Realfoodology - How to Navigate the Grocery Store | Solo Episode

Episode Date: May 24, 2023

147: On this solo episode, I am going to be giving you some tips and tricks on how to navigate the grocery store. If you have any tips, send me a DM or post in the reviews! Sponsored By: Organifi www.organifi.com/realfoodology Code REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% Off Cured Nutrition www.curednutrition.com/realfoodology REALFOODOLOGY gets you 20% off Check Out Courtney: Courtney's Instagram: @realfoodology www.realfoodology.com My Immune Supplement by 2x4 Air Dr Air Purifier AquaTru Water Filter EWG Tap Water Database Further Listening: Organic for Everyone | The Cheesy Gordita Crunch from Taco Bell

One of the things that I really struggle with the most is falling asleep at night. And this is why I love Cured Nutrition because I have found that their product Zen in combination with CBN has really helped me to fall asleep quicker. In Zen, it is a combination of magnesium, reishi, CBD, and then it has things like passionflower, ashwagandha. All of these just help to calm the mind and calm the body and get you ready for bed. And then I also take their raw CBN nighttime hemp oil. CBN is known specifically for creating more relaxation than CBD does. So the combination of these two together has really helped me to fall asleep quicker. I'm obsessed with Cured Nutrition and all their products because they go above and beyond. Their commitment to high quality, organic, healthy products is above and beyond any other CBD

company I've seen. If you want to hear more about it, I had the founder on the podcast, Joe Sheehy. He's amazing. He's a good friend of mine. I can't speak highly enough. If you want to try these products or any of the other Cured products, go to curednutrition.com slash realfoodology and use code realfoodology and you're going to save 20%. That is cured, C-U-R-E-D, nutrition.com slash realfoodology. There's nothing more comforting than a warming cup of hot chocolate before bed. I know coming from me, that may sound a little counterintuitive because you're probably thinking, how is hot chocolate healthy for you? But I've got a little hack for you and it's called Organifi's Gold Chocolate. First and foremost, the most important thing here, it has one gram of total sugar in it.

So you get the satisfaction of having a comforting, cozy little sweet treat after dinner without all the loaded sugar. And it's like with this one, you get a twofer, a two for one, because you also have the added bonus of things like turmeric, lemon balm, turkey tail. There's also magnesium and there's reishi in there. So whenever I drink this at night before bed, it gets me really sleepy and ready to wind down. And it really improved my sleep. There's also a blend in there that helps with digestion. There's acacia, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and turmeric. So if you have this after dinner, it's also going to help with your digestion and it's going to get you ready for bed.

My favorite thing about Organifi products outside of them being all organic, they're also glyphosate residue free. If you have listened to this podcast long enough or paid attention to my Instagram, you know that glyphosate is a huge, huge concern for all of us in this country. Glyphosate is a known carcinogen that is being sprayed. It's an herbicide that's being sprayed on all of our crops that are not organic. And it's also being leaked into organic products as well, organic foods. So this glyphosate residue-free stamp is so incredibly important. And it's one of my favorite things about Organifi outside of their actual products, which I love. If you want to try this hot cocoa from Organifi or any of their other products that I mentioned today,

make sure that you go to Organifi.com slash Real Foodology, and you are going to save 20% on your order. Again, that's O-R-G-A-N-I-F-I.com slash Real Foodology. Hi, friends. Welcome back to another solo episode of the Real Foodology podcast with me, your host, Courtney Swan. I've been really enjoying doing these solo podcasts. I've been traveling a lot lately and I've had just a harder time scheduling guests because of all my travels. And I've also been genuinely enjoying these long form podcast episodes because when I'm interviewing someone, I really like to give them the stage. And so I don't get to speak as much, but now when I do these solos, I'm the only one talking. It's kind of fun for me. So I hope you guys love the episodes. I've been getting some

