Shop smarter with healthy grocery shopping tips
Texas A&M AgriLife expert shares how to set nutrition goals, read labels, make healthier choices
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Ever been in the grocery store and wished you had a registered dietitian in your cart?
Standing in the grocery aisle can feel overwhelming. Nutrition claims, marketing buzzwords, and endless food and beverage options can make healthy shopping difficult.
Jenna Anding, Ph.D., a registered and licensed dietitian, is here to help.
A Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist and professor in the Texas A&M Department of Nutrition, Bryan-College Station, with more than 25 years of experience in nutrition education, Anding shares tips for making healthier in-store decisions.
Know your nutrition goals before you shop
Everyone has different nutrition priorities. Anding encourages you to understand your dietary needs and nutrition goals before shopping.
“Someone who has diabetes is probably watching their carbohydrate or added sugar intake, while someone training for a marathon may need to increase their carbohydrate intake,” Anding said.
But how do you determine your nutrition goals?
If you have a diet-related health condition, Anding recommends working with your healthcare provider and, preferably, registered dietitian to create a nutrition plan. A registered dietitian can also help keep you on track to meet your personal nutrition goals.
For more information, see the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s diet and health conditions guide.
Focus on nutrition facts, not marketing lingo
Food packaging is designed to catch your attention. But it’s not always easy to find nutrition information, and marketing terms may not reflect a product’s true nutrition.
For reliable, fact-based information, Anding recommends reading the nutrition facts label required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA.
“Marketing buzzwords may or may not tell you anything about nutritional value,” Anding said. “For instance, I can show you organic toaster pastries that have very little nutritional value.”
The same is true for egg packaging. Ever wondered whether cage-free eggs or free-range eggs are healthier?
“None of that really equates to diet quality,” Anding said. “An egg is an egg — unless it’s from a hen that has been fed an enriched diet to specifically boost the amount of omega-3 fatty acids or other nutrients in the egg.”
How to read the nutrition facts label
U.S. adults consume about 13% of total calories from added sugars — 3% more than the maximum recommended amount.
Once you know your dietary goals, use the nutrition facts label to compare products and choose the best items to support your goals.
Keep these healthful tips in mind while shopping:
- Watch serving sizes — While larger packages may seem like a better value, they often contain multiple servings. Look at the serving size per package to avoid overeating.
- Limit added sugars — Aim to limit your calories from added sugars to less than 10% of your total calories per day. Following a 2,000-calorie daily diet, that would equal 50 grams of added sugars per day. Added sugars are common in many packaged foods and can add up quickly. For example, a 12-ounce full calorie soda has about 36 grams of added sugar.
- Choose lower-sodium foods — Most Americans ages 14 and older should consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, according to the FDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Convenient, prepackaged meals are often high in sodium.
- Use the “percent daily value” — In general, choose foods higher in dietary fiber, vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium and lower in saturated fat, sodium and added sugars. According to the FDA’s “percent daily value,” or %DV, a daily value of 5% or less of a nutrient per serving is considered low, while 20% or more is high.
Don’t give up your favorite foods
Completely cutting out favorite foods often backfires.
Anding said trying to eliminate junk food can be difficult for many people. Instead, she recommends buying one special snack per shopping trip and enjoying it throughout the week alongside healthier options.
“The minute you start completely eliminating these foods, you’re going to crave them,” she said. “Making small, thoughtful decisions every day can help develop better eating habits and a healthier relationship with food overall.”
Find more on healthy eating
Check out more nutrition tips, training and healthy recipe recommendations. Visit Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service’s healthy eating resources.
