Grocery Shopping: Best Brands Part I

Food labels can be confusing. While most of us know that whole wheat bread or yogurt is good for us, choosing the right brand can make or break our healthy eating efforts. Here's a couple of brands that have the best labels when it comes to sodium, calories, and quality of ingredients:

Bread: To make sure you're making the best choice, make sure the first ingredient on the label reads "100% whole wheat" or "stone ground whole wheat".

Ezekiel Bread
Nature's Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread
Pepperidge Farm Stoneground 100% Whole Wheat Bread

Yogurt: Your best bet is to stick to plain, unsweetened yogurt and adding in your own sweetener such as fruit, stevia, or a light drizzle of honey. When fruit is added to a yogurt it is mostly sugar (around 3-4 teaspoons!).

Siggi's Icelandic Style Skyr
Chobani Plain Greek Yogurt
Fage Total Plain Greek Yogurt (0% or 2%)

If you cannot tolerate eating plain yogurt, try on of the flavored Siggi's yogurts or Simply Chobani (this variation has less added sugar).

Oatmeal: Try adding cinnamon or fruit to sweeten plain oatmeal or try one of the following combos: peanut butter and banana, blueberries and walnuts, or strawberries and unsweetened coconut flakes. For a thicker, creamier oatmeal, try adding a spoonful or two of plain yogurt (see best choices above) or canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling!).

Quaker Oats Old Fashioned Quick 1-Minute or Steel Cut
McCann's Irish Oatmeal

If you NEED a flavored option: Nature's Path Qi'a Superfoods Hot Oatmeal Cinnamon Pumpkin Seed OR Nature's Path Flax Plus

Cold Cereal: You want to find a cereal that is made with whole grains, has less than 10 grams of sugar, and has at least 3 grams of fiber.

Cheerios
Post Bran Flakes
Love Grown Power O's
Nature's Path Flax Plus

Condiments: Depending what you're using, condiments can be really high in sodium and calories. While the sodium may still be high for some of these items, they are better than most!

Annie's Naturals Ketchup
Dinosaur Bar-B-Que Sauce or Annie's Organic Original BBQ sauce
Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki sauce
Bolthouse Farms Yogurt Dressings or Vinaigrettes
Annie's Lite Dressing
Bragg's Liquid Aminos (instead of soy sauce)