Part IV: How Much is it Gonna' Cost Me?

This is the 4th in a series of 5 blog posts on grocery shopping.  Hope you find this information useful.

It seems that most newspaper articles and news stories are focused on one thing THE ECONOMY. And for good reason, most people have been affected by it. And if you haven’t noticed, eating at home can save you big bucks. That’s one great reason why you need to start shopping smarter. Here are my tips to saving on your food bill:
1.) Learn the layout of your grocery store. It is designed in such a way to facilitate excessive buying. Why else would milk be at the back of the store? But if you know your store’s layout, you won’t be tempted by unnecessary items as you wander around, searching for the chicken broth.
2.) Use your grocery list like a roadmap. Impulse buys seriously add up.
3.) Use the cost/unit pricing to determine the cheapest items. This is extremely fast and easy to do with online shopping. It’s one of the reasons I love it!
4.) Make trade-offs. There is added cost of “value-added” items such as pre-sliced and washed veggies, yogurt with added fiber, organic eggs with omega-3s.
5.) Check out my guide to Nutritious+Eating+on+a+Budget.pdf. I developed this handout for a nutrition lecture I gave here in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago. Some of the cheapest foods are the most nutritious: dried beans, peas, and lentils (cents per serving), potatoes, carrots, apples, and peanut butter. Some of the most expensive are animal products, particularly meat. 

I'd love to hear your tips to eating well for less.
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Spring Cleaning

If you are like me, all of your well-intentioned New Year's resolutions have somehow drifted into the background.  Spring is a fabulous time to re-visit those goals or clean up an area of your life that needs a little dusting off.  Here are four simple tips to cleaning out your kitchen and ramping up your efforts for healthier (and might I add tastier) home cooking.

1.) Pull everything out of your refrigerator and freezer.  Chuck any "unidentifiable objects" and items you haven't used in the past 6 months.  Give your fridge a good scrub before putting everything else back inside.

2.) Take a look at your spice rack.  McCormick & Schilling gives some suggestions to check for spice freshness:

• Ground spices (i.e. cinnamon) last 2-3 years
• Seasoning blends (i.e. Italian seasoning) last 1-2 years
• Extracts (i.e. vanilla) last 4 years

When it doubt, take a sniff.  If it doesn't smell nice, toss it.  Using old spices is a sure fire way to wreck a recipe.  When buying new spices and seasonings, I put a date on the bottom of the bottle.

Spices are THE KEY to delicious food.  If you aren't familiar with using herbs and spices in cooking, this is a great article which identifies how to use them.  I find that many people cut out salt and butter for healthy cooking, but forget to dress up their dishes with flavor...then wonder why their food tastes bland!

3.) If your cutting boards are looking scruffy, ditch them.  Remember, you should have separate cutting boards for raw and fresh foods.  Wooden boards harbor bacteria and glass boards wreak havoc on your knives, so they are best to avoid.  Check out this tip sheet for more cutting board tips.

4.) Root through your pantry and toss any expired items.  Donate cans and boxes that are close to their expiration date.  And make a list of items that need to be replenished.

Cooking is an adventure.  Having a clean, well-organized space can make the trip less bumpy.  Take 30 minutes for a little spring cleaning and you'll be amazed at what a difference it will make!

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Diet & Health Care Reform

While the excitement surrounding the election of our 44th President of the United States is slowly dying down, the buzz on politics certainly hasn't diminished in my neck of the woods.  While the economy is certainly the most talked about topic, I've been happy to hear both President Obama and his wife address issues of health, diet, and nutrition.  So, I was intrigued to read an article in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning, which addresses the issue of politics, food, and what our new President can do to support a healthcare policy that helps to reduce the incidence of chronic disease.

The author of the article, T. Colin Campbell, is the author of a book "The China Study."  If you are at all interested in the link beween diet and the development of "Western Diseases" (think cardiovascular disease and Type II diabetes), take a look at his website and consider reading the book.  His findings are quite significant. 

In this article, Dr. Campbell suggests 3 health care improvement strategies to President Obama:
1. Change the way government develops its dietary guidelines.  Currently, these guidlines are heavily influenced by large money-making industries such as sugar, dairy, and the meat industry.  He suggests a clear rule: "no scientist with financial ties to the food and drug industries should chair - or choose the members of - panels that set dietary guidelines."
 2. President Obama should establish a new institute at the National Institutes of Health dedicated exclusively to exploring the link between diet, health and disease. Today, there are 27 institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health, but none devoted to nutrition, despite the great public interest in the subject.
3. Congress should require that medical schools - as a condition of receiving federal grants - offer residency programs on dietary approaches to preventing and treating disease.

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.  Do you think President Obama has the determination and ability to promote policies that are not influenced by powerful lobbyists?  Would these changes improve the delivery of health care services?  What would the lasting impact be on the health of our citizens?

