Easy ways to shop for healthful, cost-conscious foods

Hitting start (or reset) on eating healthy.

Seven months into the year is a good time to recalculate if you've been slacking on your resolution to eat healthy. And if you'll be leaving home base or school soon and foraging for yourself (plus or minus roommates), it's a great time to learn about healthy, low-cost choices for your grocery list.

---

The basics: A weekly shop

A healthy diet is rich in vegetables, fruits, legumes (beans or lentils), whole grains, nuts, seeds, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy products. Trying to fill your cart with all of those goodies can feel overwhelming. But just think in terms of twos.

"Get two fruits and two vegetables of different colors, and two types of lean protein — such as fresh, frozen, or canned fish, chicken or lean ground turkey, or plant-based options," suggests Nancy Oliveira, a registered dietitian and manager of the Nutrition and Wellness Service at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women's Hospital.

Oliveira also recommends getting two foods in each of these categories on your weekly shopping trip:

• plant proteins, such as canned or dried beans, tofu, tempeh, veggie burgers, or unsalted nuts or seeds

• whole grains, such as whole-grain bread, whole-grain pasta, brown or black rice, quinoa, or farro

• dairy or nondairy milk items, such as nonfat Greek yogurt or cheese.

Go ahead and add one or two healthy treats or snacks, such hummus or dried apricots.

Do you need to choose organic foods?

Organic produce is grown without synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which are linked to many health problems. While US scientists debate whether foods grown with organic fertilizers (such as animal waste) are safer for your health, other countries, including European Union nations, have banned or phased out synthetic pesticides still used in the United States.

That doesn't mean that everything you buy must be organic. But try to stay away from conventionally grown produce with thin skins, such as strawberries, spinach, kale, peaches, and grapes. They tend to absorb more chemicals compared to produce with thick skins, such as avocados or pineapples.

The Environmental Working Group creates an annual list to help shoppers avoid high-pesticide produce, and another one that highlights the least contaminated produce.

Buying cost-conscious fresh food and staples

IHealthy food, especially organic produce, has a reputation for being expensive. But it doesn't have to be. Just do a little comparison shopping, and follow Oliveira's tips to save money on a grocery run:

• Shop in a smaller store with fewer choices.

• Never enter a store hungry, since you might buy more than you normally would.

• Carry a shopping list and stick to it.

• Go directly to the aisles you need. Avoid browsing elsewhere, which may lead to extra purchases.

• Be flexible, have several options within your food categories, and go with sale items.

• Always check the day-old produce cart that offers perfectly edible fresh produce at 50% to 75% off regular prices.

• Buy unseasoned canned or frozen whole foods such as vegetables, chicken, or fish (salmon, sardines, tuna), which are often cheaper than fresh versions.

• Wait for sales of healthy nonperishable staples like quinoa, brown rice, whole-grain pasta, and high-fiber cereals.

• Use coupons and coupon apps.

#Nuti4All #ASEAN #AYSJ2023 #aseanfoundation #usmissiontoasean #SDGs #health #nutrition #diet #cheap #affordable #BeASEAN