A Quick Guide on how to Find the Healthy Food, and Fast!

Deciphering the nutritional options available at your local grocery is a very daunting task to take up on your own. There are thousands of choices and it can be hard to understand what the nutritional differences are when the manufacturers are focused on selling you taste and convenience in flashy packaging.

You can simplify your shopping by focusing on a few key areas listed on the food label of each item. The first thing you will want to avoid is foods with trans fats as these are the worst fats, also look for foods low in saturated fats. Also be on the lookout for lots of refined sugar (8 grams or more per serving). Sugar is often used in food that are specially formulated to be low fat as a flavor replacer. With packaged foods, you will also want to be conscience about the amount of sodium in the item. Try to buy items where the sodium is at or below 480 milligrams per serving. Also look at is the number of calories per serving size, food marketers often list serving sizes that are ridiculously small so that it appears their product is low in calories.

Here are some tips to consider as you walk through the different sections in the grocery store:

Bread: Choosing the right type of bread is harder than one may think.    You will want to find one made with whole grains that has at least 3 grams of fiber per serving. Also take a look at the number of calories per slice, some breads are very dense and pack in more calories than are necessary (don’t buy anything over 130 calories per slice). Avoid breads that have added corn syrup, some breads can be high in fiber but also have a lot of added corn syrup.

Cereals: Choose cereals that are made from whole grains and have 3 grams of fiber or more per serving. Pick cereals with less than 5 grams of sugar per serving. Cereal can be a great snack choice but many with no fiber and lots of sugar are no better for you than a cookie. Also, be cautious about cereals labeled “low-sugar”, often what the manufacturer has done is replaced part of the white sugar with artificial sugars.

Dairy: Look for dairy items that contain three grams or less of fat and less than one gram of saturated fat. Also try to buy dairy items that free of rBGH hormones. Since dairy items are higher up in the food chain, this would be a good time to invest in organic products.

Meats: Here you will want to look for lean meats like top round roast and sirloin tip steak (beef) and tenderloin (pork). Try to limit your servings of red meat a week to no more than two. Chicken is a great winner in the meat aisle. It is a fantastic source of high quality lean protein. Try to stick with skinless chicken breasts, these come in at under 100 calories per chicken breast, and they are very versatile.

Fruits and Vegetables: Fresh fruits and veggies require very little thought since they are so low in calories and fat but very high in vitamins and minerals. You will want to be a bit more careful when selecting canned items though. Canned fruits tend to be very high in sugar (look for ones with “lite syrup” or no added sugar). Canned vegetables are notorious for being high in sodium, try buying ones low in sodium and rinse them off with water before preparing them to cut down on salt. A great alternative to canned items are frozen ones. Frozen fruits and vegetables have as many nutrients as fresh produce but rarely have any added sugar or salt.

Employing these methods for choosing healthy foods can be a bit tedious at first. But with a little practice, using this knowledge will become second nature to you and you will be greatly improving your diet without sacrificing taste or convenience.