When I go shopping and I see discounts on tempting foods like chocolates and biscuits, I forget everything I learned about healthy eating, and I buy a whole lot of junk foods. How can I buy the right foods when I am grocery shopping? You know the basics to proper nutrition. Eat whole natural foods. Increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and decrease consumption of sugar, saturated fats, and trans fatty acids. And healthy eating actually starts when you are at the market, shopping for food. The food selections you make at the grocery store will affect your whole family's diet at home. We will show you how to leave your local market with nutritious foods and avoid the pitfalls that lead to a shopping cart half full of junk foods. 1. Never leave the house without writing down your shopping list first. With careful thinking, make a list of the healthy food items you need and strictly stick to that list as much as possible when shopping. Your list should be free of cakes, cookies, ice cream, and chips. That strategy ensures that you do not pick up snack foods on a whim. Even if there is a special discount on your favorite cookies, since cookies are not on your list, you can't buy them. 2. Buy your fruits and vegetables from the fresh produce section instead of the canned foods. Fresh produce is higher in vitamins, minerals, and digestive enzymes and also free of the chemical preservatives used in canned foods. In most large supermarket chains in the Kingdom, you can pick a fresh pineapple, cantaloupe, or small watermelon, and the worker will peel it and chop it for you to take home in a sealed container, ready to eat. Choose local produce over imported whenever possible because more nutrients are lost by the time the fruits and vegetables get packed and shipped over long distances. If you know you will be having a busy week with no time to peel and chop fresh vegetables to make healthy meals, buy frozen vegetable bags rather than canned vegetables. The nutritional content of frozen vegetables is superior to that of canned vegetables. 3. The golden rule of smart shopping is to never shop when you are hungry since food will look much more appealing when you have a voracious appetite. Resisting the temptation to buy the freshly baked cakes and sweet pastries that smell delicious is much easier if you just had a meal and your stomach is full. 4. Use convenience to your advantage. Nutritionists encourage a salad before your main course to dampen your appetite. The parsley salad, tabouleh, is an outstanding source of iron and the anti-oxidant vitamins: vitamin C and beta-carotene. It is quite time consuming to prepare, so on your way home stop at a supermarket and pick up a freshly prepared container of tabouleh at the deli section. Other low fat healthy salads they have are Greek salad, a garden salad, and mixed bean salad. Avoid Russian salad, coleslaw, and potato salad because they contain too much mayonnaise that is high in fat and calories. At the fish section, request fresh fish fillets with bones and scales removed. At home all you need to do is season with ground garlic, cumin powder, salt, pepper, chopped fresh cilantro, lemon juice, and olive oil. Bake, covered, in the oven for about 50 minutes. 5. Make a habit of shopping mainly on the perimeter of the grocery store. The outer borders of stores have the fresh produce, dairy products, breads, meat, poultry, fish, and the bean, lentil, and spices stands. The middle aisles include canned foods and empty calorie foods like chips, biscuits, candy, chocolates, and cake mixes. So the less time you spend strolling in the middle aisles, the better off you will be. 6. Make low fat and healthier choices at the market before you purchase foods. For example, when scanning the vast array of dairy products, these are the healthiest ones to pick: skimmed milk, soy milk, non fat or low fat yogurt, low fat laban, low fat labneh, low salt feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, and cottage cheese. Stay away from the processed cream cheeses and cheddar cheese as they are much higher in fat. From the bakery always opt for the brown whole grain breads over white bread. Your kids should get used to eating their sandwiches with whole wheat toast and buns since they are rich in fiber, B vitamins, zinc, iron, and magnesium. 7. Read the nutrition panel and ingredients list when buying packaged food items. Do not trust the catchy phrases written on the box that may be misleading. For example, a breakfast cereal may make the claim “all natural” to encourage you to buy it. However, it can still be too high in calories if it is sweetened with too much “natural” honey. Always read ingredients lists. The ingredients are listed in the order of greater quantity. If any of these words are listed as the first or second ingredient, it means the product contains excessive sugar and calories: honey, dextrose, maltose, high fructose corn syrup, or brown sugar. 8. Check ingredients lists for potentially carcinogenic food additives in commercially prepared foods and snack foods that children love like ice cream, chips, cookies, crackers, chocolates, candy, and even some breakfast cereals. We have provided a list of the food additives you should absolutely avoid for their ill effects on health. Make a copy of the food additive chart and keep it on hand with you every time you go food shopping. Below are some recipes you may enjoy in your search for healthy foods. Tarragon-Leek Soup 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 medium leeks, sliced with green tops 2 garlic cloves, crushed 1 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour Half cup chopped tomatoes Half cup tomato juice 4 cups water One fourth cup freshly chopped tarragon Heat the oil in a large soup pot and sauté the leeks and garlic until garlic is golden. Stir in flour and cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Slowly stir in tomatoes, tomato juice, and water. Add tarragon and salt, and cook for 10 minutes.Tomato Salad 5 red tomatoes, sliced 1 cup mozzarella cheese, in small cubes Half cup black olives 1 small red onion, chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 1 teaspoon honey Salt and black pepper to taste Mix tomatoes, cheese, olives, and onions in a medium bowl. Combine olive oil, vinegar, honey, salt, and pepper and drizzle over tomato mixture. Serve on a bed of chopped lettuce and watercress (jarjir). I often suffer from athlete's foot. Are there any natural remedies that can help? Athlete's foot is a fungal infection and can be troublesome if left untreated. It is marked by red, dry, scaly, and cracked patches on the skin that can bleed. You may be affected if your feet sweat in tight shoes for long stretches of time, and the heat of our summers here in the Kingdom can make it worse. The infection will persist if the area is damp and warm. So keep your feet dry and out of shoes as much as possible until the infection clears. Tackle this problem with both nutrition and external applications. Drinking plenty of water helps eliminate toxins and helps to heal. Eat more cultured foods like yogurt, tofu, and kefir (labneh) to ensure healthy intestinal bacteria that can control fungal growth and increase absorption of beneficial nutrients. Drink aloe-vera juice daily or rub fresh aloe-vera gel on the infected area. Avoid foods that encourage the growth of fungal infections such as sugary foods, red meats, milk, soft drinks, caffeine, and fried foods. Reduce refined carbohydrates like pastries and breads but increase intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. When infected eliminate yeast from your diet contained in all breads and beers, and some pickles because it promotes fungal growth. To treat athlete's foot on the outside you can use tea tree oil, a strong antifungal herb remedy. Dip a cotton ball in tea tree oil and apply to the infected area. Make a foot bath of water with tea tree oil drops and soak feet for 20 minutes. Calendula oil is also effective in controlling athlete's foot. Another natural treatment for athlete's foot is soaking the feet in vinegar. After you dry your feet sprinkle vitamin C powder on the affected area to fight the fungus infection. __
