Adopting a healthier diet does not necessarily mean spending hours in the kitchen or spending an unlimited budget on purchases. The secret lies in methodical organization and a few simple reflexes.
By slightly changing your supermarket habits, you can easily limit the share of ultra-processed products in your daily life while optimizing your nutritional intake. Here’s how to regain control of your shopping cart according to dietician Pauline Pied, step by step.
The golden rule: anticipate to eat better
The first step to healthy eating begins long before you enter the store. Improvisation is often the enemy of balance. “For my part, what I recommend to my patients is, as a first step, to go to the supermarket after having established a list of simple meals. Depending on the menus provided, it becomes much easier to put together your shopping cart.”
The hunger trap: when to go shopping?
Who has never fallen for an ultra-processed snack while shopping on an empty stomach? It is not a lack of will, but a biological reaction. “The trick of not shopping when you are hungry works very well. When we are hungry, it’s terrible: we are tempted by processed products, ready to eat immediately. It’s better to go after breakfast or after lunch to avoid these pitfalls.”
Priority to raw and seasonal products
For Pauline Pied, nutritional quality requires returning to basics. “I recommend eating seasonal fruits and vegetables. Not only are they optimal in terms of mineral and vitamin intake, but, in addition, it is economically more advantageous”. The dietician suggests composing your basket with:
- Raw proteins. “I recommend choosing unprocessed eggs, fish or poultry that the patient can cook themselves”;
- Natural dairy products. “I avoid industrial dairy desserts, which are often too sweet and low in calcium. It is better to add a teaspoon of sugar or maple syrup to a natural yogurt yourself”;
- Complete starchy foods. “Whole grains, potatoes, sweet potatoes or pulses are inexpensive and excellent tasting allies.
Frozen or canned vegetables: should we ban them?
If fresh remains the ideal, modern life sometimes imposes constraints. Pauline Pied reassures: “Ideally, you should choose fresh products. However, if the quality is not there, frozen or canned vegetables are very interesting alternatives. Certainly, they have undergone industrial processing, but they remain nutritionally relevant.”
In summary, eating healthily does not require complex or expensive products. By favoring raw products – which you season as you wish with spices and herbs – you are making a winning choice for your health. “We realize that it costs less to take raw products and cook yourself than to buy ready-made meals.”concludes the dietitian. Up to you !