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Grocery shopping for healthy food is a lot easier now more than ever, because healthy food is sort of popular – or at least more popular than it was about ten or fifteen years ago. But how do we know what is really healthy when we’re out grocery shopping?
There are so many things that look “healthy” on the front of the package. “No artificial colors”, “Gluten free”, “No sugar added”, “natural”, “low sodium”, etc.
To be honest, a lot of this is simply savvy marketing skillz to reel you in.
Because health has become more trendy, food manufacturers are tapping into this trend with their clever marketing artistry. But just because it looks like it’s healthy, or alludes to the fact that it is with just the right wordage, doesn’t mean it is.
To read a little more about how this healthy (or not) food labeling and marketing works, read: How Food Packaging Claims Can Fool You by Sally Wadyka.
In the mean time, lets break this healthy, complex, grocery shopping business down into pieces.
First, you need to . . .
MAKE TIME TO SHOP
Rushing through shopping isn’t going to do you or the people you’re cooking meals for, any favors.
You need time to read labels.
If you don’t read labels, it is highly likely that you could be buying food that isn’t food at all.
HAVE A SHOPPING LIST
No list means a waste of time and money.
It’s important to have a meal plan and a grocery list when you’re about to go grocery shopping. When it comes down to convenience later on in meal prep, it is a must! Plus, this saves money. I promise.
A shopping list is also important if you’re new to healthy shopping, because reading labels takes time. If you don’t know what you need and are reading labels, too, this could result in a lot of money out and wasted time and still very little to work with once you get back home.
READ LABELS
Some foods just aren’t really foods, and you won’t know this until you start to try to read the list of ingredients. (I say try because, half the time, something looks great until I try to read the label). These labels are usually either a mile long and I don’t have that sort of time, or a mile long and the print is too small, or a mile long and I can’t pronounce the list. I give up. Mile long reads aren’t my thing unless they’re written by J.R.R. Tolkien.
If it is a long list, either quit and put it back, or, if you really, really want the food and want to see if it’s really that bad, get Siri out and start asking your robot to define these crazy words, then decide if you still really want it. My guess is, you’ll probably start discovering some pretty interesting things about the so-called foods you’re eating!
I looked at the label of a cheap jelly just today, thinking I could save money. It didn’t have fruit or fruit juice in it. What? How is this jelly? It was full of multiple sweeteners, artificial colors, artificial flavors and things I couldn’t pronounce. Not at all a food. I definitely didn’t want my kids eating that!
If you don’t read labels, you’re likely to buy “foods” that are high fat, high sodium, high sugar (if it even has real sugar in it), highly synthetic, and highly filled with preservatives. Which, can and will add, high cholesterol, high BMI, high risk of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, etc. Nobody needs these sorts of highs in their life!
Side note: don’t forget to teach your kiddos to read the labels! Better to start young!
WHOLE FOODS
Buy whole foods. Pre-packaged foods are always going to have longer labels to read, more preservatives, and are going to be more expensive, and almost always unhealthy. (Notice I said “almost” and this is where reading labels comes in handy! Some companies are actually getting better at making healthier pre-packaged foods). But this is rare. When I buy pre-packaged foods, it’s generally a “treat”.
Buy canned, fresh, frozen and dried goods that you can cook meals with, from scratch. Pinterest has endless amounts of recipe options. I use Pinterest all the time. When I find a recipe I like, I print it. (Because I’ve actually made boards for recipes and had some go missing, so if I love it, I just print it!)
MONEY SAVING
If you’re on a tight budget and have very little money to buy groceries with, this is when buying healthy food gets tricky (but not impossible). Because cheaper foods typically are not healthy.
Cheap, unfortunately is just that. It is cheap. I don’t mean that as “inexpensive”, I mean, low quality.
This is when cooking from scratch kicks in. Buying whole foods is a must for health, and for the budget.
THINGS TO WATCH FOR
There are a few things I always keep a look out for.
One, is sugar. If it says sugar, I breathe a sigh of relief. So many so-called “healthy” foods say “no sugar” but have added synthetically made sweeteners that are far worse than sugar. (More on this later on in another article).
Sugar isn’t bad; too much sugar is bad. This is where one of the 8 methods of balance actively kicks in: say hello to moderation.
Artificial sweeteners, on the other hand, are just bad whether you eat a little or a lot.
Watch for artificial and chemical preservatives. These things are placed in your foods to keep them from going bad for a longer amount of time. Unfortunately, preservatives can cause chronic health problems, effecting your heart and lungs.
Watch for words you can’t pronounce, and use Siri when you are reading the ingredients of a so-called healthy food. It might not necessarily be bad, it might just be something you’ve never heard of before. Just learn about what you’re eating.
Watch for long ingredient lists, and also watch for mention of gluten-free. If you’re not gluten intolerant, eating gluten-free isn’t always better. Read Why Shouldn’t You Go Gluten-Free Part 1 and Why Shouldn’t You Go Gluten-Free Part 2 for more on why this may not be a good choice for you.
Other things I look for are added colors, and artificial anything.
Always only purchase items that say 100% whole grain/wheat. All flour is made from wheat, but not all are “whole.” It is possible to think you’re buying whole wheat bread when it is labeled “wheat”, when in fact, you are simply buying white bread with colorant in it that makes it look darker.
Know your foods. Read labels. Use Google to define things you can’t pronounce. Think whole, think fresh, think simple.
When you cook from scratch, your food will be purer, taste better, and will be a lot healthier.
Side note: keep in mind that when you cook and bake foods at home, your foods need to be refrigerated immediately after eating. Without preservatives, foods will go bad quickly.
If you still need help, I’m here for you! leave a comment below and share this post with your friends and on social media! You can find me on other social media platforms as well, if you’d like to see what’s going on with balance8life! I’m on (almost) all platforms: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, E-mail, Twitter, Pinterest and balance8life.