Eliminating unhealthy foods from your grocery shopping list can help you make better dietary decisions at home. If you buy healthy foods and have those foods available, you will be more likely to eat those foods, which can improve your overall health and help with weight loss.
Walnuts
Walnuts are high in omega-3 fatty acid, which has been known to reduce the risk of heart disease. Walnuts also provide high amounts of protein. Protein is important to provide your body with energy and essential amino acids that are used to rebuild and renew cells.
Walnuts can be consumed alone as snacks, added as a topping to vegetable or fruit salads or mixed into low-fat yogurts.
Bok Choy
Adding bok choy to your grocery list will add a healthy green leafy vegetable. According to the Produce for Better Health Foundation, bok choy provides high amounts of vitamin A, vitamin C and folate. Use bok choy to make salads, mix into rice dishes or saute in a frying pan with a little olive oil and garlic.
Whole-Grain Products
Whole-grain products should be a part of your healthy grocery list. Buy whole-grain pasta, bread, brown rice, oats, cereal, crackers and flour. Whole-grain products will provide you with valuable fiber and a long-lasting source of energy.
Eating a diet that is rich in fiber has been shown to reduce your chances of heart disease and lower bad cholesterol levels. When shopping for whole-grain products, read the ingredient label to ensure that the food actually contains whole grains. Foods that are rich in whole grains will have whole grains, brown rice or oats listed as the first ingredient.
Beans
Adding beans of all varieties to your shopping list will provide a healthy protein alternative. Beans are high in plant-based protein, low in fat and are a good source of fiber. Look for canned beans that do not contain added sodium. Use beans in pasta dishes, salads, dips and burritos.
Berries
Berries make hand snack foods because of their natural bite-sized form. Berries are high in antioxidants and fiber -- both beneficial to health.
Add strawberries, blueberries, raspberries and blackberries to your shopping list. Eat these berries as snack foods, added to salads, used as a topping on cereals and smoothies.
Avocados
Avocados provide a healthy source of monounsaturated fats, potassium and 23 percent of you necessary daily folate intake, according to The World's Healthiest Foods website. The healthy fat content combined with the high amounts of folate can help reduce your chances of experiencing heart disease, notes The World's Healthiest Foods. You can eat avocados alone, add them to salads or make them into dips and spreads.
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