Introduction

It's Saturday morning, and time to run all those errands...drugstore, hardware store, department store and finally the grocery store. Most of us consider the grocery store to be just another errand. But that one single errand, going to the grocery store, has more consequences for your life than almost anything else you'll do all week.

Imagine if you went to the drugstore and you got the wrong shampoo? Maybe you'd have lifeless hair or look greasy by late afternoon. Not an intended consequence, but certainly not life altering. What if you got 3" nails at the hardware store instead of 3" screws? Again not perfect, but no life altering consequences. But what happens when you don't make good choices at the grocery store? It influences every food decision you make for the rest of the week! When you do this week after week, it influences the food decisions for your whole life and this does have life altering consequences.

Going to the grocery store is NOT just another errand! It's an important part of taking care of your life and your health. It takes planning and hard work to make sure that you get real, wholesome good food in your house each the week, but the benefits last a lifetime.

What Is Food Anyway?

It doesn't even seem like we should have to ask this question! Many of us presume that everything in the grocery store is food. But most packaged foods in the grocery store isn't real food. We know now that inflammation causes disease... and processed food causes inflammation. And that means we must learn to eat non-processed, real food. And the sacred weekly visit to the grocery store is just the place to do it!

Some Practical Advice For Grocery Shopping

The first few times you go to the grocery store and look for real food, it'll be a lot of work, and pretty confusing. Here are some tips to help you decide what to buy.

Give it the Farmer Test

Before you toss something in your cart, ask yourself whether you could knock on a farmer's door and ask him to harvest the food item you're considering from his field or barn? For example, could you walk down a country lane to a farmer's house and ask for an egg? Or course! Farmers somewhere in the world grow corn, pineapples, mushrooms and pork chops. All of our fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans and whole grains pass The Farmer Test. So, do fish and meats like fish, roasts, steaks and chops. But, much of what we can buy in the store doesn't pass The Farmer Test. The food probably originated in a field or barn, but then got converted by chemicals and physically processed into something that tastes good but probably isn't real food anymore. Take cereal, for instance. Even though cereal starts as a grain it is not a whole, living food. Farmers can't grow a hamburger bun, PopTarts or Doritos. These foods fail The Farmer Test and cause inflammation in our body.

Read the ingredient list on the food label.

If you pick up a food at the grocery and are confused about whether a farmer could grow or harvest it, read the ingredient list. If you can pronounce the ingredients and can picture them in your mind, you're buying minimally processed, real food. Most bakery items don't qualify. Also, keep an eye out for the Frightening Four: Flour, Sugar, Fructose and Oil. These indicate processed, inflammatory foods.

Buy foods you have to prepare.

If you have to clean, peel, dice or chop what you're about to eat, there is a good chance its real food. You have to clean grapes, peel a banana, and chop an onion! All real food. You don't have to clean a breakfast bar, peel a Cheez It, or dice your Jello. They aren't real food!