[cue music] Thanks for joining me again for another edition of … Simply Living. [fade music] This week, we'll be talking about Nutrition and how it affects your grocery shopping decisions. [end music] Joining me today with her expertise is ….
Oh, sorry, I got carried away there thinking I was doing a show or something. Or maybe just wishing Someone Else was imparting their wisdom to you!
This week is all about Nutrition and next week will be all about grocery shopping. Nutrition plays a large part in my shopping choices and I'm grateful that there has been more awareness in this area in recent years. Understanding what I should be looking for in terms of healthful food really helped our budget, too, contrary to the common thought of 'the more healthful, the more expensive'. Although my list is not comprehensive, nor is it full of details, here is my list of tips on nutrition.
Tips and Tricks for shopping with Nutrition in mind:
- Educate yourself about nutrition. Processed food has little to no nutritive value and your grocery dollars could be better spent on fresh food that would be more filling, satisfying, and tasty.
- Read labels, know what they mean, and buy wisely and accordingly.
- Cook from scratch as much as possible. I've heard so many people say that it takes way too much time to do that, but I counter that it really doesn't take that MUCH MORE time and the tastes and kitchen fragrances are worth it!
- Know that 'fat-free' or 'sugar-free' means that something ELSE has been added to make up for the missing taste of fat or sugar. Most times, that is not a good thing.
- Buy as many fresh vegetables and fruits as you can and buy them as much as possible from farmers or farmers' markets rather than the grocery store. The ones in the grocery store have been trucked in from who-knows-where and are not nearly as fresh and tasty as the ones grown on the local farm. Those local farmers appreciate your business, too, as much as you'll appreciate the food!
- If you can't buy fresh (think Dead.of.Winter in the NW!), buy frozen. Frozen vegetables are less processed than canned, thereby retaining much of their nutritive value. Plus, they just taste better!
- During the summer, buy fresh vegetables and prepare them for your freezer. There's nothing like taking a package out of the freezer and being reminded of those long, warm summer days!
- After buying fresh food, cook it simply. Eating healthfully doesn't take a lot of time!
- Stock up on whole-grains! The grains that are refined have been stripped of essential vitamins and minerals. Many people are unknowingly deficient in B vitamins and it is largely because they don't eat enough whole grains. Fiber is also lost in the refining process and with all the media attention on colon cancer, we should all be aware that a clean colon is a good thing! So, buy good whole-grain bread, brown rice, and quinoa. And millet. And oats.
- Make your own chicken/beef/fish stock. If this sounds like something only Julia Child would've attempted, think again. Using canned or processed meat stocks brings added sodium and preservatives into your system. Making your own stock is so VERY simple. Yes, REALLY! And, in the long run, much cheaper than buying canned stock or bouillon cubes. (I'll be back soon with a Stock post.)
- Know that any effort you make toward eating healthfully will show up in how you feel!
There are so many books, magazines, and blogs out there with nutrition information and it seems that the information is always changing based on some new study or some new cultural trend. I'm currently reading SuperFoods HealthStyle: Proven Strategies for Lifelong Health, by Steven G. Pratt, M.D. and Kathy Matthews. Where have you gleaned nutrition information from? What health magazines do you read? What books have helped you learn about your health?
Please share in the comments section so that we can all widen our knowledge base about this very important subject. Looking forward to learning more!!
