One of the best ways to eat healthy is to make sure that you fill up your cupboards with only healthy and nutritious fresh living foods. If you only buy healthy foods and ingredients you will cook with them and eat them. If you bring lots of junk and sugary foods into your house, you’re going to eat them, so out of sight out of mind is the idea here, if they are not there you are less likely to eat them!
Here are some tips that will help you make the best choices when food shopping!
Make a list
What should you put on your list? Take some time to think about what you need versus what you want, research some new healthy recipes, think of the staples that you eat daily and plan what you need for your meals for the week.
Meal planning will help you avoid buying unnecessary foods that you don’t need and will encourage you to try new recipes.
Avoid processed foods
If what you are buying contains more than 5 ingredients and includes a lot of unfamiliar, unpronounceable items you should really reconsider before buying.
Processed foods often come in a box or a jar, can be high in added sugars, low in fibre and whole grains, processed with sodium, high in fat or include trans-fat and lots of saturated fat.
Lots of processed foods such as boxes of cereals, tinned soups, salad dressings and jars of pasta sauce can easily be homemade avoiding all the added sugars and additives.
Eat local and seasonal foods
Buy your fresh produce from local farmers markets.
Try to change your eating patterns and eat more of what’s in season; most foods are not on the menu all year round so we need to work on habitually changing our diet.
Seasonal produce is most likely local (because it does not need to be brought in from a warmer climate, etc.). Local produce is at its freshest and its peak of nutrition, making it your best bet for meals that are nutritionally dense and healthy.
Go Organic
Organic foods are often a bit pricier but the extra cost is definitely worth the investment as you are avoiding lots of nasty chemicals and pesticides in your foods.
Organic food are much richer in vitamins, minerals and fibre and retains the levels of nutrients for longer. Switching to organic food will enable your body to be more resistant to disease as it will have higher levels of the essential nutrients it needs to fight off infection.
If you’re really serious about eating fresh organic produce, why not plant your own? Start small. Carrots, tomatoes and beets are easy to grow.
Avoid low sugar or diet products
Many people think that “low-fat” foods are healthy. Some nutritious foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are naturally lowin fat. However, processed low-fat foods often contain a lot of sugar and other unhealthy
Low sugar and diet options often contain aspartame which is one of the worst artificial sweeteners you can ingest and has been associated with dozens of potential health risks so always check the labels and avoid these kinds of foods at all costs.
Always go for brown wholegrain options
When it comes to carbohydrates such as bread, pasta and rice always go for the brown wholegrain options.
Once white carbs such as rice, bread and pasta hit the bloodstream, they convert into pure sugar, and this puts us at risk of obesity, heart problems, type 2 diabetes and cancer. Plus, the fibre and minerals are stripped from white carbohydrates.
If you want to boost your immune system, we strongly recommend that you join our get fit get healthy program.
