by Shannon Courtney

Created on: April 04, 2009

Finding healthier foods at the grocery store is not as difficult as most people think it is. Yes, label reading can tell you how much sodium, trans fats, and sugars are in a given product, but there's an even easier trick to finding healthy foods at your grocery store - look for the ones with minimal packaging. No one needs to read a label to know that a head of lettuce, a bunch of bananas or a fillet of fresh salmon is good, healthy food. A rule of thumb to keep in mind as you peruse the grocery store: buy as close to the source as possible. This means instead of buying frozen french fries, buy a bag of potatoes. Instead of buying sugar cereal, buy oatmeal. To make your shopping trip as package-less, healthy and quick as possible you should try to stick to the perimeter of the grocery store. Virtually all grocery stores are laid out in a typical fashion, with fresh fruits and vegetables to greet you when you enter the front doors. Stick to the periphery and you'll also encounter the bakery, the fresh seafood section, the meat and meat alternatives (tofu, soyburgers, etc.) section, and the dairy section. The frozen food section is also located on the perimeter and if you want to be healthy on a budget, this is a good place to stock up on frozen vegetables and fruits - just steer clear of the frozen entrees and desserts! They may seem like a cheap and relatively healthy option, but ask yourself how likely it is that a small, rectangular box of frozen, microwaveable food-like substances is truly a healthy option.

Generally, then, filling your shopping cart with unpackaged food products is one way to make sure you're going home with healthy items for yourself and your family. Of course, you are likely going to have to buy some packaged foods and venture down some of the middle aisles of the grocery store. When shopping the aisles, the same general rule of thumb applies: buy closer to the source. The easiest way to ascertain how close a canned, boxed or bagged good is to the source is to glance at the ingredients list. The fewer ingredients, the closer it's likely to be to the source. So a can of diced tomatoes and a bag of whole-grain pasta is a better bet for your health than a can of pasta-os. Common sense is also a useful tool when you are shopping the aisles of the grocery store. Something that contains ingredients you don't recognize or can't pronounce is likely to be less good for you. In general, most canned goods that are pantry staples (i.e. beans, tomato

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