Its Time for Healthy Grocery Shopping
A heart healthy
nutrition starts with smart choices made in the grocery store. Cooking up
healthy
meals is a challenge in today's, on your toes movement leaving women with
no time to breathe.
Experts recommend planning meals for the week, and creating a list to shop
from the market. They say it takes a few minutes, but saves time in running back
to the store for missing ingredients. Tell me- Where is the time or the issue is
time management.
To make things easier for You, WF nutritionist have compiled the following
low-fat shopping ideas for each of the food groups.
-
Fruit & Vegetables: Pick a variety of fresh and canned
vegetables &
fruits to toss into soups, salads, pasta, or rice dishes. Whenever
possible, choose vegetables without added salt, and fruit packed in juice.
Seek out local or organic produce. If you eat fruits and vegetables when
they are in season, you will find that they have been picked at their best
and not grown in glasshouses; they will have more flavors and generally have
more
vitamins,
minerals and other nutrients than at other times of year. It is much
better to look forward to tasting the first new potatoes or crisp orange
pippins, rather than to eat the same boring food all year round. Seasonal
shopping can also help to keep the cost down, as prices are frequently lower
when there is a deluge of produce on the market.
-
Dairy Products: Dairy foods are an excellent source of
bone-building
calcium and
vitamin D. There are plenty of low-fat and nonfat options to help you
get three servings a day, including drinkable and single-serve tube yogurts,
and pre-portioned cheeses. If you enjoy higher-fat cheeses, no problem --
just keep your portions small. Whole milk gets 35-45 percent of its calories
from fat; 1 percent only gets 23 percent and nonfat supplies only 4 percent
of calories from fat, and all of the good stuff is still left in. Almost
everyone loves the taste and texture of cheese. Unfortunately, cheese is
loaded with fat. Most cheeses average between 40-60 percent of calories from
fat. Try a low-fat version of your favorite cheese, and/or cheeses of the
part-skim variety (mozzarella, ricotta, cottage cheese, low/nonfat cream
cheese, etc.). If you are used to eating regular cheeses, don't expect low
or nonfat cheeses to meet your standards at first. Eventually, you will
develop a taste for a very low-fat or even nonfat version. Coming to low-fat
or nonfat yogurt - it is a great food for three different purposes: a great
substitute for both sour cream and whipping cream; supplies great taste and
texture to many foods such as a baked potato or angel food cake; and is a
great snack (especially when you add fruits such as bananas, berries, dates,
etc.). Make sure to choose
low-fat or nonfat varieties. Regular yogurt gets almost 50 percent of
its calories from fat.
-
 Meat:
There are really two things to look for if you want to continue eating red meat
and still live a low-fat, healthy life-style: portion size and fat content. You
should not eat more than three ounces of lean meat a day, roughly the size of a
deck of cards. If you are eating 2,500 calories a day, you need approximately
300-500 calories of protein, or 75-125 grams of protein. Three ounces of lean
meat and a serving of a dairy product will satisfy that. Meat marked "select" is
the leanest (39 percent fat ). The "choice" grade has more (44 percent fat); and
"prime" is the fattiest (48 percent fat). Also, when selecting ground beef,
choose varieties labeled "round," "loin," "top sirloin," or "extra lean" because
they are the leanest. In addition to labels, check the meat itself for fat and
color. Look for cuts with the least amount of visible fat. Meat with white
streaks of fat is obviously going to be much higher in fat. Also, if the meat is
really dark red, it is a lot leaner than meat that is pink or gray. When
shopping for sandwich meats, stay away from salami, bologna, pepperoni, and
bacon. Once again, try the leaner white meats such as chicken, fish, and turkey.
You can also try lean versions of roast beef and ham.
-
Eggs: Each egg contains 5 grams of fat and 210 milligrams of
cholesterol. Consuming only two eggs a day would put you well over the
recommended daily limit of 300 milligrams of
cholesterol. It is also recommended that you don't exceed four whole
eggs a week. Egg whites (eggs without the yolk) are fat and cholesterol free
and contain almost all of the protein. For cooking and baking, simply use
three egg whites for every whole egg.
-
Grains & Pasta: Choose your grains wisely. Try whole grain
products for their
fiber. Fiber helps you avoid cancer, helps lower your cholesterol, and
helps your digestive track function properly. Try to get 25-35 grams of
fiber a day. Unfortunately, fiber grams do not add up easily. Two slices of
whole-wheat bread contain three grams. On average, a bowl of cereal has 2-3
grams though there are many tasty high-fiber cereals on the market. Again,
read the label. A cup of enriched spaghetti contains 2-3 grams. And one
bagel has 5 grams. In addition to fiber, whole grain foods also supply
vitamin B and E and some trace minerals. Try to replace egg noodles with
wheat or spinach noodles; this will boost your nutritional intake. Rice
comes in many varieties, but the most commonly used are white and brown
rice. White rice is enriched and, therefore, provides more thiamin and iron.
However, brown rice naturally supplies a good source of fiber, calcium,
phosphorus, and vitamin E.
-
 Cereals:
Check the labels for those that offer less sugar and are low-fat, and that have
at least two grams of fiber per serving. If chosen wisely, cereals can be a
great source of fiber. Unfortunately, many cereals high in fiber are low in
taste. Stock your shelves only with cereals you like. This will greatly increase
the chance you'll actually eat them. If you buy brands that you "should" eat but
they taste like cardboard, chances are you'll skip breakfast altogether. Try
adding fruits to your cereal. You might even want to buy two types of cereal:
one low in fat and high in fiber, and one low in fat and a little higher in
sugar, to make it more enjoyable. Mix these together and you have a delicious
and healthy way to start the day.
-
Oils: Avoid saturated fat whenever possible and keep your total
saturated fat
calories to less than 10 percent of your daily food intake. Unsaturated
oils come in two types:
monounsaturated and
polyunsaturated. Mono-unsaturated oils include olive, peanut, and canola
oils. Poly-unsaturated fats include corn, safflower, and sesame oils. If you
are shopping for an oil for stir-frying or baking, pure olive oil is the
best. Virgin and extra-virgin oil are higher grades and are best for light
sautés or for drizzling on pasta, vegetables, or bread.
Whatever your nutritional requirement, there’s always delicious normal food
to be found.
Dated 09 March 2012
Related Links
|