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The Feeding Relationship: Parents & Children

I just got back from serving on a health panel at my church here in Cambridge.  I thoroughly enjoyed talking about my topic of choice (food and nutrition) for two hours.  While there was a wide variety of questions that I addressed, a common theme focused on the feeding relationship between parents and children.  While my practice focuses primarily on adult nutrition, I have been amazed to see how our grown-up feelings, attitudes, and behaviors about food stem from our interactions with food as children.

Nearly all parents care deeply about the heatlh and well-being of their kids.  But as most parents have experienced, dinner time can turn into a source of anxiety and frustration as you try to feed your family well.  Even the most well-intentioned parent can find themselves engaging in a power struggle, battling over broccoli and cookies. 

Ellyn Satter is a Registered Dietitian specializing in teaching people how to feed a healthy family.  I highly recommend visiting her website.  And if this topic interests you, check out her book "How to Get Your Kid to Eat...But Not Too Much."  She provides a wealth of knowledge and gives you the tools you need to raise a healthy family....without the dinner time battles.

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Part III: Finding the time

When I talk to people about their biggest barriers to grocery shopping and eating well there is one response that rings loudest and clearest- TIME! I empathize. I even love to grocery shop and cook, and find it difficult. But I promise, it is possible to eat well, even if you are crunched for time. Here are a few suggestions on how to do it.

At the grocery store:
1. Stick to your list, stick to your list, stick to your list
2. Avoid getting lost in the sea of marketing and advertising. Remember, it’s a ploy to get you to buy their product.
3. Become familiar with the layout of your store
4. Compare products for nutritional quality by looking at ingredient lists
5. Compare products for price using the cost/unit listed near the price.

Consider home delivery
I confess, life the past few months has been unbelievably busy. I no longer have time to peruse the aisles of my favorite grocery store. So online grocery shopping has saved us eating out (which always costs more). I sit down in front of my computer with my grocery list, log on to Peapod’s website, and in 20 minutes I’m done! And now that I don’t have the visual temptation of other items, I notice that my impulse buying has decreased. I’m usually very pleased with the quality of the products they deliver and love the fact that I didn’t have to trudge through the snow to get it!

We also have a bin of organic produce delivered to our door every other week from Boston Organics. Their deliveries include delicious, often local produce and is an absolute treat. Check out their website, especially if you are in the Boston/Cambridge area. They provide recipes and tips for produce storage and preparation.

What resources do you have access to? Get creative and start brainstorming ways to make grocery shopping and meal planning work for you.

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Harvard Says Good-Bye to Calorie Counting

As a registered dietitian and nutrition therapist who treats eating disorders in Cambridge, I was intrigued by a recent article appearing on the CNN website. Harvard University Dining Services has decided to remove detailed nutrition information cards from their dining halls after parents and students raised concerns about their triggering effect for students susceptible to or struggling with an eating disorder. While the nutrition information can still be found online and at dining hall kiosks, a new emphasis will focus on the benefits of certain foods, rather than their caloric breakdown.

My response? Go Harvard! From my professional experience calorie counting and dieting lead to disordered eating patterns, an unhealthy pre-occupation with food, lowered levels of self-esteem, and a frustrated relationship with food. Rarely does it lead to lasting weight loss. While calorie counting may give you a reality check (particularly with restaurant foods), learning to follow intuitive eating signals is far more effective in the long run. So the next time you reach for a snack, ask yourself “am I actually hungry?”

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Part II: What to Buy (Nutrition)

Last week I introduced the topic of grocery shopping. I covered the first part (preparation) in a five-part series. Today I’d to talk a little bit about nutrition. Nutrition is a very controversial topic. Why? Because the science behind it is complicated!

Case in point: fat. You’ve likely heard a litany of recommendations on fat intake; eat a low fat diet for heart health, decrease your saturated fat, avoid trans fat like the plague, increase your monounsaturated fats, decrease belly fat by eating more polyunsaturated fats, and on and on and on we go.

While I’m not about to go into the science of fat intake, you should know that food companies use the latest and greatest scientific breakthroughs to sell you a product. A CocoaVia dark chocolate bar can improve your heart health, you can increase your fiber intake by adding Splenda to your tea () , and improve your digestion by eating Activia yogurt with a special probiotic blend. Do not be fooled!

The best nutrition advice I can give it to you is this: ignore the snazzy health claims plastered all of your processed food boxes. These “functional foods” are often injected with one element or another to give the allure of good nutrition but are often a mix of synthetic substitutes which are a poor second place for the real deal. Instead, start buying REAL FOOD. How, might you ask?

Here are a couple of examples of what I mean:
Whole grain cereal with fresh blueberries rather than a Blueberry Nutri-grain bar
Whole grain cracker with peanut butter rather than the bright orange peanut butter crackers in the cellophane packaging
Whole wheat pasta mixed with frozen veggies and marinara sauce rather than a Lean Cuisine

So here’s a challenge: take a look at the food you eat for convenience sake and see if you can turn it into a more nutritious, less processed option. I’m eager to see your results.

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