Smart shopping and cooking can make you healthier!

Making the healthier food choices while shopping and eating are important in leading a healthy and well- balanced life as it improves one’s overall health, boosts energy, and helps to maintain a better quality of life. Markets generally perform a great public service, but keep in mind they are designed to get you to buy more food, not less,” So, there are some Keys for making you’re shopping the most healthful:

Making a list:  And stick to it! A well-planned shopping list makes a trip to the store much easier. As a list can help you to avoid wandering the aisles or forgetting items. So consider the following points while preparing your shopping list:

• Make your grocery list prior to going shopping, as this will save you from buying extra or less useful items
• The shopping list should include a variety of healthy food choices.
• Make a meal plan and list of snacks. Confirm which ingredients you already have, and add the ones you don’t have to the list so that you don't end up throwing away a lot of what you buy.

Grocery shopping: Grocery stores have thousands of products, with most food items grouped together to make your decision easier. Following are the points which one should keep in mind while buying food

1. Read labels: It will help you to look to the nutrition aspects of foods, like trans-fats, hydrogenated oils, high amounts of sugar, saturated fat, sodium, cholesterol. So, you can avoid these foods and can go for foods rich in fiber, good fats, protein, vitamins, calcium etc.
2. Go for whole foods: The processed foods mainly lacks in nutrition. So one can opt least processed foods like: whole grain instead of white or wheat bread, fresh fruit instead of canned or juice, whole grain cereal or oatmeal instead of refined cereals.
3. Don’t buy junk food: Despite the fact that they offer very little nutrition and are packed with unhealthy ingredients, they are also very expensive. So, stop buying processed and unhealthy foods, and buy something healthy and of higher quality.
4. Shop seasonal foods: As Seasonal foods are generally nutritious, healthy and comparatively less expensive as compare to non- seasonal ones. It is best to opt for the food rich in both nutrients and flavor.

Importance of cooking at home

Builds healthy habits: Cooking at home can boost your health! By preparing healthy recipes, creating and sticking to a meal plan can inspire you to live a healthy life.

Saves Money: Eating out is expensive as compared to the meals prepared at home, as its lot more cost-effective to purchase groceries than ordering or going out to have your meals.

Awareness of food allergies & sensitivities: Cooking for yourself and your family also gives you control to avoid food allergens. Which is not possible if you are eating out. Common food allergies include nuts, gluten, shellfish etc.

Prepare more of your own meals

Cooking more meals at home can help you take charge of what you’re eating and better monitor exactly what goes into your food, which will help you to avoid chemical additives, added sugars, and unhealthy fats.

Include healthy methods of cooking

There are plenty of ways to cook healthy, tasty and flavorful meals without adding unnecessary extras. These are boiling, steaming, microwaving, poaching, grilling and broiling. Additionally, following various healthy cooking tips can benefit you magically.

So, with a little planning, you can make the most of your grocery shopping trip and get the healthiest foods possible to begin building your nutritious meals.