Making healthy food choices at the grocery store can help people make healthy food choices when they are at home. If the home is stocked with healthy food, people will not be tempted to consume unhealthy high calorie and/or high fat junk foods. Choosing what healthy foods to add to the shopping list can be easy if a person has some idea about what foods are healthy.
Leafy Greens
Put leafy greens such as spinach, kale, swish chard and mustard greens on the shopping list. These greens provide a significant amount of vitamins, minerals and fiber. Some of the nutrients that will be provided through leafy green vegetables include folate, iron, potassium, vitamin A and vitamin C.
Leafy greens can be added to sandwiches, mixed into salads, used in stir fries or baked into casseroles or pasta dishes.
Beans, Nuts and Seeds
Including beans, nuts and seeds on the shopping list will provide valuable protein, healthy unsaturated fats, high fiber and numerous vitamins and minerals. Try buying black beans, kidney beans, almonds, walnuts, pecans and pumpkin seeds.
Beans can be rolled into burritos, added to salads, mixed into pasta or rice dishes or eaten alone. Nuts and seeds can be used in dishes such as salads, breads or pastas, but they can also be a quick and easy snack to consume on the go.
A Rainbow of Fruits
A healthy shopping list should contain a rainbow of various fruits. Fruits provide an assortment of vitamins, minerals and high amounts of fiber, but the type of nutrients fruits provide varies from fruit to fruit. Therefore, it is important to include fruits of various colors on the grocery list.
Add fruits such as oranges for vitamin C, apples for vitamin B, bananas for potassium, kiwi for pectin, blueberries for antioxidants, watermelon for hydration, strawberries for fiber and papaya for beta-carotene.
Healthy Oils
All oils are not made the same and some oils are considered healthier than others. Put oils that contain healthy unsaturated fats on the list. Look for oils such as olive oil or canola oil, which are full of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats. The BJC Health Center suggests that by buying oils that contain mostly healthy unsaturated fats, they can help people reduce their unhealthy saturated fat intake. The reduction in saturated fat can reduce the risk of heart disease.
Fiber Rich Grains
Whole grain products should be included on a healthy shopping list. Whole grain products such as whole grain pasta, whole grain bread, brown rice, oatmeal, plain or light popcorn, whole grain cereals with 3g or more of fiber and quinoa can be included on a healthy shopping list.
Adding whole grain products to the shopping list will help increase fiber consumption. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for every 1,000 calories a person consumes throughout the day, they should eat 14g of fiber.
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