With a vast number of supermarkets and the sheer variety of food items they store, it is natural to get confused as to what to buy for your home. Here are few smart grocery shopping tips and tricks.
Read food labels
Reading food labels is very important, as it informs you about the various ingredients present in the food like fiber, fat, sodium, whole grain/multi grain, sugar, etc. If you are losing weight or on a special diet then, it is doubly important that you keep a check on its fat, sodium and sugar content.
Serving size, cholesterol and total number of calories can be easily checked on a label. Look out for the expiration date of the product as well, for a healthy grocery shopping.
Is it really “natural”?
To check if the product is natural, look out for its label. Terms like artificial flavors, sweeteners, colors, etc., can tell you if it is natural or not. Food products termed organic, are free of pesticides and are natural. Certain natural products are piled with oils and sugar. Read the labels and look out for its ingredient list while shopping.
Choose the right edible oil
There are varieties of oils in the market today, each claiming a multitude of benefits. So which ones should you choose for healthy meals for your family?
Go for refined oils if you need to do high-heat cooking and frying. Sunflower and peanut are refined oils, which are suitable for high-heat. Unrefined oils like olive, sesame oil can be used for salads or for low-heat cooking. These are more nutritious compared to their refined counterparts. The oils lowest in saturated fats are corn, sunflower, olive, soybean etc.
Brown bread Vs Whole Wheat
Whole-wheat products are better than bread or baked products any time. However, if you wish to buy bread, always look out for the ingredient “whole wheat” in its label. Whole wheat includes the bran, germ and the endosperm of the wheat grain. The refined wheat flour or simply wheat flour is without the nutritious parts of wheat, the germ and the bran. Brown bread made of whole grains, retains most of its vitamins, fiber and minerals.