Ashlee Williams, MD (Host): Wandering the aisles at the grocery store can be so overwhelming. There are so many options. So how do we know what are the good options versus things that we should avoid? Welcome to the Healthier You podcast. I am Dr. Ashlee Williams and today I'm joined by Dr. Michele Arthurs. She is a Primary Care Physician and she is also a leader in our Lifestyle Medicine department at Kaiser Permanente.

Host: Thank you so much Dr. Arthurs for joining me today.

Michele Arthurs, MD: It's absolutely pleasure. Thank you so much for having me.

Host: Thank you. Okay. So first off, we're at the grocery store. We're ready to make lifestyle changes in 2024. What is our first stop in the grocery store?

Michele Arthurs, MD: That's a great question. It's such an important thing to think about. And the very fact that we ask the question, helps us get the lifestyle changes started. So one of the first things I recommend is planning ahead. And that includes meal planning for the week as much as possible.

Schedules are crazy. Kids have sports. We have multiple responsibilities. If we can sit down at some point before our work week starts and plan out our meals; that gives us a chance to look through our pantry, look through our fridge, to see what we already have, and to make a plan, with a full meal plan for the week before we head to the store. That helps us stay on track.

Host: Okay, great. All right. So I'm headed to the store and I have a plan. So I get to the grocery store. Now, where do I go? Where's my first stop?

Michele Arthurs, MD: Wonderful. Oftentimes in the grocery store, we are greeted by the beautiful produce section, and that's a wonderful place to start. One thing I definitely would like to suggest before you actually walk into the grocery store with your meal plan and your list, that you have your do list, the list of things that you know you want to buy, and your don't list or do not buy list.

And down like this can help us stay committed to these changes. For example, put something like chips on the do not buy list if part of our commitment is decreasing the amount of salt that we take in or perhaps it's soda. We're going to stay out of that aisle and eliminate that source of excess sugar in our diet.

So that being said, head on into the produce section and what I'd like to think is also about our grocery cart geography. Okay, so we have a cart in front of us that has compartments. Sometimes. But there's always a little compartment at the top. And if we don't have a kiddo with us, then that department is available to us.

 Some grocery stores have the full on large cart, some have smaller carts with two options, two sort of smaller trays top and bottom. Think about your grocery cart and how you want to fill your plate. What I'd encourage folks to do, is when you think about your plate, you're thinking about that big section is full of produce, of vegetables, and luckily you're going to head to that section in the very first part of your trip. So that should be the biggest component of what you fill your cart with. The smaller components we'll talk about, but also the protein and the carbohydrates. And that brings me to the top part of the cart. If there's something sweet or savory that's on your list and you can't get on your do not list, it should go in the smallest section of your cart so that you're not compelled to think that you need more than what can fit in the smallest part of your cart.

What do you think about that?

Host: I love it. I've actually never thought of having a don't list on my grocery shopping list. Like I always have like, this is what I need from the grocery store. And this is what we're preparing for meals this week. And let's try to meal prep, but I'm never like, don't buy the chips.

Michele Arthurs, MD: Yeah.

Host: Don't buy the Oreos. That's like a really great tip. Okay. So we go in, we are shopping in the perimeter. That's where we know all the healthy foods are. What are your thoughts on packaged food options?

Michele Arthurs, MD: I like to think about going to the grocery store as almost there's one of those caution signs, those yellow triangular signs that we should be looking at before we walk in. And when it comes to packaged foods, it's really important that we don't look just at the front because sometimes the packaging can be very deceiving, and of course, very appealing because those food producers are hoping that we buy their selection. What we want to make sure that we do is we turn that product around and we become familiar with the food label. Now, this doesn't have to take a long time, and practice of looking at this and reading this and understanding this helps us do it more quickly so we can also be efficient at the grocery store and get on with the rest of our lives.

What we want to look for on the food label is, of course, the total calories. And then we want to look towards sort of the more dangerous items, things like saturated fat. And that's usually at the top of the list of the food label below the total calories. As we look down through the food label, we also want to pay attention to total sugars.

And included in that is added sugars, along with the fiber content and the vitamins that may also be included on that. Now one last component which is really important is salt. And when we think about the salt content it is given to us in the percentage of what's recommended on that food label.

