Generally it is said to shop the outside perimeter of the store to get the 4 food groups. Fill your cart with fresh fruits and veggies, whole grain breads and cereal, lean meat, fish or poultry.
Go with caution down the centre ailes since that is where the majority of the over processed foods are.
Here are some tips when you do venture down those ailes:
When looking for breakfast cereals, look for one with at least 3 grams of fibre per serving. 5 grams of fibre is even better! Some cereals are heavily laden with sugar, so look for something with less than 6 grams per serving. Although you might think granola cereals are better for you, they tend to be high in sugar and fat. Breakfast bars are not much better as they are generally low fibre and high sugar. Add more fibre and heart healthy omega 3 fats to your diet by sprinkling on ground flaxseed.
Cookies and crackers are a lunch box favorite. Look for those that are made without trans-fats. Words like "vegetable oil shortening" and "hydrogenated vegetable oil" mean transfats are present. Look for whole wheate products and fibre. The less ingredients the better!
Soups can be good for you if they are low sodium. The best soup has no more than 300 mg per 1 cup serving, however upto 600mg sodium per serving is acceptable. Look for no more than 1 gram of saturated/transfat. Lental based soups are high in fibre, look for higher fibre soups. Ichiban noodles are loaded with fat, use sparingly.
Dairy products can be a mixed bag. Hogogenized milk has the equivalent of 2 tsp of butterfat per cup. (5g fat =1 tsp fat) Use skim, 1% or 2% milk instead. Look for cheeses with 21% or less milk fat (M.F) Marble cheese is a good alternative to straight cheddar.
When looking for margarine, choose the 100% non-hydrogenated varieties and as for Eggs, 3-4 eggs per week is fine even if you have high cholesterol. Total fat intake has the most affect on blood cholesterol.
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