Top 4 tips for making healthy choices in the supermarket

Going grocery shopping isn’t as easy nowadays. Walking into a store with the intent of buying ‘only the food you need’, yet after perusing the isles of cleverly marketed products, you find your grocery shop a lot bigger than expected.

So, how can you still make healthy choices in the supermarket (because yes, a healthy kitchen does start in the supermarket) when you are bombarded with these product choices?

Make a plan! This is an important one. Do you know what you are going in to purchase or are you looking at the products as you go? Having a rough menu plan for the week (i.e. kids lunches are wraps or breakfasts will be smoothies) is a great way to organise the ingredients you need and when you get to the grocery store, you will be less stressed and find it much easier to get in and get out.

Stock up on your fresh produce first. Heading over to the fresh fruit and vegetable produce is a great way to set the tone for the rest of the shop. If you had started at the chocolate isle what would the rest of your grocery choices look like? Fruit and vegetables are such an abundant source of vitamins and micronutrients it is no wonder the current recommendations for veggies in Australian adults is 5 serves per day. Don’t worry; I’ve included a recipe for you all at the end to sneak some more vegetables into your day (so tasty that the kids will love it too).

Be a periphery stalker! Most supermarkets are set up in a way that you need to go through the entire store just to get milk or bread. When doing your shop, you will find that a lot of the foods around the perimeter of the store are what you will need: meat, veggies, fruit, bread, milk, yoghurt, eggs, etc. Sure, there are some things you just need from the isles that are healthy (i.e. oats, grains) but next time you go grocery shopping, see how much of your shop comes from the perimeter of the store and how much from the isles.

Be label savvy! Of course, fresh is best and a lot of healthy food does not have a label, but we can be quite savvy with what we choose if deciding between packaged products. Most products will have a nutrition information panel on the packet, which will tell you the ingredients and energy information. When comparing two similar products, look at the total energy per 100 grams column in both products and choose the product with the lower kj / 100 grams. Another great place to look at is the ingredients listed under the panel. They are written in terms of percentages, with the first ingredient being the most predominant ingredient in that food. Have a look at the ingredients in what you are purchasing. Can you recognize them? Is it full of additives, dyes etc.? This may influence your food choices for yourself and your children.

If you are looking for somewhere to start in terms of what to eat? I have plenty of guides, available on my website.

Links: 1: https://www.ccdietitian.com/shop/4ihan6v243rn95nt1hgy8anxniwyr4