DMs from people saying that you guys like them. So I'm going to continue doing them. Also, if you have any requests on specific solo episodes you want me to do, DM me at RealFoodology and let me know and I will try to get to some of those topics. Today's episode is how to navigate the grocery store. This is a lot of what I talk about on my Instagram. A lot of my reels and videos that I do online are based around this topic and I figured I would just compile it all and put it into an episode to hopefully help you guys when you are at the grocery store. One of the biggest problems I'm seeing right now as far as health goes in this

country is that we are all genuinely so confused on what to buy, what's healthy, what's not, what we should be looking for at the grocery store, how to read ingredient labels. So I'm just going to take you guys through my process and all the little tips and tricks that I have. The first one, I'm sure most of you have probably heard before, but I'm going to reiterate it because it is a really good one. Whenever you're at the grocery store, you want to shop the perimeter for the most part. So that means the outskirts of the store, because if you think about the layout of the grocery store and the outskirts, what is out there? It's the dairy, meat, eggs, produce, all the real food. It's when you start getting in the aisles, it's all the processed stuff, like the packaged cereals and the cookies

and the crackers and all this stuff. And there's a place in our diet for those. And I'm going to share with you how I go about reading ingredient labels and what to take home versus like what to put back on the shelf. But first and foremost, make sure that the majority of the foods that you're buying at the grocery store are from the perimeters of the grocery store, because that's how you know that you're buying real food. I started Real Foodology almost 12 years ago on the premise of getting us back to eating real food. What does that mean? What is real food? Foods that are in their whole natural real state, or at least as close as possible to their whole real natural state. So if you think about vegetables, fruits, so any kind of produce,

nuts, seeds, animal-based products like meat, eggs, dairy, these are all real food ingredients and have little to no processing done to them. Where we start getting into trouble is when we're buying all these packaged foods. Now I live in the real world. I'm a realist. And I know that modern living means that we unfortunately cannot completely get away from packaged foods. And that's okay. I think there's a time and place for them. And thankfully we do live in a time where there are companies that are making cleaner, better for you, healthier packaged foods. It's all about reading the ingredient labels and not just taking the front of the package for what it's selling you basically. There's a thing called greenwashing. And what a lot of companies are doing now

is they are advertising on the front of their products that their product is clean and natural, which by the way, natural is not a regulated term. So any company can say that their food is natural, even if it's not actually like of a natural origin. And they're painting these pictures of green pastures, like cows roaming and grazing. And then you look at the back of the ingredients and you see that it's a bunch of processed garbage. So first and foremost, you never want to go by the front of the package. You always want to look at the back and read the ingredient label first. Ingredients matter. It's always quality over quantity. And I have a couple of little tips

and tricks as far as reading ingredient labels go that will help you understand whether or not you should put that back on the shelf or put it in your cart. First of all, when you're looking at this packaged food, ask yourself, would my grandparents know what this is? At least somewhat, you know, like if you're looking at a Twinkie, your grandparents, chances are probably have no idea what that is. I mean, do we even know what that is? Like you look at it and you're like, how, like, what is this even made out of? How did they actually make this? So if it's something that your grandparents would recognize as food and you can put a lot of different things in this category, like chips, crackers, they would

recognize that as food. So that's the first hurdle that you got to get through. Now, the next one is when you're looking at the ingredient label and you're reading these ingredients, could you, technically, if you wanted to buy all of the ingredients that are on that label in the grocery store while you're there so that you could make it at home. I'm not saying you need to remake it. I'm just saying that if you recognize all these ingredients as real food ingredients that you could buy at the grocery store, then that packaged food is fair game to buy. Now, if you're looking at it and you see like TBHQ on there or just some random preservative or artificial coloring or artificial flavoring, And you're like, I have no idea. Like where would someone source TBHQ? That's when you put it back. It's a really simple rule of thumb.

It also helps you to understand the difference between like a highly processed packaged food versus one that is still made with real food ingredients. And it's going to be a lot cleaner, a lot healthier for you that has ingredients that you actually recognize. I can think of a couple brands off the top of my head, like Simple Mills, for example, you look at the back of their label and it's such simple ingredients. Primal Kitchen with all their dressings and sauces, like they don't have any added artificial ingredients in there. It's all whole real food ingredients that you actually recognize. Siete chips, that's another one, or their entire line of foods, the tortillas. Any brands like that where you recognize the ingredient label

and all the ingredients in there are fair game, and that's totally fine. I am a huge proponent for buying some of these convenient foods as long as they are made with whole real food ingredients. The next step is looking for organic. I know that this is harder for people on budget, so I want to be sensitive to that. But the reality of the situation is that unfortunately, if we're not buying and eating organic food, we're buying and eating contaminated food. Non-organic food or what we call conventional food is just another word for contaminated food. And it's the unfortunate reality of the situation that we're living in. And anytime I talk about this subject, I get a lot of anger towards me.

