Grocery Shopping the Healthy Way

To shop the healthy way you need to plan ahead, be in control and read labels. The following tips and lists will help you become a healthy shopper.

Plan ahead

• Plan a menu for the week.  Use heart healthy or diabetic cookbooks for new ideas.
• Make a grocery list.  Group your food items according to the layout of your grocery store for easier shopping.
• Eat a healthy meal or snack before you shop.  Being hungry may tempt you to buy more than you need. 
• Check flyers for weekly grocery specials to help cut costs.

Be in control

• Shop along the outer edges of the store first.  Here, you will find the four food groups: vegetables and fruits, grain products, milk and alternatives and meat and alternatives. 
• Some packaged goods in the center aisles and displays at the end of aisles are high in fat and salt.  Read labels and choose carefully.
• Skip the snack food aisle if it is too tempting.
• Check with your local supermarket for grocery tours.  The dietitians leading these tours can help you choose healthy foods to fill your shopping cart.

 Read labels

• Look for breads, cereals and grains with at least
  2 grams of fibre per serving. 
• Look for low fat crackers, processed meats and prepared foods with less than 3 grams of fat per serving. 5 grams of fat = 1 tsp (5 mL) = 45 calories.
• As a rule of thumb, for every 100 calories in a food item, there should be 3 grams of fat or less.
• Canned soups, sauces, vegetables and processed meats and foods are usually high in salt.  1 tsp     (5 mL) of table salt = 2300 mg of sodium.  Avoid buying foods that are more than 5% daily value for salt.
• Look at the ingredient list.  If one of the first three ingredients is salt, sugar, oil or fat, try choosing a different food or use that food in small amounts.

Shopping cart guide

Use this simple shopping cart guide to help you be a heart smart shopper.  Split your cart up into three parts:

Heart smart shopping list

Here are some examples of foods that will help you follow Canada's Food Guide and lower the fat in your diet.  Make your shopping list based on the foods you and your family enjoy eating, your food budget, and your healthy eating guidelines.

Vegetables and Fruit

• vegetables and fruits that are deep, bright colors such as orange, red, yellow, green, blue and purple 
• frozen vegetables and fruit
• dark green leafy vegetables such as romaine lettuce and spinach
• fruit canned in its own juice or pear juice
• canned tomatoes or tomato sauce *
• dried fruit **
• juicesicles

Tips: 

• Use vegetables and fruits that are in season
• Choose a variety of vegetables and fruits at your meals and snacks

Grain Products

Look for products with less than 3g of fat and more than 2g of fibre per serving.

Bakery

• stoneground, whole wheat, rye and flax bread
• multigrain breads, bagels
• whole wheat English muffin
• whole wheat pita bread and soft tortillas
• multigrain bread sticks
• angel food cake

Cereals

• hot cereals such as rolled oats and oatbran, Red River® and Sunny Boy®
• instant oatmeal *
• high fibre cold cereals like shredded wheat, toasted oat ring cereal, low fat muesli, All Bran Buds® , All Bran Guardian or Corn Bran® 

Cookies

• apple, date or fig newtons
• ginger snaps
• graham or chocolate wafers

Crackers

• unsalted soda crackers
• Stoned Wheat Thins®
• melba toast
• crisp bread
• rusks
• rice crackers
• potato crisps
• popcorn cakes
• matzo crackers

Dry goods

• converted, brown, basmati or wild rice
• pasta – try the high fibre whole wheat varieties
• barley, bulgur, wheat germ, bran, oat bran and multigrain couscous
• flax seed and ground flax

Snack foods

• popcorn – air popped or microwave light *
• baked potato chips
• pretzels  *
• rice cakes

Milk and alternatives

Milk

• milk – skim or 1% milk fat (MF)

Cheese

• cottage cheese – 1% MF fat or less
• block cheese – 20% MF or less

Desserts

• yogurts – 1% MF fat or less
• frozen yogurt, sherbet, ice milk or light ice cream **
• pudding made with 1% or skim milk 

Meat and Alternatives

A Food Guide Serving is 75 grams or about the size of a deck of cards. Buy only what you need.

• lean or extra lean ground beef
• lean ground turkey or chicken meat
• lean cuts of beef or pork e.g. round or loin
• turkey or chicken breast
• fresh or frozen fish (not battered or breaded)
• canned fish packed in water
• tofu textured soy protein found in meat substitutes
• soy products

At the Deli counter

• lean or fat free roast meats
• ham and pastrami *

Eggs

• eggs (no more than 2 egg yolks per week)
• commercial egg substitutes

Dry goods

• Dried or canned beans (remember to drain and rinse canned beans), split peas, lentils and soybeans.
• Unsalted nuts and seeds.  Small amounts of plain nuts are healthy additions to your eating plan. Nuts are cholesterol-free but high in total fat.
• Old fashioned or natural peanut butter or other nut butters

Tips:

• Eat at least 2 Food Guide Servings of fish each week
• Use leftover roasted meat, fish and poultry in sandwiches instead of high fat deli meats

High fat or sugar foods

• Limit your choices of high fat and high sugar foods.
• Sweets
  • Jello®    **
  • Popsicles®  ** 
  • Jam, jelly  **

Fats

• Avoid butter, hard margarine, lard and shortening

Tips:

• Include a small amount of healthy unsaturated fat each day. This includes canola oil, olive oil, salad dressings, and non-hydrogenated margarine (see tips below on choosing a healthier margarine).
• Use cooking sprays or put oil in your own spray bottle
• Try low fat or fat-free spreads and salad dressings

How to choose a healthier margarine

• Some tub style margarines are hydrogenated to make the vegetable oil into a solid form.  Hydrogenation causes trans fatty acids to be formed. 
• Trans fatty acids act like saturated fats.  They increase your blood cholesterol levels.
• The best choices for margarines are soft tub margarines that state non-hydrogenated on the label.  Look at the list of ingredients.  The first ingredient should be listed as liquid oil and not hydrogenated oil.
• Avoid hard block margarines, shortening, lard and butter.  They are high in hydrogenated oil and saturated fat. 

*  Food choices are high in salt - use in moderation
**Food choices may be high in sugar and calories - use in moderation

Disclaimer
Reviewed by Alberta clinical experts. Brought to you by HealthLink Alberta. Copyright.
This material is designed for information purposes only. It should not be used in place of medical advice, instruction and/or treatment. For more health advice call Capital Health Link at 780-408-LINK (5465) 24 hours a day, seven days a week. In Alberta, call Toll-free: 1-866-408-LINK (5465)