We all get into a grocery shopping rut. We walk through the store, either with or without a shopping list, and toss the same items into the cart each shopping trip. They may or may not be the best choices for our bodies. Recently, I agreed to share my grocery list with Amy Crews, Holistic Health Counselor and editor of the Natural Health Newsletter here at DietsInReview.com.
I provided my grocery list in six areas: Fruit/Veggie, Bread, Frozen, Dry Goods, Meat, and Cold items (like dairy). As you will see, the list of foods that I buy could stand some improvement. Why not use this list as a springboard to make over your own grocery list, keeping in mind that the most important changes to your shopping list need to be both manageable, sustainable and will help you to be as efficient and healthy as possible – always a bonus for all of us!
The Smart Choices Grocery Program, the very program that DietsInReview panned last month, has been voluntarily discontinued. Officials with Smart Choices said that the group will “postpone” active operations and not encourage wider use of the logo while the FDA investigates labeling issues, reported MSNBC over the weekend.
The FDA cited the use of multiple nutritional markers on foods, from check marks to stars, icons and even numerical ratings, that can overwhelm the consumer and in reality label foods healthier than they really might be. Foods could contain as much as 50% sugar and still receive the green check mark if they had extra fiber or were high in one of twenty nutrients. In my book, there’s not one food that is 50% sugar that I’d label as “healthy.”
This week I had the distinct privilege of meeting with Wendy Bazilian to discuss the new Smart Choices grocery initiative. She was kind enough to share a few tips to help all of us experience a healthier, more successful shopping trip.
Watch her tips now and then read on to learn about the giveaway!
Take a stroll through your grocery store and do a quick survey of how many choices you have for a variety of different items. Mayonnaise- low-fat, full-fat, fat-free, wasabi, lemon, olive oil. Pretzels – rods, sticks, braids, twists, nuggets, cheddar, sour cream and onion, honey mustard. Frozen waffles – egg, multi-grain, low-fat, high fiber, strawberry, flax, blueberry, wheat-free. The array of foods is just as dizzyingly endless as their varieties and flavors.
Maybe this is part of our problem: The sheer abundance of choices provided at any given grocery store in any given town in the country. From pretzels to yogurt and from frozen pizzas to waffles, perhaps it is no wonder why our enormous selection of foods has also bestowed upon us enormous bums.
Eating packaged foods is often the most economical option. The problem is, they’re also often the most unhealthy. On top of that, labels are confusing, and even intentionally misleading. You have terms like “50 percent less fat” or “reduced sodium.” But those phrases beg the questions: 50 percent less fat, but how much fat is left? And, reduced sodium… from what level? I realize that it’s simply a matter of reading the labels, but for the average person, the implication of something being healthier by subtraction seems to validate the product. Not so.
We all get into a grocery shopping rut. We walk through the store, either with or without a shopping list, and toss the same items into the cart each shopping trip. They may or may not be the best choices for our bodies. Recently, I agreed to share my grocery list with Amy Crews, Holistic Health Counselor and editor of the Natural Health Newsletter here at DietsInReview.com.
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Take a stroll through your 
