Three Ways to Know You are Buying Healthy Foods

With the recent craze over “green” products it’s important to know and understand what to look for when buying food that is labeled as “healthy”. Here are a few tips to use the next time you go shopping.

Read the ingredients. This should always be the first thing you do. Don’t worry so much about the calories, fat or carb count – simply read what’s in it. The aim is to buy products with the least ingredients. Pick up a loaf of bread and count how many ingredients went into making that loaf. Some breads have anywhere from 12 to over 20 ingredients. I don’t know about you, but the last time I made bread all I put in it was flour, water and yeast. So, why are there so many ingredients? It’s mainly the way to preserve and make the bread more fluffy and eye appealing. Whatever happened to day old bread? Our common bread can sit on a shelf for weeks and never get stale or grow mold. Something is wrong with that.

Avoid the processed stuff. Anything that has been created in a test tube or has been manipulated by chemical science is something you want stay far away from. The body has an incredible time breaking down these complex, foreign additives. Anything labeled as “artificial”, like colors and flavors, are a red warning light. Other processed ingredients to stay away from are: high fructose corn syrup, mono and di-glycerides, any oil that is hydrogenated, MSG (which is disguised by many different names) and artificial sweeteners.

Buy 100% whole grain only. Don’t settle for foods that say “made with whole grain.” This means that only a percentage of the product has a whole grain in it. Only buy products that are 100% whole grain. Even many organic products are not fully whole grain; actually many of them contain no whole grain at all. Whole grains are not only better for you; they will keep you full longer so you won’t crave more empty foods.

This is just an easy rule of thumb to shop by. A persons daily diet should be well balanced with calories, fats , carbs and proteins but it’s more important to eat real food than to consume artificial or chemically manipulated additives. As consumers, we have to do more than trust the advertisement on the box, we have to get smart and know what exactly what we’re purchasing.