If you’re like more and more Americans, you’re trying your hardest to boost your quality of life and wellness. That’s a good step in the right direction. Lots of people think that by shopping at their local health super market they are able to make grand strides. But is it all it’s cracked up to be? Is the extra cost worth it and is everything in a health super market more costly? Also, is everything truly healthy?

I really do think it’s fantastic and helpful to spend more of one’s time and food budget at a health food store. I think that you could have increased use of local, organic produce; clean meats and fish; and the capacity to buy items in bulk, a good money-saver! I lead Walking Nutrition Tours in my own area to instruct people about this exactly!

But you’re correct in noting that simply because it’s a health super market, it does not mean everything is a great food or worth the extra cost.

As with your traditional supermarket, I’d still encourage one to to start with, shop the periphery. The surface sections of the stores generally are where you’ll get the produce, meats, and dairy food, gluten free food online store  the items I encourage you spend your cash on. It’s in the guts aisles that you’ll more often get the packaged foods, replete with added sweeteners, rancid oils, and genetically modified ingredients.

Meaning my second recommendation is to learn labels. Consider granola. Once considered to the be the health food of the hippie generation of the 1960s and 70s, it’s now a ubiquitous item, containing added sugar and refined oils. This stands true wherever you purchase it. I encourage one to scan the label of the granola you might get in the health super market the next time you shop, or those organic cookies you might love. I will almost guarantee they’ll have added sugar.  Essentially, a packaged product is a processed food, no real matter what name you call it or where you get it. Buying cookies or potato chips at a health super market doesn’t make sure they are much healthier than buying them elsewhere.

A method to spend less would be to, again, read labels: price labels. A field of regular pasta is a box of pasta, purchasing it at a health super market doesn’t allow it to be healthier in just about any way. Or, as it pertains to create, you do have increased use of organic and local items. But, if you decide on to purchase conventional produce or frozen produce, there’s no difference in quality between a traditional supermarket and your quality of life super market, so choose the cheaper item.