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smart for a healthy lifestyle
A big part of enjoying healthier eating is
buying healthier foods, and that means making smart choices where it matters
most – at the supermarket. Choosing the
freshest, healthiest foods is an important first step toward making healthy and
delicious meals your whole family will love.
In general, most supermarkets are laid out
with the healthiest, most nutritious foods around the perimeter of the
store. That is where most stores locate
their produce section, their dairy section, their meat counter, and the
like. Of course, the middle aisles of
the grocery store also contain nutritious foods, such as canned and frozen
vegetables, whole grain cereals and more.
And of course each shelf of the grocery
store also contains both good and bad choices for healthy eating. For instance, the cereal aisle is home to
both the healthy, home grain cereal, and those cereals that contain more sugar
than corn. In many cases, the difference
will be obvious from the packaging, while at other times you will need to read
the nutritional information carefully to ensure the food is healthy for your
family.
As a matter of fact, learning to read
nutritional labels is one of the most important skills any health oriented
shopper must learn. This government mandated labels contain a wealth of
information if you know what to look for.
Not only do nutritional labels contain vital information on calorie
counts, fat grams and sodium content, but they contain detailed information on
the percentage of each vitamin an mineral a serving contains.
When looking at nutritional labels,
however, pay careful attention to the portion size listed. This is particularly important when looking
at calories, fat grams and the amount of sodium. For instance, a serving of juice is generally
8 ounces, while the average juice glass at your home may be 12 or even 16
ounces. It is important to carefully
look at serving size, and to do the mental calculation necessary to reflect how
much of each product will actually be consumed at one sitting.
When shopping for healthy foods, it is
usually better to opt for les processed foods.
For instance, 100% fruit juice would be better than a fruit juice blend
that may contain as little as 5% or 10% fruit juice. And plain frozen vegetables would be
healthier than vegetables in a butter sauce.
When shopping for meat, try to buy fresh meat whenever possible. Frozen meat products, or those already
seasoned, heat and eat products, often contain unhealthy ingredients as well as
preservatives.
When it comes to dairy products, it is best
to buy low fat and non fat varieties when at all possible. The one exception to this rule is feeding
babies and young children. Their growing
bodies need the fat and calories contained in whole milk products, but adults
and older children are better served by low fat alternatives.
When choosing canned soups, there are a
number of fat free and low sodium varieties.
Try to choose these soups for a healthier lifestyle. Other high protein, low calorie soup choices
include black bean soup, lentil soup and split pea soup. These healthy soups are good sources of
protein, fiber and folate.
Ethnic foods, such as Mexican and Chinese,
can be excellent sources of healthy meals, and the traditional ways of preparing
such foods are generally very healthy.
It is important to stay as authentic as possible when choosing and
preparing Mexican, Asian, Middle Eastern and Italian food. This will help guarantee both great taste and
healthy eating. For instance, traditional
salsa is an excellent, low calorie, and nutritious dip, and the traditional
Mexican black bean dip is usually fat free.