Tips for Healthy grocery shopping...

• If it’s bagged or boxed, don’t buy it. Odds are, if the food comes in a bag or a box, it’s been processed and contains chemicals and preservatives that could add to your body’s toxic load.
• Shop the perimeter of the store. The healthiest foods — fresh produce, meats, and dairy — are often located in the outer aisles, while the interior of the store — or Fake Food Land, as I like to call it — is stocked with the processed foods that will add to both your toxic load and your waist line.
• Check the labels. If it contains something long and unpronounceable, put it down. If you can’t read it and say it, you probably don’t want to eat it. (There are exceptions to this rule, since some healthy ingredients have long unrecognizable names. Use the Ingredients to Avoid list in my Food Reference Guide to help you navigate.)
• Look for clean foods. Organic produce, grass-fed beef and lamb, organic chicken, wild-caught seafood and natural pork all limit your exposure to toxins.
• Avoid refined carbohydrates. White flour, white rice, corn and most sweeteners are Insulin Triggers that can cause your body to store all the calories you eat as fat — and make it hard for you to burn your stored fat as energy. Look for whole grain breads and pastas to help avoid the insulin rush.
• Choose the best beverages. Water is the best and healthiest drink, but decaffeinated teas and Swiss Water decaffeinated coffees are also good choices. Avoid sodas, whether regular or diet — the regular kind are loaded with sugar and trigger an insulin surge, and the diet ones are full of chemicals and toxins you want to avoid.

• If you can’t afford organic, free–range meats, opt for natural poultry, pork, and beef that’s raised without antibiotics or hormones. These are always the better choices, and they will contribute to your daily health and nutritional requirements.

Organic or not???

• If you can’t afford organic produce, try growing a garden in your yard or participating in a community farm where everyone is allowed to grow produce on a small parcel of land approved by the city. Not only will you develop a self–sustaining system for beautiful, inexpensive, flavorful fruits and vegetables, but you’ll reap all the calming, rewarding benefits of gardening. Plus, you’ll see how fun it is to cook seasonally!

• If you can’t afford organic food and are unable to grow your own, it’s crucial to wash all inorganic produce very carefully to minimize the toxins you consume. Soak everything for 20 minutes in water with vinegar and salt or water with fresh lemon juice and salt. You can also purchase a good chemical7ndash;free vegetable wash.

• Some fruits and vegetables are higher in toxins than others. Therefore, if you can’t go organic, try to avoid: grapes*, apples*, lettuce, bell peppers, carrots, nectarines, peaches, strawberries, pears, kale, and celery. On the other hand, produce that is lowest in pesticides includes: broccoli, bananas, avocados, cabbage, watermelon, sweet peas, sweet corn, papayas, mangoes, pineapples, onions, shallots, kiwis, and asparagus.

P2 Deals of the week!!

King Soopers
Organic Yellow Onions .79 lb
Organic Celery $1.49 a bunch
Organic Cucumbers $1.49 lb

Albertsons
Chicken Breast $1.99 lb
Petite Sirloin Steaks Buy one get one FREE
Tomatoes on the Vine 2 for $5

Sunflower
Sweet Onions .98lb
Cabbage 2 for $1
Red and Green Leaf Lettuce 98. ea
Strawberries 2 for $5
Super Select Cucumbers 2 for $1
Chicken Breast $1.99 lb
Tilapia Fillets $4.99 lb
Organic Red and Yellow Onions .99 lb

Safeway
Gala Apples $1.69 lb
Naval Oranges $1.49 lb
Yellow Onions $1.29 lb