The foods you fill your shopping cart with can help improve your health. Regularly eating foods such as chips, candy and soda, can compromise your health and do not offer nutritional benefits. Choosing healthier foods will help you decrease your calorie and fat intake and will help ensure you get all of the nutrients you need for optimal health. According to Dr. Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley, authors of "The Healthy Kitchen," keeping plenty of healthy foods on hand will enable you to prepare nutritious meals.
Fresh Produce
Adding at least five servings of fruits and vegetables to your daily diet can help you improve your health and reduce your total calorie consumption. Stock up on several different kinds of produce to use in cooking and to eat as snacks or side dishes. Try to choose many different colors of produce to increase the variety of nutrients you get from your food. Aim to choose four or five different kinds of fruit and four or five different kinds of vegetables. Plan your meals and side dishes before heading to the grocery store so you know which produce to buy. Canned fruits and vegetables can also be a healthy addition to your shopping cart, note Gabe Mirkin and Diana Mirkin, authors of "The Healthy Heart Miracle: Your Roadmap to Lifelong Health," as long as they are low in sugar and sodium.
Grains
Eating plenty of whole grains will ensure that your body gets enough fiber for proper digestion. Whole grains can help you keep fat and cholesterol levels in check as well. Weil and Daley suggest buying brown rice rather than white rice as one way to increase the health of your meals as well as increase your fiber intake. Whole-grain breakfast cereals are another healthy addition to your shopping cart. Check nutrition labels and choose cereals that list whole grains as the first ingredient. Whole-wheat bread, tortillas and pasta make healthy pantry staples. The Mirkins also recommend buying oatmeal because it is high in fiber, low in calories and may help you lower your cholesterol.
Lean Meats and Eggs
Adding lean meats to your grocery cart will help you increase your intake of protein, while also keeping your saturated fat consumption low. Use lean beef to make soups, stews or hamburgers. Lean pork chops provide plenty of protein but are low in fat. Skinless chicken or turkey breasts are another good source of protein that are lower in fat and calories than poultry with the skin on. Fish is another healthy meat to add to your cart because it provides healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Many varieties of fish are low in fat and calories as well. Canned tuna, chicken and salmon are other sources of lean meats, note the Mirkins. Eggs can be added to your morning meal or eaten hard-boiled as a snack.
References
- "The Healthy Kitchen"; Dr. Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley; 2009
- "The Healthy Heart Miracle: Your Roadmap to Lifelong Health"; Gabe Mirkin and Diana Mirkin; 2004
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