THE ULTIMATE GROCERY GUIDE
Grocery shopping can feel like Narnia, especially when you’re being food conscience. Not knowing where to start, why you’re buying certain things, and playing the guessing game of healthy grocery shopping is not fun and might actually cause you to spend unnecessarily (especially on foods you might hate).
If you’re here to read the secrets of buying whatever you want, whenever you want, while staying healthy, you’ve come to the wrong place. However, if you’re ready to be educated on why and how to shop clean, I’m your girl!
Let’s break it down and, most importantly, make it simple for you to actually understand. This is not your middle school food pyramid. THIS is the ultimate grocery shopping resource you may not have known you needed.
THE PERFECT PLATE
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, a perfectly balanced plate should have 1/4 whole grain, 1/4 protein, and 1/2 veggies (during breakfast, sprinkling in some fruits!)
According to the Harvard School of Public Health, an adult should follow the above chart for a healthy, well balanced meal. The rules are 1/4 protein, 1/4 whole grain, and 1/2 veggies. For breakfast, throwing in fruits is never a bad idea. But what do all these things do to work together and keep you functioning at optimum health? Well, I’m glad you asked. Let’s take a deeper dive into our perfect plates.
FRUITS
We all know that fruit is the one, but do we know why? Fruits are an excellent source of antioxidants, which are compounds that prevent oxidation. What's oxidation? Well, it's a chemical reaction that can produce free radicals (a big no no, they're not invited to the body party) that may damage our cells.
So, beyond pretty much saving our bodies from disease, they are also low calorie and low fat for the girlies and gents who are about that right now.
Whole grain
I think it's important to note the difference between whole grains and refined grains before getting into this section.
Whole grains contain 3 key parts that make them essential to our diets:
Bran: outer layer containing fiber, minerals, and antioxidants
Germ: core containing carbs, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and various phytonutrients*
Endosperm: contains carbs and proteins
Now, here comes Mr. Refined grain. He removes the bran and the germ (tf!) leaving just the endosperm to try and do all the work on it's own. This leaves us with little to no fiber, which is ESSENTIAL to our digestion of this carb. In the U.S., we process the refined grain to "enrich" it and restore nutrients that were lost during the refining process but, typically, the fiber is not added back in.
This, my friends, is why we want to stick with the good stuff. Our body needs complex carbs and whole grain to support the nervous and immune systems, build bones, and process energy.
PROTEIN
Proteins - we know them, we love them, and we def need them. But you know I'm here to provide more info on the WHY, so let's take a deeper dive. Every single cell in our body needs protein because they not only repair our cells, they also create new ones. Proteins are made up of amino acids, other wise known as the "building blocks" of our body. Our body uses these amino acids to get those Lori Harvey abs we've been dreaming of, aka build muscle. Not to mention, they are a key source of energy.
VEGGIES
No explanation necessary, we know the drill. But in case you don't, I'll keep it brief with this study from Medical News Today.
Research consistently shows that people who eat at least 5 servings of vegetables a day have the lowest risk of many diseases, including cancer and heart disease.
ARE YOU READY FOR MORE?!
Download our FREE grocery guide to access all this information PLUS a list of the foods I buy under each category at the grocery store. Our grocery guide also provides bonus content with the ingredients you should look out for in your favorite “healthy” snacks!
Download grocery guide below, happy shopping ;)
