Think, Eat, Be Healthy

Shopping Strategies For A Healthy Whole Food Diet

Delicious and healthy whole food meals require some food shopping.

Delicious and healthy whole food meals require some food shopping.

These food shopping strategies will save you time and money

Following these tips will also make it easier to stick to a healthy whole food diet. This is the way I shop for food and I rarely feel inconvenienced or as if I am wasting time. Shopping is a necessary part of eating well no matter how much food you are able to grow yourself. Learn to make the most of the experience.

Make a list and take it with you

Always know what you need to buy before you get to the store. Don’t depend on your memory. Don’t believe that you will know what you need when you see it on the shelf. Don’t waste time wandering every isle, looking at every product and being tempted by fancy packaging and sale prices. If you do not need it, it is not a “deal” no matter how cheap it is. Two of them are not a better deal than one.

Never go food shopping without a list! A list helps avoid unpleasant surprises to both your wallet and your health.

Never go food shopping without a list! A list helps avoid unpleasant surprises to both your wallet and your health.

Shop on the way home from someplace else

Stop at the store on the way home from work. Make food shopping the last thing on the day’s errand list. Don’t make special trips to only the food store. There is always enough food in the refrigerator, in the pantry, in the freezer, etc… to make one more meal. Making a special trip to the grocery store is getting on the road to dietary disaster.

Do you really need those potatoes badly enough to make a special trip to the store? Can't you eat carrots or squash or something else from the refrigerator instead?

Do you really need those potatoes badly enough to make a special trip to the store? Can’t you eat carrots or squash or something else from the refrigerator instead?

Stay out of the center isles of the store

Shop the outside perimeter of any food store. The perimeter is always where produce(fruits and vegetables), meat(beef, pork and poultry), fish and dairy(milk, yogurt, cheese and eggs) are located. These whole foods should comprise almost everything on the plate at every meal. Vegetables and fruits should be the largest part of most healthy whole food diets.

red onion, allium, garlic, tomato, sweet potato, artichoke, zuchini squash, yellow crookneck squash, turnip, eggplant, cucumber

Stick to the edges of the store for healthy whole foods and stay away from the refined, processed, ready-to-eat stuff lining the center isles.

Buy organic fruits and vegetables whenever possible

Try to buy organic for at least the most highly contaminated crops(google “dirty dozen”). Doing this avoids exposure to many man-made chemicals applied to industrial crops to kill weeds, kill insect pests, kill fungus, kill bacteria, etc… Why would we want to eat chemicals designed to kill living things? Why would we ever think eating chemicals designed to kill other living organisms would not also be harmful to us? Even if science cannot yet prove that organic produce is more nutritious, organic produce is at least not actively harmful to us.

Some fruits and vegetables, like these grapes, should always be organic because of high pesticide residues on the same non-organic produce.

Some fruits and vegetables, like these grapes, should always be organic because of high pesticide residues and other chemicals on the same non-organic produce.

Try to buy dairy, meat, fish and eggs from animals that were raised on a natural diet

Cattle, whether for dairy or beef, evolved to graze on grass and other leafy green plants. Cattle did not evolve to eat grain. When cattle eat grain they get sick and the milk and meat has less nutritional value for us and may even be harmful.

Pigs and poultry did not evolve eating a vegetarian diet. These animals are omnivores and naturally eat a wide range of foods including insects, worms and small rodents. They will also gladly eat roots and nuts. Like cattle, pigs and poultry did not evolve to eat a diet of mostly grain. Like cattle,  the health of the animals and the nutritional value of their meat suffers on an industrial grain diet. Whenever you see the label “100% vegetarian diet” applied to pork or poultry, it really means that the animals never ever went outside or had access to a natural diet. “100% vegetarian diet” is not a selling point.

Most farmed fish also fall into the “avoid” category. The majority of farmed fish, especially from Southeast Asian countries, are raised in quite polluted waters. It is a general practice in that area to feed pig manure to farmed shrimp and other fish because of its high protein content. Chicken feathers and other industrial farm waste make up a large proportion of commercial fish pellets. Have you ever heard of anything that lives underwater that eats mostly feathers?

grass fed sour cream, grass fed dairy, sour cream

It is important to buy dairy products and meat from grass-fed cattle, eggs from pastured chickens and wild-caught fish for the best nutrition.

Read labels carefully

A few items must come from the center of the store. Soy sauce, tamari, ketchup, molasses, vinegar, pasta and chocolate are usually in the dreaded center isles and are impossible for most to make at home. Know what you need. Read the labels. Do the necessary research to make sure you understand the labels. Do you know the differences between sugar crystals, brown sugar, organic sugar, evaporated cane juice, muscovado and sucanat? Do you know what percentage of whole grain is required for a product to carry the “whole grain” label on its packaging?

Shop produce stands instead of grocery stores

Independent produce stands can often beat grocery stores on both price and quality of fruits and vegetables. They have much lower overhead costs than a large grocery store. They are often one man or one family operations that take great pride in what they do. They can choose their own produce rather than having to take whatever is delivered to them. Produce stands are often in more convenient locations than grocery stores. Stands can be much quicker to shop at because there are fewer distractions from unwanted products and never a wait to pay.

Independent produce stands can be best friends of the healthy whole food diet, offering better quality and lower prices. They usually offer more locally grown produce than major grocery stores, too.

Independent produce stands can be best friends of the healthy whole food diet, offering better quality and lower prices. They usually offer more locally grown produce than major grocery stores, too.

What now?

Try practicing these shopping tips for a few weeks. Food shopping should become faster, easier and cheaper. The quality of the food you buy should improve and you will get more enjoyment from your meals. Grocery shopping will become just another short errand at the end of your list instead of a dreaded chore or an out-of-control spree.