And I just want to remind you that we need to be taking that anger and that frustration and placing it towards the food companies and the politicians, the senators, and our government that are allowing this to happen. This isn't my fault. I'm not in charge of our food industry. I'm here trying to make a difference and change it because I believe that every single human being on this planet is their birthright to have access to healthy, clean food that has not been sprayed with synthetic fertilizers and pesticides and also that hasn't been grown in toxic sludge. And that's why organic food is so important because there is a standard and there are a lot of laws and regulations around what is allowed to be used

in organic food and also what they are allowed to grow their food in. So while yes, there is a list of pesticides that are allowed in organic food, they're not these harsh synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and herbicides that we're using that we know are linked to cancer. For example, glyphosate, otherwise known as Roundup, that people have been also using in their yards. This is getting sprayed really heavily on all of our crops right now if they're not organic. And most specifically, it is being sprayed on corn, wheat, and soy, and oats, chickpeas, nuts. It's even being sprayed on our cotton. So think about our clothing, our sheets, tampons and pads that are made with cotton. It's everywhere. And this is the unfortunate reality of the situation that we're living in right now. We can decide to put our heads in the sand and go la la la la la la or like actually face it

and do the best we can with the budgets that we have you know when I first started learning about all this I was the brokest I've ever been I was working like three jobs and I was barely making rent but what I did was I prioritized food over going out, over eating out, over ordering food in. So yes, there is a level of just what fits in your budget. And then there also is another aspect here of reprioritizing your budget and really taking stock of what is the most important to you. Do you really want that expensive bag or do you really want to go out on the weekends? Every single weekend,

do you wanna be eating out multiple times a week? Or do you wanna live a long life healthy? Do you wanna have energy to hang out with your kids? Do you wanna have energy to do the things that you wanna do that light you up? Do you wanna have energy to show up for your passions, your hobbies? Do you wanna have energy to work out?

Do you wanna just feel good in your body and not feel achy and inflamed and overweight? It's up to you to really get in touch with what is most important to you. But for me, my why is that I want to live a long life and I want to have energy to hang out with my kids. And I just want to feel good, you know? Because also like when you feel good, you look good, you show up better every day for your friends, your family, for your life, and you have freedom in your life to do the things that you want to do. I love to hike every day. I wouldn't be able to do that if I was inflamed and achy and not taking care of myself. If I didn't have the energy to show up to do that, I wouldn't be able to do it. So, you know, it is, there is an element of reprioritizing what is

most important to you. And there's that age old saying, if there's a will, there's a way. And it's true. You know, you make it work, you figure it out, you decide what's important to you and then you make it work. Now I say all of that. I do want to give a caveat and be sensitive to the fact, I know that there's food deserts. There are people living in situations where they really don't have the accessibility to get all these foods and to get organic or to go to farmer's markets. So I want to name that. And I recognize that this is a really big problem, especially in the United States. We have a lot of food deserts, but there are also a lot of things that we can do. So there's a lot of stores now

that are carrying grass-fed organic products. I've seen it at Walmart. I've seen it at Target. I've seen it at Trader Joe's, Ralph's, Vons, HEB, Kroger. A lot of these companies that I named too have their own in-house brands and a lot of them are doing organic now.

