Can High Grocery Prices Make You Healthier?

Everyone who buys groceries has noticed that food prices are higher than they used to be. Can this actually be a good thing for you and your family? Is there a silver lining?
Yes!
What!?
Yes!!

Take this opportunity to learn how to make better food choices and develop habits that will serve you and your family well into the future!

We have two very active teenage boys living at home with us and good nutrition has always been important to our family. Derek and I were both raised in homes where healthy food was the mainstay of our diets. Though we may not always have appreciated this when we were very young (bean sprout sandwiches taken to school leading to the nickname “Health Food Haughton”), we now enjoy excellent health and a deep appreciation for the benefits of nutritious eating.

In this blog, we are excited to share with you three guiding principles we use when we grocery shop for our family. The concepts we want to share will be very general so that you can think about how they might work for you given your specific dietary restrictions, preferences, lifestyle, and budget.

High Value
The most important mindset to carry with you as you shop is that you want to choose high value foods. Choose foods that will deliver the most nutrition for your money. As much as possible, avoid highly processed, packaged foods loaded with chemicals. Fill your shopping cart with food in its recognizable, original form – fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds, meat, eggs, brown rice. As you stroll among the aisles (especially the perimeter in the grocery store), remind yourself to choose the healthiest, most natural foods you can find and afford. Not only will you feel better eating these kinds of foods, you will be healthier, and most likely less hungry overall as your nutritional needs will be met without the empty calories of ultra processed junk food. (This also includes junk drinks as well.) Our dollars need to work hard these days and choosing high value foods is definitely the way to go!

Less Convenience
You will pay a premium for items that are considered a convenience. Try these instead:

The labels on those ultra processed frozen meals should come with an “R” rating. I know we are all busy but try to limit these packaged “convenience” foods as much as possible. Consider where you do your shopping as well. While it may be more “convenient” to shop in a store where you can buy everything (including the kitchen sink!), take time to support your local farmer’s markets.

Intention
Do you meal plan and shop with a list? This is a great way to be very intentional with the meals you prepare in your home. There is a certain big box, warehouse type store that many of us shop at that can have us overspending at every turn. Derek and I shop at this particular store when we want to stock up in bulk on the high value foods we want our family eating. Some of our personal favourites are fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, chicken, ground turkey, eggs, milk, black beans, chickpeas, dried fruit, nuts, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, cheese, brown rice and nut butters. We try as much as possible to stick to our list and avoid the highly processed foods. When we do our meal planning, we try to make up for buying the more “inconvenient” foods by cooking once and eating for a few nights. For example, on the weekends, we will cook up a batch of chicken breasts, or ground turkey, and then use it in 3 to 4 different meals. Ground turkey can be used in pasta sauce one night, chili in the crockpot the next night, and on pizza a third night. Chicken can be served with brown rice and veggies one night, in tacos the next night, and in a stir-fry a third night. For snacks, we try to keep plenty of fresh fruit on hand, as well as cucumbers, bell peppers, nuts, yogurt, dried fruit, nut butters, and hummus.

While we can’t control what’s going on with the economy these days, we can be empowered to make the best choices for our health and the health of our loved ones. Focusing on high value foods, being willing to put a little more effort into meal prep, and planning meals and snacks are three guiding principles that we encourage you to consider whenever you grocery shop. (Bean sprout sandwiches are optional!)

Here’s to being healthy now and always!!

Dr. Derek and Marisol Haughton