The concept of "eating healthy" also include "buying healthy" and "cooking healthy". Unless and until you buy the proper food items, you cannot think of eating healthy foods. Therefore, you need to make healthy grocery choices. Carrying a list would be the first step towards making smart choices. This would prevent you from choosing what is available at hand randomly. Here are the tips by which you can carve out a healthy shopping list:
- Cereals: An Indian diet comprises of cereals as the main food item. While buying cereals, consider opting for the whole grains only because of their rich fiber content and the presence of micronutrients like vitamins and minerals. Whole wheat flour should be preferred over the refined forms. You should also consider replacing the refined flour (maida) products with the whole wheat ones like whole wheat breads and whole wheat pasta.
- Fruits and Vegetables: Make sure you add a wide variety of fruits and vegetables to your shopping cart. And don't forget to add the seasonal stuff because these are packed with nutrients. You should consider buying the bright colored veggies because these contain ample amounts of antioxidants and nutrients. You should always keep healthy fruits like berries, peer, citrus fruits, apple and melons handy so that you can snack on these healthy options whenever you feel like binging. Don't miss the leafy greens and the red, yellow or orange colored veggies since these foods have high nutritional value.
- Protein Foods: While choosing protein foods, you should go for the low-fat options. Typical examples would include lean meat, fish and eggs. Whole legumes and pulses are also healthy protein choices. This would include buying whole green gram (mung dal) instead of split green gram. Soyabean, an excellent source of plant-based protein, should be included in the diet of everyone in the family.
- Dairy Products: When you buy milk, consider adding skimmed milk, low fat milk or cow's milk since these are low in fat content. Soy milk can also be considered as a healthy option. Low fat curds and yogurts can be added to your grocery list.
- Fats and Oil: You should first make a budget for your family's total allowance of fat/oil by counting half liter for each family member every month. You can then buy fats and oils as per your requirements. You must not include the unhealthy hydrogenated fat in your list. Some healthy oil choices would comprise of olive oil, rice bran oil, groundnut oil, sunflower oil and soybean oil.
- Bakery Items: Bakery products offer the maximum temptation while you go out to buy groceries. In fact, these are the typical examples of unplanned purchases. So it's better to quickly walk away from this section to avoid temptations. If you wish to buy cookies, then go for the fiber-rich oatmeal ones! These are better choices in comparison to the usual refined flour (maida) biscuits or cookies. When you choose to buy breads, opt for the multigrain/wholewheat breads. Puffs, Khari or any sort of similar products which contain multiple layers are prepared with hydrogenated fats. These foods would simply add to your weight. Hence, you should not include them in your list.
- Beverages: Fizzy or carbonated drinks should not find a place in your shopping list. Instead, you can consider buying real fruit juices. Skimmed milk or milk in tetra packs are low fat beverages.
Some Important Tips to Remember
- You should check the expiry dates while buying packaged food items.
- You should go through the food labels to note the nutrition facts. This way you can buy healthy foods.
- It is not very wise to buy ready cut vegetables because these vegetables lose important vitamins with an exposure to air.
- Ready-to-cook tomato pastes are widely available in the market, but the homemade tomato purees are healthier. Not only these are tastier, but are full of powerful antioxidants.
- No doubt, it is a great experience to buy fruits and vegetables from large retail stores, but it is safer to buy fresh produce from the local vendors or grocery shops. If you find that the shapes of the vegetables are uneven, then you would get to understand that these are grown by small scale farmers using natural methods. But you cannot expect naturally grown fruits and vegetables in the large retail stores because they buy these items from large scale farmers who use chemicals and fertilizers to increase the yield and the size of the fruits and the vegetables. These are harmful for health and might lack taste and nutrients as well.
Buying the right kind of foods is the first step in the intake of healthy foods. Going through this process and performing the necessary checks would take a little bit of extra time, but it would have a long term health impact on you and your family.
