www.georgetownhospitalsystem.org
9
Food
shopping is something we all do.
Yet not all of us know how to navigate
our way through a grocery store and leave
with a basket full of healthy choices. Many
shoppers continue with food-buying
habits that they have followed for years—
however unhealthy these habits may be.
Others may not understand completely
how to read food packaging labels.
e good news is that today, more than ever,
there are healthy—and tasty—food options
available. Consumers just have to know where
to look and most important, what to look for.
Learning by doing
Reading and understanding food labels is
key, according to the Georgetown Hospital
System dietitians, who periodically oer
free educational supermarket store tours for
the community. ese tours are designed
to educate community members about how
to make good food choices while shopping.
Participants learn what to look for and what to
avoid when making food-purchasing decisions.
“Long words that are nearly impossible
to pronounce are a giveaway,” says Corrie
Davis, RD, LD, CNSC, a dietitian with the
Georgetown Hospital System, who hosted
a recent tour. “If you can’t pronounce an
ingredient and don’t know what it is, it’s
probably not going to be great nutritionally.
You’re probably going to be better o
choosing something else with a dierent set
of ingredients.”
Scanning labels for portion sizes also is
very helpful in understanding exactly what
you are consuming, Davis says. Make certain
you understand that if the container has two
servings inside, you are getting double the
values shown on the label, including calories.
e supermarket tours involve walking
through the grocery store for about an hour
and touring speci
c areas of the store to
identify healthier food choices.
Zooming in on healthy choices
Tours typically begin in the produce section,
and dietitians encourage participants to ask
questions about speci
c fruits and vegetables
that should be part of a healthy diet. e tour
also includes sections of departments featuring
meat, dairy, snacks and other food items.
e tour ends with a question-and-
answer round which allows for feedback
and additional questions concerning the
participants’ speci
c dietary needs.
Making good choices and portion control
are continuous themes during the tour.
Choosing foods containing nutritional
elements required for good health also is
important, Davis says.
“If you are going to eat a snack food, try
to
nd one that has some kind of nutritional
value in it,” she adds. “And if you feel like you
just have to have that particular items, at least
limit how o¡en you eat it and howmuch you eat.”
A few good choices can add up to a big
personal health improvement over time.
And for Georgetown Hospital System’s
dietitians, a little time spent with a few
community members on a regular basis can
make a big dierence in the overall health of
our community.
For more information or to
sign up for one of Georgetown Hospital System’s
Supermarket Tours and other nutrition-related
events, go to
www.LearnToEatRight.org
.
Learn proper
nutrition
“Supermarket tours are an interactive and valuablemethod
to help our community gain the knowledge to navigate the
supermarket with healthy success.”—Corrie Davis, RD, LD, CNSC
through better eating