Supermarket Smarts

Shopping the Supermarket to Meet Key Dietary Recommendations

March 8th, 2011-The new 2010 U.S. Dietary Guidelines are now in circulation. But, according to recent consumer research, nearly half of consumers surveyed said they were skeptical of the Dietary Guidelines because the idea of ‘healthy’ keeps changing,* and one-third of these respondents call them “complicated.”*

This National Nutrition Month, nutrition expert and author of “Read It Before You Eat It,” Bonnie Taub-Dix, MS, RD, CDN, will help decode the latest Dietary Guidelines and make them actionable for Americans. She’ll show how healthy eating can start with the foods people already know and love.  She’ll offer helpful hints on how to navigate the supermarket aisles and shop for great-tasting products that can easily and affordably help them meet key recommendations.

Topics covered can include:

• Closing the “vegetable gap.” With many reports, including the latest from Consumer Reports, continuing to attribute America’s dismal state of vegetable consumption to barriers such as taste, convenience and perishability, obvious options to bridging the gap can be overlooked. Bonnie will showcase convenient and enjoyable ways to add more vegetables to the diet. Remember, the best kind of vegetable is the kind you’ll eat!
• Going with the grain…Whole grain…that is. According to the scientific report of the Dietary Guidelines, only five percent of Americans meet their minimum recommended servings of whole grains per day. Bonnie believes bread is one of the easiest ways to fulfill your whole grain needs, so she’ll share tips for spotting the best varieties.
• Cutting calories, not the taste. Bonnie will help people find great-tasting products that also help control calorie intake and manage your weight.
• Checking the Nutrition Facts label to find foods that meet “healthy” levels of certain nutrients, particularly sodium. How do you know when foods meet the “healthy” sodium level? Bonnie will define recommended “healthy levels” of sodium and share her tips for spotting products that support the guidelines without sacrificing great taste, including one of America’s favorite pantry staples – soup!

Bonnie Taub-Dix, MA, RD, CDN, is a nutrition consultant and author of recently released “Read It Before You Eat It” (Plume 2010) which helps make sense of food labels and provides grocery store tips. She writes a weekly blog for USA Today, is a regular contributor for MSNBC.com, and is frequently called upon to provide practical advice on healthy living to The New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, and WebMD and shows including CNN, CBS “Early Show,” ABC’s “Good Morning America,” FOX 5 News. Her articles and quotes have also appeared in top publications including Health, Shape, Fitness, Reader’s Digest, Prevention, Women’s Day, and Men’s Health. For more of Bonnie's tips visit www.betterthandieting.net

*Source: Weber Shandwick/Draftfcb/KRC Research, National Survey of Attitudes Toward Nutrition and the Dietary Guidelines, 2009