If you want to live healthier, begin making the necessary changes to your diet that will fuel you, so that your food shopping experience will be a rewarding one. Nutritionists agree that making a plan before hitting your fave market is your best bet. Planning your grocery shopping helps you save money particularly if you’re on a fixed income and can even result in a smarter list of food items.
Food shopping should not be a chore! If you find yourself coming up with excuses for not venturing out to a market, you might want to change things up a little to make the process more bearable.
Make food shopping easier on yourself
- If mobility is an issue for you, most major supermarket chains have motorized carts.
- Don’t hesitate to ask a store employee for help in reaching items on higher shelves, pushing your shopping cart, or carrying heavy bags to your vehicle.
- If you’re feeling pooped while shopping and there is a pharmacy within the store with seating, sit a spell to take a breather.
- Shop on a day when you feel the most rested.
- Pick a time to shop when a store is less crowded to avoid long check-out lines. Many markets have instituted senior shopping hours, take advantage!
- Check with the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging or Eldercare Locator to see if there are volunteers who can help with your grocery shopping.
Buy healthier food options
For older adults, consuming a variety of nutrient-packed foods has been linked to reduced risks for developing chronic health conditions, such as osteoporosis, arthritis, obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, and certain types of cancer. Fueling your body with the right foodstuff can also help you stay independent and active.
As you age, your metabolism slows down which means you’ll require fewer calories but more of the foods that offer the greatest nutritional values. Healthy foods that will keep you out of the doctor’s office are such offerings as:
- Proteins—lean meats, seafood, eggs, beans, unsalted nuts
- Whole grains (brown rice, whole wheat pasta, breads, breakfast cereal)
- Low-fat dairy (milk, yogurt, cheese, cottage cheese)
- Don’t overlook foods that are high in fiber, potassium, calcium, iron, Vitamins A and C and especially D, a crucial mineral that is needed as we age. Stay away from foods ladened with cholesterol, saturated or trans fats, loads of sugar and tons of sodium.
Read nutrition labels!
Practically every food item comes packaged with a nutritional label that tells you what you are consuming. The labels provide you with information about calories, serving size, and nutrient content of a food item so that you can make healthy selections when you shop.
Percent Daily Value (DV) on the Nutrition Facts label is a guide to the nutrients in one serving of food. For example, if the label lists 15 percent for calcium, it means that one serving provides 15 percent of the calcium you need each day. Use the Percent Daily Value (% DV) column when possible; 5% DV or less is low, 20% DV or more is high.
You can afford healthy food
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can help you get the healthy food you need. Over 4 million older adults use SNAP to buy food, and the average senior receives $113 each month. Check out BenefitsCheckUp.org/getSNAP for more information about a program that can help put healthy food offerings on your table.