ‘100% whole wheat’ – avoid products that say ‘Made with Whole Grains’ – those are not true whole grain items.
  • Make sure the product contain at least 4 grams of dietary fiber, at least 5 grams of protein, and less than 12 grams of sugar per serving.
  • Good options include: Udi’s Gluten Free Bread, Ezekiel Bread, Pumpernickel Bread, Orowheat Country 100% Whole Wheat

4.    Focus on Fresh Produce

  • Buy plenty of fruits and vegetables. They will fill you up and provide vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients your body needs. Fresh ones are best. If you buy them frozen or canned, make sure they do not have extra sugar or sauces added.

5.    Shop around the perimeter!

  • The freshest, most nutritious items in a grocery store are placed around the perimeter. The most processed items and junk food items are placed within the aisles, where customers spend most of their time. If you spend most of your shopping time in the aisles, your diet is highly processed.

6.    Granola Bars – Making the best choice

  • Choose options containing less than 200 calories, at least 7 grams protein, less than 10 grams fat, and at least 4 grams of fiber.
  • Good options include: Balance bars, Lara bars, Fiber One bars, Kashi Chewy Granola bars, Luna Protein bars

Grocery List – Healthy Choices

It is imperative to be prepared before going grocery shopping. Two tips to live by are 1.) Try to shop when you AREN’T hungry. This will help you avoid gut impulse purchases that you may regret later. And 2.) Create a list before you leave the house. If you go in with a plan, you are much more likely to stick to it. To make things even easier, below is a sample grocery list separated by food groups, to give you an idea of what to be looking for when perusing the aisles.
Breads & Grains

  •      Ezekiel Bread or Udi’s Gluten Free Bread
  •      Quinoa
  •      Kashi Go Lean Cereal, All-bran or shredded wheat cereal
  •      Steel Cut or Rolled Oatmeal
  •      Brown or Wild Rice
  •      Buckwheat, barley, millet, couscous, or tabbouleh

Protein

  •      Lean ground turkey or chicken and skinless turkey or chicken breasts
  •      Lean meat such as bison (buffalo) and lean cuts of pork and beef (such as round, top sirloin, and tenderloin)
  •      Salmon or whitefish
  •      Egg whites and low-fat or nonfat dairy products
  •      Legumes, such as pinto beans, black beans, kidney beans, lentils, and garbanzo beans

Produce

  •      Choose a variety rich in different colors
  •      Buy these organic:  Apples, celery, strawberries, peaches, spinach, nectarines, grapes, bell peppers, potatoes, blueberries, lettuce, kale/collard greens
  •      Limit starchy vegetables: white potatoes, corn, peas, squash

Dairy

  •      Hormone- free milk – Try soy or almond milk alternatives
  •      Cottage cheese
  •      Greek yogurt – Plain or vanilla flavors (add your own fruit or honey)

Canned/Dried Goods

  •      Low-sodium canned vegetables
  •      Canned fruit in water (not sugar or syrup)
  •      Canned tuna in water
  •      Low sodium, MSG free broth for soup
  •      Olive oil, flax seed oil, coconut oil
  •      All-natural or organic almond butter, walnut butter, sunflower butter

Meet the Author

Kasia Ciaston

kciaston

Bringing you the best nutrition information...

Our Academy Bloggers

CAND has several professional and student bloggers.  They write about a range of topics for the public.

Comment on this post

2 Comments

  1. Nicci Brown Nicci Brown on August 25, 2013 at 6:01 pm

    What a great, comprehensive list! Sharing this with my friends and family right now!



  2. pizza hut codes on January 19, 2014 at 3:41 am

    hey there and thank you for your info – I’ve certainly picked up
    anything new from right here. I did however expertise several technical issues using
    this web site, as I experienced to reload the web site many times previous to I could get it to
    load properly. I had been wondering if your hosting is OK?
    Not that I am complaining, but sluggish loading instances times will sometimes
    affect your placement in google and could damage your high quality score if ads and marketing with Adwords.
    Well I am adding this RSS to my email and could look
    out for much more of your respective interesting content. Make sure you update this again soon.