Even Whole Foods 365, which I know Whole Foods gets a bad organic now. Even Whole Foods 365, which I know Whole Foods gets a bad rap, but the Whole Foods 365 line, the organic line is actually extremely affordable and usually like 30 to 50 cents or maybe even a dollar more than the conventional brands. So if you can reprioritize your budget, not order Postmates out so much, which is so incredibly expensive, and use that money that you would be Postmating to buy your groceries every week, I promise you, you can buy organic. Drake, my podcast producer, and I did a series on the podcast, which I want to bring back eventually. We just, we need to find the time to do it when

I'm not traveling so much. It was called Organic for Everyone. And we were recreating popular fast food items by going to accessible grocery stores like Kroger, Vons. Well, we don't have Kroger here, but we were going to like Vons and Ralph's. And we were buying all the ingredients to make these popular fast food items. So for example, we did a cheesy gordita crunch and we went to, I think it was like Ralph's and we bought every single ingredient was organic and we priced it out and it was actually cheaper to buy all these ingredients organic than it was to go to Taco Bell. Cause I think we forget that we pay for the convenience of all these things. So if we can reprioritize, find like five to 10 minutes extra to do, you know, really simple things in the kitchen. I'm not asking everyone to Martha Stewart and make everything from scratch, but something as simple as like frying eggs

and frying up some organic bacon and getting some sourdough and putting grass-fed butter on it. And that's really simple and it takes like five to 10 minutes. So little things like that will really help you navigating this modern health crisis that we're dealing with right now.

I think we get caught up in all the extra stuff like the powders and the tonics and the supplements and the cold plunge and the sauna. We got to do all this stuff. But I just want to remind you guys that we can really scale back on all of that and simplify this. And if we can just focus on simple, feasible, accessible hacks for everyone, it doesn't have to be overcomplicated. Of course, if you have the budget, do all that stuff. I mean, it's awesome, but you don't have to do that in order to be healthy. Being healthy really comes down to a consistent lifestyle of moving your body every day, sweating at least a couple of times a week. That does not mean you need a sauna. That means you can just go for a run. You can also do a hot Epsom salt bath

and sweat in your bathtub. And then making sure to move your body at least almost every single day. That could literally look like a walk around your neighborhood. Prioritizing sleep is another really important one, making sure that you're getting like seven to eight hours of sleep every night. And then of course your food and water is really important. Getting a good water filter is really important. And then prioritizing whole, real, clean foods. And that is my approach to grocery shopping and just overall budgeting and really just my mentality when it comes to eating healthy and taking care of yourself. It's so funny when I set out to record this episode, I had like just a couple of notes written down and I really thought that this was going to go in a different direction, but sometimes I go off on these tangents and just let it fly.

And that's where we ended up today. So I hope you guys found this helpful. Please share this on Instagram. Tag me at Real Foodology so I can see it. DM me, let me know if you like it. And if you want me to do more, also let me know what other episodes you guys want me to do solos on. Love you guys. See you next week.

Thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of the Real Foodology podcast. If you liked the episode, please leave a review in your podcast app to let me know. This is a Resonant Media production produced by Drake Peterson and edited by Mike Fry. The theme song is called Heaven by the amazing singer Georgie. Georgie is spelled with a J. For more amazing podcasts produced by my team, go to resonantmediagroup.com. I love you guys so much. See you next week. The content of this show is for educational and informational purposes only.

It is not a substitute for individual medical and mental health advice and doesn't constitute a provider-patient relationship. I am a nutritionist, but I am not your nutritionist. As always, talk to your doctor or your health team first. Do you suffer from IBS or other digestive issues? Are you looking for a new podcast to listen to? From the producer of the Real Foodology podcast comes the all new health and nutrition podcast,

Digest This, hosted by Bethany Ugarte. You may know Bethany as the face of the popular Instagram page, Lil Sipper, or you may have even read her book. Now you can find her wherever you get your podcasts. On Digest This, Bethany examines topics such as gut health, nutrition, the food industry, and highlights specific ingredients that can be

beneficial or harmful to your gut health. She also explores non-toxic options in beauty, home, and cooking essentials. If it has to do with your health, Digest This is talking about it. Each episode features an interview with health experts, doctors, and wellness advocates, Thank you. and gives you the lowdown on the benefits or dangers that ingredient might have in your everyday life. From Botox, potassium, olive oil, and magnesium, all the way to those ingredients you can barely pronounce on the back of your cereal boxes, Bethany has you covered. There's a reason why it debuted at number two

on Apple Podcast Nutrition Charts. Check out Digest This on your favorite podcast app. New episodes every Monday and Wednesday. Produced by Drake Peterson and Resonant Media.