Six Tips for Making Healthy Choices at the Grocery Store

Healthy eating depends on healthy decisions. These choices are made not just when we decide to prepare ourselves a meal, but when we shop at the grocery store as well. Good decisions there will lead to a kitchen stocked with nutritious options -- while bad choices will make eating well back home almost impossible. Here are six practical recommendations on making your next food shopping trip a healthy one.

1. Buy produce - lots of it. Simply put, fruits and vegetables are the healthiest foods on the planet. Rich in vital nutrients and low in harmful substances, produce should be the cornerstone of your diet. Unfortunately, few people get the fruits and vegetables their body needs. Change by making better decisions on your next shopping trip. There, purchase plenty of different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Buy primarily fresh, whole fruit and vegetables, since produce that has been processed or canned is generally much less healthy.

2. Make a list beforehand. Impulse buys and other poor decisions will be less likely if you bring along a grocery list. Make a list filled with vegetables, fruits, and other healthy choices, while including only a few sweets, salty snacks, processed foods, and the like. While unhealthy products will still be there to tempt you in store, your list should help you exert self-control. Your list should also make your shopping faster and more efficient, and may allow you to take fewer shopping trips.

3. Inspect labels closely. It's no secret that consumers care more than ever about eating healthily. Companies have responded by marketing their products as nutritious -- whether or not that is actually the case. Determine if they're telling the truth by checking a product's nutrition facts. Steer clear of items that are highly processed and/or have a large number of impossible-to-pronounce ingredients. Trans fats, saturated fats, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners are among the ingredients to watch out for.

4. Don't go hungry. It might be a cliché, but it also happens to be true: shopping for food on an empty stomach will lead to bad choices. You'll buy way too much of any food you happen to be craving, and much less of the things that are actually good for you. It's much harder to be disciplined when you feel like you're starving to death. Scientists have even discovered that hunger increases desire for foods with high fat, sugar, and salt content more than for healthier choices.

5. Try healthy food stores. Even if you inspect labels carefully you may fail when it comes to sweets, cookies or meat, as they are all filled with additives. Substituting butter with trans fat makes cookie production twice as cheap. So healthy snacks just don’t exist nowadays. But if you are passionate about eating healthier register at Iherb online organic store or drive to Whole Foods. Everything what’s still produced in this country without frightening additives you’ll find there.

6. Don't bring the kids (if you have any). Parents simply cannot allow their children to have a hand in food purchasing decisions. Kids will inevitably go for some of the worst foods out there -- processed, fatty, and sugar-laden junk foods are always big hits among the younger generation. The best way to make sure your kids (and you) eat nutritiously is to leave them at home, where they won't be able to influence your shopping choices. Eventually, your children will become used to eating nutritiously -- a habit that will serve them well their entire life.

If you have found yourself struggling to eat nutritiously, don't give up. While eating well is never simple, the battle can be made easier if you shop for food intelligently. Use the practical tips described above on your future trips to the grocery store, and you'll soon find that your diet has become much healthier.