Healthy Grocery Haul

To make healthy eating realistic and doable it is important to have the right food and snack options at home to make it less likely for you to reach for something unhealthy.

In this article, I am going to discuss the foods you should have in your kitchen if your goal is to improve your health.

1) Organic berries

Berries (blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries) are a great low sugar fruit with lots of antioxidants. They are great as a snack or in smoothies. But you want to make sure they are organic as berries are a heavily sprayed with herbicides and pesticides. In fact, berries are usually on the dirty 12 list, which are the top twelve most heavily sprayed fruits and vegetables.

2) Nuts

Nuts (almonds, cashews, walnuts, macadamia, Brazil nuts) are a great snack option and a good source of protein and healthy fats. They are high in calories, so you want to limit a serving to no more than a handful. Also, ideally organic, unsalted, and raw because if they are roasted the good fats they contain have been exposed to high temperatures and destroyed. I like adding some nuts and seeds together in a zip lock bag and taking that with me if I know I am leaving the hour for several hours and may need a snack.

3) Nut butter

Nut butter (almond butter, peanut butter, cashew butter) are great as a spread on toast, crackers, or even on fruit like an apple which tastes great. Like nuts you ideally want to eat organic, unsalted, and raw. I really like adding nut butter to my smoothies because they add a nice creamy texture to the smoothie, give it a try!

4) Avocadoes

Avocadoes are great for smoothies and can be added to salads or have on the side of a protein. Avocadoes are a good source of healthy fats, vitamins, and fiber. Who doesn’t love avocado toast?

5) Avocado Oil

Avocado oil should be the primarily oil you use for cooking. Avocado oil is a good source of monounsaturated fats and unlike other vegetable oils that are unstable at high temperatures and go rancid and become very inflammatory, avocado oil is stable at high temperatures and safe for cooking. Make sure the avocado oil you get is in a glass dark bottle because plastic and light destroy oils.

6) Olive oil

Olive oil is an excellent source of monounsaturated fat and great for salads and dips. It is important that olive oil be organic and in a dark glass bottle. Olive oil is stable at low temperatures so it can be used for low temperature cooking.

7) Organic Eggs

Eggs are a great source of protein and fat. Omelets are a great breakfast idea and a good way to get some veggies in because you can add things like greens, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms and make a quick omelet. You also want to pick the whole egg over egg whites because the yolk contains the healthy fats and most of the nutrients.

8) Non-dairy milk

Non-dairy milk like coconut milk, almond milk, hemp milk, or rice milk are great for smoothies and good as a drink on their own. You want to make sure you avoid cow’s milk is highly inflammatory and can contribute to all sorts of digestive and immune issues.

9) Seeds

Seeds including hemp seeds, pumpkin seeds, chia seeds, and sunflower seeds are a great source of protein, healthy fat, and fiber and can added to yogurt and salads, or mixed with nuts like trail mix for a snack. I especially like adding the seeds to my salads because they add a nice crunch to it and make the salad much more filling.

10) Mixed greens

Spinach, arugula, chard, kale are great for salads and can be added to smoothies. Greens are a good way to get calcium and other key vitamins through food. If you are short on time, you can just throw a handful of greens in a bowl, slice up an avocado, add some seeds and olive oil and you just made a healthy, nutritious low carb meal with plenty of protein, healthy fats, and fiber and it only took 3 minutes.

11) Protein powder.

It’s always a good idea to have a protein powder at home to use for protein shakes and smoothies which are great as a breakfast idea or for a snack. There are many types out there so it’s up to you to try a couple of different ones until you find one that you like and feels good in your stomach when you drink it. For smoothies you can try adding berries, a non-dairy milk of your choice, a slice of avocado, a touch of nut butter and protein powder. This is a nutritious low sugar smoothie.

My goal with this article was to provide you with some ideas on what you can do with these basic foods. Remember, Failure to prepare is preparing to fail, so by having these foods available to you at home you are more likely to eat healthy in the long run.

The grocery shopping tip I have for you is to make sure avoid grocery shopping hungry because you are more likely to buy things that aren’t the best for you. So, keep that in mind the next time you go grocery shopping.

Stay tuned for more great content coming up on how you can use nutrition and lifestyle as medicine to improve your health!