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healthy grocery shopping

Grocery List for a Healthy Family

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Having a defined grocery list helps you and your family to live healthy. It also helps you in shopping as well. Health is something that you cannot compromise. You must have heard the phrase “Health is Wealth”, that means that health is the most valuable gift.

In order to stay healthy, you should take healthy foods. In this article, we will help you to create a list of healthy products. We will talk about 7 categories and then we will suggest to you what product you need to choose and why.

1. Bakery & Bread

  • Flour tortillas (Whole-grain)
  • Pita pockets
  • English muffins
  • Wheat bread

It is an advice that the flour tortillas (whole-grain) that you are looking for should have less than 100 calories per slice. Do search these keywords “whole wheat flour” or “whole wheat” when looking for wheat bread.

2. Meat & Seafood

  • Chicken or Turkey (breast)
  • Ground chicken/turkey

If you want to buy read meat then choose the one with leanest cuts. Always prefer ground turkey or ground chicken instead of ground beef. The reason is simple because ground turkey and ground chicken contain less fat comparatively.

3. Pasta & Rice

  • Brown rice
  • Whole-grain pasta

4. Oils, Salad Dressing, Condiments & Sauces

  • Tomato sauce
  • Salsa
  • Olive oil (extra virgin)
  • Red pepper sauce
  • Mustard

Unfortunately, many condiments and sauces contain a high amount of sugar and sodium which isn’t good.

5. Cereals & Breakfast

  • Multigrain cereals (Whole-grain will also work)
  • Oatmeal

Consider buying cereals that are low in sugar but high in fiber. If you want to make your cereal sweet then use berries, nuts, or dried fruits.

6. Soups & Canned Products

  • Whole or sliced tomatoes (peeled)
  • Salmon or tuna
  • Broths and soup (Low-sodium)
  • Garbanzo beans and split peas
  • Green chilies

Always prefer packed cans rather than syrup when buying fruits.

7. Frozen Foods

  • Vegetables
  • Fruits

Freezing food helps lock in vital vitamins and other nutrients. Plus, frozen vegetables are great in soups, stews, and casseroles. You can also make an amazing smoothie with nothing but frozen fruit.

Your goal is to read the label of everything that you buy. Try to skip processed food and reduce the amount of sugar and sodium in the food you eat. Avoid artificial flavors and other artificial ingredients. And remember, if there isn’t any junk food in your house it will be much more difficult to eat junk food.

running 5k

Running Your First 5K

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Walking, jogging, and running are some of the best exercises recommended by experts. The best part is that you don’t need a reason for running. It can be either a global challenge or some kind of fundraiser program but in the end, you are the one getting the benefit.

Are you starting from scratch? No problem, it is totally fine in fact it is great that you are taking interest in yourself. A 5K running event is equal to 3.1 miles, and if you are wondering how much time it will take to cover 3.1 miles than it depends. Your speed of running will decide how much time you will require to finish your first 5K steps. Although a rough estimation won’t kill, well approximate it will take 40 – 60 minutes.

Believe me, this 5K is the beginning and if you keep it up then you might even make a world record of the most step taken, who knows? Let’s talk about how you will train for your first 5K steps in just 5 simple steps, read on.

STEP ONE

We all have heard, “believing in yourself is your first step to success” which means you need to believe in yourself. It might look hard but you need to believe in yourself that you can do it.

STEP TWO

Many people will not achieve 5K steps in the start and that is totally normal. What you can do is that train yourself every day and try to increase your distance and speed gradually. Do also give yourself rest because your body needs to heal and recover, don’t push yourself.

STEP THREE

Create a benchmark of your own. For example, in week one you jog for 1 minute and walk for 3 minutes then in week two, you jog for 3 minutes and walk for 4 minutes. You don’t need to follow these instructions, just make your own benchmark according to your comfortability.

STEP FOUR

Always do an analysis of your workout. For example, by week 6 you were able to jog about 2.3 miles which means you are very close to 3.1 miles (i.e. 5K steps). This will boost your confidence and your will power as well.

STEP FIVE

So, the day has come and now no one can stop you from winning. You are ready to run your first 5K step and remember! This is just beginning, later on, make 10K steps as your goal and then continue on.

supplements

Supplements, Do You Need Them?

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Many people think taking supplements for their general health is the right choice while others disagree. Who is right? The reason for taking supplements is to fulfill the body’s needs when you might not get all the necessary vitamins and minerals from the food that you eat. But, the question arises: do we really need supplements?

The answer is: It depends on your individual circumstance. In an ideal world, no one would require supplements. However, if we do an analysis of today’s food then the result will totally shock you. The quality of food has been decreasing year after year which means a lot of food simply doesn’t have the nutrition it once did.

Role of vitamins and minerals

Sadly, many people are not aware of the role of minerals and vitamins. They think that minerals and vitamins are only needed to help fight off colds and other such minor ailments. But, it is important to ensure we are never vitamin deficient; we need minerals and vitamins to maintain optimal body functioning. Sadly, most vitamin enriched food doesn’t have enough vitamins and minerals to fulfill the body’s needs. Or, rather on paper they do, but the food is so processed that our body can’t really absorb the extra vitamins and minerals in a meaningful way. Because how food is processed, the quality of food, regarding its nutritional value, is decreasing. Our body requires vitamins and minerals in order to be healthy and taking supplements seems like a n obvious choice.

Does the intake of supplements actually help?

Recent studies show that intake of single nutrients or organically synthesized nutrients have little or no health benefits. Does that mean we have to eat to excess in order to get all of our needed vitamins and minerals? No! In fact, eating to excess comes with its own health risks. Remember though that getting enough of certain vitamins is beneficial and can help prevent conditions such as strokes and high blood pressure. For instance, it was found that folic acid and B-complex vitamins can reduce a stroke’s probability.

If you have questions about whether you need to take health supplements, talk to your healthcare provider.