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Are you shopping Savvy?

Article written by Germaine Guzman.

Cooking up healthy meals can be challenging enough especially if you don't have the right ingredients in your kitchen. But good nutrition starts with smart choices in the grocery store. Grocery stores offer a wide selection of foods - healthy, unhealthy and the in-betweens. Healthy grocery shopping is not just about walking up and down each aisle putting whatever in your shopping cart. You need to make smart choices about what foods you buy. But with so many brands and product variations available, how are you to know which are the best options?

Perhaps a good place to start is to put together a grocery list of items you actually do need, this will help you stick to shopping for the essentials rather than straying to the junk food aisle and making impulse purchases. But making a shopping list won't exactly tell you which of the available 50 million (or so it seems) variations of the one product is the best options. This article will help guide you in making healthier grocery item choices.

Making Healthy Choices

Healthy food shopping is the first step toward healthy eating. Follow these tips as you fill your shopping cart:

Know your Fats

  • Look for choices that are 'lean', 'fat-free', 'low-fat', 'light', 'diet' or 'low-free' when selecting meat, poultry and milk products.3
  • Trans fats are found in products made with shortening and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils (a liquid oil that is processed to become a solid fat). They are often found in cakes, cookies, crackers, pies, and margarine. Look out for 'partially hydrogenated oil' in the ingredient list and limit these foods.4
  • Choose products that contain good fats (such as polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fat) found in fish, nuts and healthy oils such as olive and canola.3
  • Try and limit highly purchasing processed food items such a packaged meals, chips, snack foods, crumbed packaged meats as these are often high in fats. Try and cook meals from fresh ingredients.
  • Be mindful when choosing fat – free products, some are actually very high in sugars and will have a similar amount of calories as the regular product.

Don't Sugarcoat it!

  • The Nutrition Facts label lists how many grams of sugar the food contains but does not list 'added sugars' separately. The amount listed includes sugars that are naturally present in foods (such as the fructose in fruit, or the lactose in milk) and sugars added to the food during processing or preparation.3
  • Added sugars are also known as caloric sweeteners and provide calories but few or no vitamins and minerals. Try and limit foods that have added sugars.
  • Names for added sugars in an ingredient list include brown sugar, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, fructose, honey, invert sugar, maltose, raw sugar, sucrose and syrup.3

Reduce Sodium 

  • When choosing packaged foods, check the sodium content on the Nutrition Facts label. Focus on the milligrams of sodium in each serving. Use the percent Daily Value (%DV) to help limit your sodium intake. 5% DV or less is low and 20% or more is high.5
  • Use the claims on the front of the food package to quickly identify foods that contain less salt. Look for claims that mention, 'low in sodium', 'very low sodium', 'sodium-free' and 'reduced-sodium'. Claims like 'unsalted', 'no salt added' or 'without added salt' are products made without salt that's normally used, but still contains the sodium that's a natural part of food itself. 1, 5

Choose Carbohydrates Wisely

  • Fiber-rich fruits, vegetables, and whole grains should be on everyone's shopping list.
  • Make the most of your fruit choices fresh, frozen, canned, or dried, rather than fruit juice. Select leafy green vegetables and legumes which are rich in dietary fiber.4
  • Many packaged foods have fiber information on the front. Look for claims such as, 'excellent source of fiber', 'rich in fiber', or 'high in fiber'.4
  • For many, but not all 'whole-grain' food products, the words 'whole' or 'whole-grain' may appear before the name (e.g. whole-wheat bread). Because whole-grain foods cannot necessarily be identified by their color or name (brown bread, 9-grain bread, hearty grains bread, mixed grain bread, etc are not always 'whole-grain'), you need to look at the ingredient list. The whole-grain should be the first ingredient listed. The following are some examples of how whole grains could be listed- whole wheat, brown rice, buckwheat, popcorn, bulgur (cracked wheat), wild rice, whole oats/oatmeal, whole rye, and whole-grain barley.4
  • The GI Factor - The glycemic index (GI) is a system which ranks how carbohydrates affect your blood glucose levels. Look out for 'low GI' stated on food labels and opt for low GI varieties when it comes to certain food products.2

Stocking your kitchen with foods that are low in fat, salt, and sugar and high in fiber will help you eat well. The result- you'll feel better and have an easier time maintaining a healthy weight. Happy shopping!

References

  1. American Heart Association, April 2009. Sodium Guidelines Set by the FDA [Online]. Available at http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4718 [Accessed 7th April 2009].
  2. Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Research for Optimum Health, February 2009. Glycemic Index & Glycemic Load [Online]. Available at http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/foods/grains/gigl.html [Accessed 7th April 2009].
  3. U.S Department of Health & Human Services- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. Fats, Added Sugars, & Salt [Online]. Available at http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/healthieryou/html/chapter8.html [Accessed 6th April 2009].
  4. U.S Department of Health & Human Services- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. Health Facts: Choose Carbohydrates Wisely [Online]. Available at http://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/dga2005/toolkit/healthfacts/carbohydrates.htm [Accessed 7th April 2009].
  5. U.S Department of Health & Human Services- Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2005. Health Facts: Sodium & Potassium [Online]. Available at http://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/dga2005/toolkit/healthfacts/sodium.htm [Accessed 6th April 2009].

Last Updated 21st April, 2009.


Last updated 17 June 2009