Grocery Shopping: Front Lines for Nutritional Health

4 rules will help you stay healthy while you navigate that shopping cart:

1.    Plan your menu out in advance.  Don’t just list the main dish, but make note of side dishes, and healthful snack items you’re planning on eating during the week.

2.    Make your grocery list from your menu.  If you have the ingredients for a week’s worth of meals on hand, you can swap the order of your menu if you find your mood changes come dinnertime without resorting to less healthy convenience items.

3.    Make buying produce a priority.  Depending on the season you will probably want to go with a balance of fresh and frozen produce.  Remember that if half of what  you eat should be plants, half of your grocery cart should be full of produce.

4.    Plan and purchase snacks mindfully.  If it isn’t in the house, we aren’t going to eat it, so make sure to buy with healthful snacking in mind.  For example popcorn, nuts, individually wrapped dark chocolate, and lower sugar frozen yogurts may fill your snacking and fit the nutrition bill as well.

Tips by store section:

Bakery/Grains: 3 grams or more fiber per serving

 Produce: In season and variety are key

Butcher: Go meatless a couple nights a week and vary your animal protein sources

Canned Fruits: Watch out for added sugar

Canned Veggies: Watch out for added sodium

Dairy: Choose low-fat & unsweetened