Why you should shop the perimeter of the grocery store
Today we’re going to talk about why you should shop the perimeter of the grocery store. Put simply, you should shop the perimeter of the grocery store because that’s where the real, whole food is. If you’ve seen any of our other videos, you’ll know that real, whole food is going to be things like meat, and eggs, and seafood, and poultries, some quality protein, some veggies, some healthy fat, things like olive oil, and macadamia nuts, and avocados. It’s going to be things like fruits, nuts, and seeds, herbs, and spices.
When you shop the perimeter of the grocery store, that’s where all these things are, right? All the veggies and the produce are going to be on the outskirts of the grocery store. That’s where your meat’s going to be that’s where your cheeses are going to be. Generally speaking, that’s where the real, whole food is, and the more processed foods tend to be in the middle.
Why is eating real, whole foods so important? Well, for a few different reasons. Number one. Real, whole food is super nutrient-dense. It has a ton of micronutrients in it that make you healthier. It helps regulate your blood sugar, so there’s no spiking and dipping throughout the day. It encourages a healthy, psychological relationship with food, where you’re not addicted to food and overeating food. It leads to a healthy digestive system and it tends to minimize inflammation and not cause it in the first place.
What are some helpful, practical tips that you can use to help you remember this when you’re actually shopping at the grocery store? Number one. If you can’t grow it or hunt it, don’t eat it. That’s a really good rule that’ll help you when you’re shopping in the grocery store, in particular, the perimeter, to find things that are healthy. If it comes in a bag, a box, a jar, or a package, it is guilty until proven innocent. If your grandparents and great-grandparents didn’t eat it, you probably shouldn’t either. Then one of my personal favorites, sounds kind of paradoxical, good food goes bad, bad food stays good. Real, whole food will tend to expire and go bad, whereas bad food will stay good through the apocalypse.
Speaking of bad food, why do we avoid those center aisles? Well, that’s because that’s where all the processed food tends to be. That’s where the sugar-laden, salt-laden, hyper-processed food tends to be. Most of the things in those center aisles tend to be things that will last for years on end because they have these gigantic amounts of salt, and sugar, and other things in them to basically preserve them for a very long time.
In general, you want to avoid those things because they have very few nutrients. They lead to lots of blood sugar spikes, they’re psychologically addictive, they promote an unhealthy digestive system, and they’re very inflammatory.
One of the simplest things you can do overall to improve your health is sticking to the perimeter of the grocery store and if you do that, the vast majority of the time, even if you have some off plan stuff here and there, you’ll tend to be more healthy rather than not.
All right, guys. Thanks so much for tuning in. We’ll see you next time.
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