Grocery Shopping - Tips For Buying Healthier Food

By Author: paul adams
Total Articles: 13
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What foods do you buy a lot of? Does your basket or trolley look like you're about to open a greengrocers or does it look like you're planning to open a biscuit shop?

It's time to take a long hard look at your grocery shopping and work out how you can make it healthier.

Generally buying less processed foods means you're eating better. The obviously high calorie foods like cake and chocolate are the first things you should look at. Can you buy them in portion sized packs? This makes it easier to have just a slice if you have slices of cake in individual portions. If you have to buy a whole cake then you'll be tempted to have a bigger slice and then maybe a second slice. Much easier to resist temptation when you're buying ready packaged portions. Bear in mind that these are usually more expensive and the extra packaging isn't good for the environment. Some people buy frozen puddings and treats that can be rationed out easier as you have to wait for a defrost time before eating them.

Buying more fruit and vegetables doesn't mean you have to spend a huge amount. Some UK supermarkets discount vegetables and fruit ...
... every week. There should always be some basics available at low prices. Onions, potatoes and carrots are good to look at for starters. Add celery to onions and carrot as a base for most stews and sauces and you'll start to be eating healthier straight away. Slicing celery thinly means it'll dissolve into the sauce as its cooking and no one will know it's there! Sneaky cooks also grate carrot very finely and add it to mince dishes to stretch out the meat. It's also healthier as it's very low in calories and fat compared to mince.

Buying Quorn or other meat substitutes is a healthier option than buying meats. They even do some processed type foods in these ranges making healthy food easier than ever. Frozen pieces of chicken Quorn are great for using in any recipes you'd use chicken in.

Finding healthy snacks in the supermarket isn't such a huge chore. Look for packs of dried fruit and nut mixes. These can be calorific if you eat a lot of them, so find a way of restricting portion sizes by decanting it into small tubs for people to eat.

Buying seasonal vegetables and fruit is a way of varying what you eat and encouraging you to try new things. They're also cheaper when they're in season so if you decide you don't like them then you've not wasted as much money! Read up on cooking new things - sometimes we overcook vegetables and this means they lose some of the vitamins from them.

Look for low-fat products in the cheese and butter aisles too. Low-fat options are varied now and you'll find everything from zero fat cottage cheese to hard cheeses in low fat varieties.

Read calorie information on packets - don't rush the shopping. Make sure you compare low calorie versions with full fat options to ensure you know how many calories you're saving. Sometimes the difference is very low and you might decide it's healthier and cheaper to have a smaller portion of the higher calorie foodstuff. If you can manage the willpower aspect then you'll find you can eat healthier.

Plan meals too - so you have plenty of vegetables included in your diet. Create salads for lunches including a packed lunch for work! Get some nice containers for taking food to work in so you can take a dressing separately and pour it on when you're ready to eat.

Plan healthy snacks for everyone in your family: Have a fruit bowl that looks tempting and you'll find people want to eat from it. Look at frozen fruit bags for making smoothies out of. These are a great way of encouraging people to eat more fruit. A delicious smoothie made from frozen bananas is a real treat! Buy bags of bananas and as they ripen if they don't get eaten, then chop them up and put them in bags in the freezer. This makes them easier to blend! Just add milk and whizz up!

Some people recommend not shopping on an empty stomach. Whether being hungry means you'll buy more food that's bad for you is not sure, but being hungry might make you grumpy, or tired, or just rush the shopping and it should be done carefully so you don't miss out anything on your healthy eating list!

Paul adams writes about Indian food market and Online shopping store. To know more about Shopping store just visit us at http://www.mygrahak.com/