5 Nutrition Based Shopping Tips

Shopping for groceries is like, my favourite thing in the world. I love the feeling of walking through the market and allowing produce or ingredients to inspire me. It definitely gets my creative juices flowing that's for sure!

When I became a Vegetarian, it took quite a long time to understand my new diet and the restrictions that came along with it. There was lots of confusion and lots of reading. I took the time to read every package that came with an ingredients label or nutritional information. Knowledge is definitely power in this situation and the more I learned, the easier shopping became. I've gathered a few tips that I wanted to share with you guys when it comes to shopping. Just a few things I've picked up and learned over the years that might just help some of you out!

1.WATCH FOR ADDED SUGARS - When you think of eating or drinking something that contains a large amount of fruit, you are likely under the impression that it's as healthy as can be.  In the case of pre-made smoothies or fruit juices, added sugar is a real problem. Consider this, we should consume less than 30g of sugar a day and a teaspoon of sugar is 4 grams. With that in mind, fruit juices can have in upwards of 40 or 50 grams of sugar in one serving. That's 10 or more teaspoons of sugar in one measly fruit beverage!                                                                                                                There are ways to avoid that though! If you're not one for juicing at home, than here's what to look for when buying fruit juices or smoothies. Check out the sugar content. Look for an asterisk that will explain at the bottom how much of the sugar is naturally occurring in the fruit. Most or all should be directly from the fruit, otherwise it's enhanced with sugars and sweeteners. Check out the ingredients label, if sugar appears near the top of the list before any fruit is mentioned, stay away! 

2. ALWAYS SHOP ADDED SALT FREE - When you cook a dish at home, it's instinct to season and salt as needed. You could be adding an additional 10% of your allowance of sodium in one serving! When shopping for canned products like beans, tomatoes, or vegetables, look for salt free or reduced sodium on the can. This means that there was no salt added to the product before packaging it. If salt free is unavailable, rinse the product if that option is available. Canned beans can be drained and rinsed prior to use reducing the sodium by up to 40%.  

3. WHEN TO BUY ORGANIC - Pesticides are pretty nasty. Various pesticides are linked to the decline in bees and illnesses in humans. There are certain vegetables and fruits that are notoriously laced with pesticides and some that you can save the extra money and buy non organic. The dirty dozen are a list of produce that contain the highest percentage of pesticides per part. Produce with thin, edible skin usually contains large amounts of pesticides versus produce with thicker skin such as avocados, bananas, and pineapples. If organic is unavailable, make sure to thoroughly wash all of your produce. You can reduce the pesticide content moderately although it is impossible to wash it all away. Peeling away the skin will also significantly reduce the pesticide but you lose nutrients and fibers along with it. At the very least, know your dirty dozen and shop organic when available.

4.  AVOID FROZEN DINNERS - Frozen dinners are disasters disguised as convenient meals. They offer seemingly innocent food that is easy to prepare during the week when we are busy with life in general. The problem? Some of these dinners have more than a day's allowance of sodium. They can be incredibly high in saturated and even trans fats, loaded with fillers and preservatives, and just plain bad for our bodies. Going for reduced sodium in this case isn't always a good thing as other fillers are added to give the food flavour. Shop smart, read all of your ingredient and nutritional labels. If there are a lot of sciencey sounding ingredients, it's best to avoid. If there is any nutritional stat that comes in over 50% of your day's allowance, avoid that too! Fresh is best so avoid being tempted by frozen dinners!

5.  There are certain additives and preservatives that are notoriously bad for our health. Here's a little list of ingredients to look out for when shopping!

• MSG - Might be a no brainer but msg spells trouble for our blood pressure and is even linked to headaches and snoring. 
• SODIUM NITRATE / NITRATE - Nitrates are typically added to meat and fish to keep them from going rancid. They also happen to be linked to thyroid cancer. Best to avoid this one!
• FOOD DYES - Synthetic dyes like these are bad news and are linked to various cancers. Avoid anything with Yellows and particularly reds!
• HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP - Made from GMO corn, this syrup is linked to a wide array of health issues including heart disease and obesity. It can also contain mercury.
• BHT - This is an ingredient in jet fuel, enough said.

I hope these tips help you out even just a little with your next shopping trip. It's worth taking the time and knowing what's in your products especially when ingredients that are very bad for us could be hiding in our favourite foods!

HAPPY VEG



Sources -
https://saveourbones.com/12-dangerous-ingredients/
http://www.eatingwell.com/food_news_origins/food_news/the_hidden_health_risks_of_food_dyes
http://www.livescience.com/36825-food-additives-could-be-hazardous-to-health.html