10 simple tips to help you decide what to eat & what to avoid
Unfortunately, you are not alone when it comes to being confused about what is in your food. Clever marketing & labels make it extremely easy for us to be confused. Grocery shopping can be an overwhelming experience when you are trying to feed yourself & your loved ones with wholesome, nutritious foods. Let me make it a little easier for you with 10 simple tip.
What shocked me the most when I started getting into nutrition studies was the lack of regulation & number of loopholes there are for just about anything to land on our shelves. I was overwhelmed & angry that potentially harmful things could be so readily available to us & even marketed in a way where we are led to believe they are good for us!!
Did you know that not all ingredients need to be listed on a food label? Yep you read that right! If an ingredient makes up less than 5% of the overall product, it legally does not have to be listed. How are we supposed to know what we are eating then?
TIP #1- since we do not know what is in the packet or tin, best stick to whole foods that don’t come in packaging if you’d like to be sure of what you are eating.
TIP #2- avoid vegetable oil. It is a suspected carcinogen & may cause you digestive issues & skin reactions. Instead opt for healthy fats such as cold pressed extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil & chia & flax seeds.
TIP #3- Avoid products with additives & preservatives. These are not real foods. Synthetic ingredients are not recognized by your body & hold little to no nutritional value. In fact, a lot cause allergies & digestive disorders. All the numbers you see on the labels, will denote one of these guys. I honestly avoid anything with numbers these days. If you are not wanting to avoid them altogether at this stage, you may be interested in an app called ‘food switch.’ You will be surprised at the options available when it comes to for example tinned fruits and vegetables. Look for the brand with the food you want to eat plus water only, no extra’s in there. Often this better option is cheaper too.
TIP #4- Avoid deep-fried foods. Instead choose grilled, steamed, broiled, or baked. Deep fried food is often cooked in vegetable oils. When these oils are heated, they tend to oxidize, causing inflammation in your body & are dangerous to every cell and tissue.
TIP #5- Make your own cakes & biscuits from scratch- the packet kind are often laden in unhealthy sugars & vegetable oils.
TIP #6- When shopping for whole grain breads, whole grain or wholemeal flour should be listed first on the ingredients panel. If wheat flour is listed first, the bread is not a true whole grain bread. Also avoid products that say ‘enriched’. Whole grains are naturally low in fat & cholesterol free & contain lots of healthy vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and fibre.
TIP # 7- Yogurt is generally PACKED full of sugars. As Mum’s I know we think we are doing the best thing for our kids when purchasing yoghurt, but they generally have a negative impact on our little one’s health. The best yoghurt I have found is Jalna natural Greek yoghurt. It has great probiotics in it & is free from thickeners, emulsifiers, stabilizers & preservatives. If the yoghurt contains any of these, id pop it back & pick again.
TIP #8- Look for products with no added salt. Better choices are those with less than 120 mg of sodium per 100 grams. When you consume excessive salt, it can raise your blood pressure because it holds excess fluid in your body.
TIP # 9- Select low-fat, lean cuts of meat. Chicken breasts are also a great choice because they are low in fat & high in protein. Bake, grill or roast your meats. Often purchasing frozen seafood or fish is the best option & wild caught. Processed meats such as bacon and deli meats are often full of preservatives. There have also been studies linking these meats to cancer.
TIP # 10- Choose full cream over low fat options if you decide to eat dairy at all. Low fat will have less saturated fat which can raise your bad cholesterol & put you at higher risk of heart disease. The low-fat options often also contain a lot more sugar.
The biggest advice is to get personalized nutrition advice. This will really help you set a plan specific to you. You can also go through your gut health & even have food sensitivity testing because no matter how good a food is for you on paper; it may be causing issues.
You can book your 1:1 health & wellness session with me here.
Just remember, this can be quite overwhelming to start. I suggest creating a healthy habit around one tip at a time & change things gradually. One small change at a time will all add up to a big change to yours & your families health.
The biggest tip around all of this is that no foods will nourish your body more than fresh fruits & veggies. They are extremely hydrating, unprocessed, easy to digest, contain enzymes which help us break down and absorb our nutrients, antioxidants, fibre, they are nutrient dense & contain our building blocks of life- vitamins & minerals.