 We can also do ourselves a favor if we look for products that say no salt added or no salt. From my standpoint, it's been wonderful to see food companies introducing more and more of these options. Ten years ago, we didn't really see no salt. Ten years ago, we didn't have those options. So it's good to hear that the food industry is listening to us.

Host: Yeah, I think they're responding to us, right? People want to have those options and they're looking for those options when they go shopping, so if you don't have it, then I'm going to look elsewhere.

Michele Arthurs, MD: Yeah. With good reason. With very good reason.

Host: Right. I love it. So, at our house, we use a lot of frozen vegetables, especially the steamables. I love a good steamable, because you can pop it right in the microwave. In about six to seven minutes, you have fresh vegetables. What are your thoughts on, canned foods versus frozen foods, fruits and vegetables?

Michele Arthurs, MD: That's a great question. We're big fans of frozen vegetables also. And I have to say it, helps not waste food. And when we think about like how expensive food is, we don't want to waste a penny, really. And, I think, you know, a lot of us, when we walk into the produce section, we're like, oh, what if this goes to waste that's like six, seven, eight, whatever, 10 dollars that literally has gone down the drain. So canned and frozen are excellent options. Because of course shelf life and then the freezer life that they have going along with them. We also want to look at food labels for these options too. And this is where with canned foods we can check to see if something is canned in a syrup versus a more of a water solution.

Now that syrup's going to have that added sugar and quite a bit of it. And we can find options that don't have the syrup. In addition, if we're looking at canned tuna, we can also look at how the tuna is packaged, whether it's in oil or whether it's in water. And again, looking at the salt content on any canned product, and of course sugar when it comes to fruit.

With frozen vegetables, sometimes there's a sauce thrown in it. And you know, at the first look, they might be like, great, all I got to do is just throw it into a pan or throw in the microwave.

Host: Right. And maybe my kids will like it more now there's a sauce in it. Mm hmm.

Michele Arthurs, MD: Yeah, I know it can be a little deceiving if we think, yep, this is going to be it. But again, we got to turn that package around. We got to take a look at what's in there. Is there saturated fat that's in the sauce, depending on if it's a cream sauce, is there extra salt? Is there added sugar? All those things are important.

Host: I love how you spoke about how we're all trying to save. There was an article that just came out about how expensive groceries are. Do you have any other tips on how we can save at the grocery store

Michele Arthurs, MD: Sure, so there are stores that do have lower prices on things like frozen vegetables, even by one to two dollars per pound of frozen vegetables. So there are different stores that have different prices. Also if you are If you're interested in cooking things from scratch, for example, if you can, go with a bag of beans that can save you some money. It can be an alternative protein to something like meat.

So when it comes to saving, if you cut out animal products from your grocery list, not necessarily all of them, I'm not saying everybody needs to be vegan or vegetarian or anything like that, but cutting back can save you 20 or 30 dollars on a week's groceries. So looking at beans as alternatives, knowing the grocery stores that are available to you, and paying attention to those prices over time.

Host: Well, thank you so much, Dr. Arthurs. This is all really great information and it sounds like there are a few takeaway tips that we can have when we go to the grocery store. One is make a list, right? We want to write down what we should be shopping for, but also write down some don'ts, some things that maybe we should try to avoid as continued motivation on shopping healthily at the grocery store. Two, eat first before you go to the grocery store. If you go there hungry, you're more likely to pick up those things on the don't list. Three, stick to the outside aisles. We know that on the perimeter, that's where we can find the healthier food options.

And four, check those nutrition labels. In the beginning it may feel overwhelming, like how much sodium should I be taking in? How much sugar is in, in each of these items? But if you do it more and more over time, it can become a lot easier. Five, also try these frozen options. They can be ideal for cheaper options, but also healthier options.

And five, try buying in bulk. If you buy a lot of items at the same time and know that you're going to cook them, you can also help save money. All right. So for more tips from our doctors and other healthy living advice, visit kp.org/doctors and listen to more episodes of Healthier You podcast wherever you get your podcasts. And please be sure to share it with anyone that you find would find this helpful. Thank you from all of us at Kaiser Permanente. Be well.