Grocery Shopping

Hey ladies...just wanted to share some helpful info. I'm one of these folks that just buys stuff at the grocery store...cabinets are full, I'm not eating half of the food I purchased and still buy more. Not necessarily bad/junk foods, just things I was in the mood for while grocery shopping. I did something DIFFERENT this time....I let my cupboards get bare!

Then I decided I wanted to fill it with healthy, nutritious foods. I don't know a lot about nutrition so I went to sites like www.prevention.com and I looked at Lifetime Fitness' magazine, Experience Life. Now some of these articles are unbelievably longwinded novels. It's just wayyyyy too much info to swallow, but I found this cool article...

http://www.experiencelifemag.com/issues/january-february-2009/healthy-eating/how-healthy-people-shop.html

The one great thing I took from this was ingredients to avoid:

Dirty Dozen Kathie Swift, MS, RD, nutrition director at the UltraWellness Center in Lenox, Mass., reads the ingredient lists on all the packaged foods she buys. If she sees any of the following, it stays on the shelf.
Hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils
High-fructose corn syrup
Artificial colorings
Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, sucralose and saccharin
BHA or BHT
Monosodium glutamate
Hydrolyzed vegetable protein or autolyzed yeast extract
Potassium bromate
Propyl gallate
Sulfites
Sodium nitrate
Sodium benzoate or benzoic acid
It was fun to look at the ingredients, give up some things and try some new products. I encourage you to try the same. You'll be amazed at how much junk is in our everyday foods.

I also utilized this information as well:

Fats That Heal, Fats That KillMost of us could use more of these:
Cold processed, organic oils derived from flaxseed, sunflower, safflower, hemp, sesame, evening primrose and olive (look for dark bottles and store them in the fridge; also be sure to read the labels and get those omega-3 and omega-6s in proper 2-to-1 ratios).
Dark, leafy greens (spinach, kale, chard, arugula).
Fats found in raw fruits, vegetables or nuts (including raw nut butters, avocados, etc.).
Cold-water fish (uncooked or very lightly cooked is best).
And less of these:
Animal fats, tropical oils (palm, coconut, etc.), dairy and other saturated fats.
Unrefridgerated supermarket oils that come in clear bottles or plastic jugs (most cold-pressed organic oils are okay; olive oil is usually your best bet for cooking).
Trans-fatty acids (present in hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils, many prepared, fast and packaged foods, fried foods, most margarines).
Sautéed and grilled meats (steaming or baking is better for you — bummer, huh?)

HAPPY SHOPPING!

Jana