Grocery Shopping and Dining Out
Most people would eat healthy or at least healthier if given the chance (at least, that's my hope). I know for a fact that many people don't know how to grocery shop or order food at a restaurant to make that a reality. Here are a few rules when you go to the grocery store to help you make better choices and ultimately feel better!
Do the majority of your shopping on the outside edge of the grocery store. Think about it: the produce, meat and seafood, and dairy are all on the outer edge of the store. These are the refrigerated sections of the store, which means these foods usually have no preservatives. They are WHOLE FOODS! Eat and drink what God has provided for you and you will most likely start to lose weight and feel better. Our goal is to have about 80-90% of our diet consisting of whole foods.
Check the ingredients on all of the foods that have a label. Check for added sugar, seed oils, and folic acid. There are over 60 different names for sugar that food companies are putting on food labels and they are not all created equally! For example, maltodextrin has almost double the glycemic impact of cane sugar. Seed oils are highly refined and during the process of making them, high heat is used, which can cause the oil to become rancid. To combat wasting the rancid oil, they will bleach and deodorize it. Seed oils were originally used for engine lubricants, and when food companies discovered how cheap they were, they started putting them in many foods. Folic acid is not a natural product. It is sprayed on non-organic crops, it's a chemical. Almost half the population cannot process folic acid, which then creates inflammation. Folate is a naturally occurring ingredient in meats and some veggies, use supplements and foods with folate instead.
Choose foods with fewer ingredients when given the chance. Less processed is always better.
When out to eat, ask for your food to be cooked in butter or olive oil. Many restaurants use Canola oil or seed oils to prepare their foods. Butter and olive oil are much healthier options. Every restaurant has butter. Just ask and they will make the accommodation. I have started using the excuse that I am allergic to vegetable and seed oils but can have olive oil or butter.
When out to eat, fried foods and refined carbohydrates seem to be amplified. The number of ingredients in a Chick-fil-A chicken sandwich is wild! And many of the ingredients you don't recognize can be found in the bun (yes, I don't eat Chick-fil-A... go look at the number of ingredients even in their grilled chicken and you might stop too).
These are just a few tips while you are out looking for food to make healthier choices!