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Hello, welcome to HealthiNation, I’m Sheila Kelly.
A big part of healthy eating is familiarizing yourself with the food options in your local
grocery store and making smart, nutritious choices. In this segment, I’m going to take
you on a tour of the grocery store to help you make healthier choices the next time you’re
shopping.
Now, before we start, keep these things in mind:
First, come prepared – that means you shouldn’t be grocery shopping when you’re hungry…
and always bring a shopping list with you so you know what exactly you need.
[BA: Add a line about taking notes, and keeping these notes on your shopping list. For instance,
write “5g fiber” next to cereal, or “Round or Loin” next to meat.]
Second, shop the perimeter of the store for most of your groceries… that’s where a
lot of the healthy, unprocessed foods will be, like fruits, vegetables and fresh poultry
and fish. The inside aisles are where most of the packaged and processed junk foods tend
to live.
And third, only use discount coupons for items you actually need… and don’t fall for
the candy displays at the check out line.
OK, now, with that in mind, let’s move onto our first stop, the produce section…
Try to choose things from at least three different color groups, like green peppers, red tomatoes
and yellow squash --- the variety of colors will give you a good mix of nutrients.
When it comes to choosing your lettuce, go for dark green lettuce like romaine, leaf
lettuce, spinach, curly endive or radicchio.
If you’re in a hurry, you can also buy things that are pre-packaged, like baby carrots,
celery, or bagged lettuce. Or, pre-packaged fruits, like pears and grapefruit – just
make sure the fruit is packed in its own juice with no added sugar.
Next stop – the dairy aisle.
It’s good to look for things where the naturally occurring fat has been removed -- like fat
free milk, or low fat cheese, cottage cheese and sour cream.
Don’t be afraid to try soy products, too – things like vanilla soymilk can be a good
dairy substitute. But the fat rule applies here, too – choose soy products that are
low in fat or fat free.
For coffee drinkers, choose fat free non-dairy creamer and fat free half-and-half.
Now, yogurt is a great, healthy, portable snack – but you need to watch the sugar
content. Light yogurt usually has artificial sweeteners. And look for brands that have
active cultures.
Finally, people always wonder about butter vs. margarine. Liquid or tub margarine, like
this one, is generally a better option than stick margarine or butter because they’re
high in trans and saturated fats. But you should always be looking for the reduced-fat
or “light” versions and pay attention to serving sizes.
Let’s head around the corner to the meat and deli counter…
When in doubt, go with fish – it’s healthy and low in fat and packed with good nutrients.
Just beware of breaded or stuffed items – they usually have a lot of fat.
If you’re a meat eater, always choose lean cuts of red meat or pork – they supply iron,
zinc and b-vitamins. With beef, look for words like round or loin, and with pork, loin or
leg. If you’re shopping for ground beef for burgers or meatloaf, also go with lean
versions – like 96% -- instead of the full fat options.
Skinless boneless chicken and turkey are also great– they’re usually inexpensive and
versatile in the kitchen. Again, go with the light or white meat.
And when it comes to the deli aisle, go for lower-fat choices like turkey breast and lean
roast beef. But always assume deli meat is high in sodium—it’s used as a preservative.
If you’re watching your sodium, or have any doubt about whether a deli meat is lean
or not, ask the person behind the deli counter for the nutritional information from the label.
When you’re looking for bread for those deli sandwiches, choose breads with unbleached
flour with at least 3 grams of fiber per serving… some good options are whole wheat, 12-grain
or oat-bran bread, rolls or tortillas.
That covers most of the perimeter of your store – let’s now take a look at the inside
aisles to see what we can find…