Grocery Store Tour Day 3
Today is our third Monday on our grocery store tour. If you missed our first two stops, check our old blogs for the bread and produce sections. We continue around the perimeter of the store, the place where you can usually find the healthiest and freshest items. Remember, fill your cart up with perimeter grocery items and you may be less likely to put so many processed foods from the center of the store in your cart.
Our third stop: The Meat and Cheese Section.
Packaged sandwich meats and sausages often have a lot of sodium. At least the sandwich meats are typically very low in fat!
Packaged cuts of meat have a lot of sodium and sometimes a lot of sugar if they have been packaged with marinade.
Look for lean cuts of meat. The less white you see in a beef cut, the leaner the cut will be. Generally, the leanest steaks will be sirloin and the fattiest steaks will likely be rib eye or t-bone.
When picking a ground meat, look at nutrition labels. Often, ground chicken and turkey contain as much or more fat than some ground beefs. Opt for a leaner ground meat, 93/7 or higher.
Fish like salmon and tuna is high in the good fats. It may be expensive, but it is packed with nutritional benefits.
Cheese is probably everyone's weakness. They are starting to sell low fat or low sodium cheese now, so see if you like the flavor as much as regular cheese. Keep in mind that part-skim does not mean low fat.
Comment
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Comment by Amanda Lynn Branscome on April 1, 2012 at 10:36pm -
I have never thought about the fact that shopping along the sides of the store is the freshest food. That is a great tip to keep in mind. My family has done the turkey instead of hamburger trick for a long time. I don't even taste a difference between the two meats now. Turkey is much leaner and better for you. Cheese is also my weakness, I need to look up what the healthier choices for cheese would be.
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Comment by Brooke Taylor on February 1, 2012 at 11:13am -
I think the whole idea of shopping around the perimeter of the store is really awesome! I never thought of that, but it's a really unique trick! This blog post interested me the most because I eat a pretty vegetarian diet (without labeling myself "a vegetarian") and I am lactose intolerant, so I struggle with purchasing meats - what kind is best, how much, how to use it once I have it. Those meat refrigerators are pretty intimidating with all the names, numbers (80/20, 93/7, etc.), and labels (organic, farm fresh, etc.), as is most of the grocery store, but I was really able to learn some good main points about what to look for when shopping for meats. Everyone is on this "turkey binge" lately, promoting turkey bacon and ground turkey as a replacement for beefs, so I was actually really surprised to learn that it may contain as much or more fat than some ground beefs! I will definitely be shopping differently now, after having read these Grocery Store Tour blogs!
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Comment by Christian Calhoun Keith on February 1, 2012 at 11:05am
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What really caught my attention in this blog was the fact that ground chicken and turkey aren't always leaner or contain less fat then ground beef. A common misconception is to go for ground turkey instead of beef when looking for a leaner option. i was excited to read that fish is high in the good fats. Although it is expensive, i do enjoy eating fish often. in researching what good fats are in fish i was excited to see this is a great source for my omegas/fish oils. Fish oils are very important for basic nutrition but i do not take a fish oil supplement. i will now have a better understanding of what I'm buying and what I'm looking for in the grocery store. this knowledge will help me in my general health and my performance as an athlete.
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Comment by Christian Calhoun Keith on February 1, 2012 at 10:26am
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What really caught my attention in this blog was the fact that ground chicken and turkey aren't always leaner or contain less fat then ground beef. A common misconception is to go for ground turkey instead of beef when looking for a leaner option. i was excited to read that fish is high in the good fats. Although it is expensive, i do enjoy eating fish often. in researching what good fats are in fish i was excited to see this is a great source for my omegas/fish oils. Fish oils are very important for basic nutrition but i do not take a fish oil supplement. i will now have a better understanding of what I'm buying and what I'm looking for in the grocery store. this knowledge will help me in my general health and my performance as an athlete.
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Comment by Erin Tucker on January 31, 2012 at 11:24pm -
I found this post very interesting. The only time I would look at the label of any item from the grocery store was if I was looking for the price or the sell by date. I have never been the type of person to look at the ingredients or the nutrition labels whatever looked good I picked it up and put it in my cart. Being an athlete in an effort to eat healthier, I intend on making it a habit to find the leanest steaks and add more fish like Tilapia and Tuna in my diet.
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Comment by Damon Magazu on January 31, 2012 at 9:01am
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This was very informative for me because I eat steak a lot. Knowing which steaks contain the least amount of fat can help to improve my eating habits. Also, my roommates and I use ground beef for all kinds of dishes. Using the leaner ground meat, 93/7, sounds much healthier than what we usually get. Cheese is definitely one of my weaknesses so I'm going to have to try the low sodium cheese, I didn't even know they had that.
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Comment by Kelley Johnson on January 30, 2012 at 8:43pm -
When I started to read this blog I thought it would be helpful because I do not generally eat beef so I do not make it but if I could learn what to make I could cook for my boyfriend. Well I learned a lot, I learned that if the meat is in a marinade then it has a lot of sodium and sugar in it so it might be healthier to buy the meat and marinade it myself so that i know what is going into it. I never thought to read the nutrition labels when in the meat department but I will from now on. I happen to agree with the cheese as a weakness so I will definitely be keeping my eye out for lo sodium cheese.
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