Something that I am very passionate about is informing the public on healthy foods and how to buy them. It seems like a simple thing to do, however, it seems to be a difficult task for most. They walk into a grocery store wanting to buy healthy and nutritious foods for the week and don’t walk out of the store accomplishing that task. Some don’t know how to figure out what is a nutritious food for them to buy and companies in the food industry are also trying to lure you into buying their products. It can be overwhelming to go grocery shopping for you or your family. I want to help people who want to live a healthy lifestyle and eat a nutritious diet learn the best way to take a trip to the grocery store.
There are many messages targeting the consumer about what to buy, what the healthiest foods to eat are, and what is going to lead them to live the longest life. You hear messages to stay away from saturated fats, eat whole grains, and try to eat as much fruits and vegetables as possible. Also, there is a lot out in the marketing industry about eating “natural.” However, this can be misleading. Many claims on food labels don’t have to be supported. The food industry can trick you into buying highly processed foods that contain high levels of fat and added sugar by labeling them as “all natural.” It is hard to navigate through this misleading information in the grocery store, but I have some advice for you!
When going out to the grocery store start with your fruits and veggies. You can never go wrong with the REAL all natural foods. Fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamins and minerals that can benefit your health greatly.
Secondly, look at the ingredients listed on the food labels. You are told to look at the calories on food labels, but most of the time the ingredients in the food can tell you more about it. If there are a lot of ingredients that you don’t recognize or can’t pronounce, that’s a red flag that it is something that will hurt your body! The products that don’t have many ingredients in them are those that don’t have much added sugar or chemicals added to them. For snack food, go for almonds with some sea salt sprinkled on them instead of a granola bar that has 20 different ingredients in it that claims to be healthy. Less is more in the aspect of ingredients!
Speaking of added ingredients in foods, let’s talk about sugar. At the grocery store you should avoid foods that contain added sugar as much as possible. However, in the American food industry, added sugar is almost unavoidable. In the past 20 years there has been a significant increase in the amount of sugar that has been added to foods and even beverages. Sugar is in so many food items nowadays, even those that are marketed as healthy, like some granola bars. The fact that many Americans don’t know the full effect of consuming high amounts sugar in their daily lifestyle is scary because it is so easy to eat or drink something with added sugar.
It is very difficult to navigate the grocery store and hopefully these few tips will help you on your next trip! Remember, don’t be fooled by the appealing labels on food, a lot of the time it means they are not healthy. Making these changes in the grocery store will not only help you fight against diet-related diseases, but might also help you drop unwanted weight!
Reference:
Story M, Neumark-Sztainer D, French S: Individual and environmental influences on adolescent eating behaviors.
J Am Diet Assoc 2002, 102:S40-51