For most of my life, I have reflected on the phrase "you are what you eat."
We feed infants specific foods to support growth and build strong, healthy bodies. As we grow older, do we take as much care with our diets?
There are special foods available for people with dietary needs. Juices, cereals, and pasta often contain additives. Natural is always best, but fortifying foods with vitamins and minerals can be a real benefit for those of us who don't always eat a balanced diet. Protein drinks are an excellent source of supplements, but whole foods remain a better primary source. Protein bars supply amino acids for muscle repair and offer a quick, portable way to increase protein intake, help you feel full, and manage appetite. The downsides worth knowing: added sugars and calories, inconsistent regulation of food supplements, digestive issues with dairy-based powders, and the risk of nutrient deficiencies if they replace whole foods entirely.
Preservatives keep food fresh for extended periods, but so does canning. When storing food at home, glass containers are a better choice than plastic. Mason jars with leak-proof lids work especially well.
I'm not implying food additives are inherently bad. Read labels, do your research, and make choices that work for you.
The 3 Things I Carry Before Every Grocery Trip
Today, I carry three essential things before going to the market. I've been doing this for approximately 15 years, and I'll continue until I can no longer shop for myself and my family.
1. A printed grocery list. I keep multiple copies of a list with all the foods I should purchase. I choose the same foods when eating at a restaurant too. My full staple list is below.
2. Recycled bags. If I'm out for an extended period or not heading straight home, I use recycled bags with thermal liners to keep food fresh. My go-to bags are made by Two Lumps of Sugar: Happy Shoppers, Trunkey Totes, and the large TLOS totes. They have wonderful graphics, and I've made friends while out shopping simply because people notice them.
3. Money, and a budget. I shop within a set budget and have a personal "buy price" for each product; I know exactly how much I'm willing to spend. At times, I skip juice, soup, eggs, bread, or fish and find substitutes instead. I comparison shop to save money, and I enjoy making gut-healthy sourdough bread when I have the time, or buying fresh when it's affordable. I'm not brand-loyal, but I do read ingredient lists closely. I pay attention to shrinking can sizes, smaller bag sizes, and "buy 2 get 1 free" or "buy 1 get 2" deals, many of which aren't the savings they appear to be. I avoid buying in bulk if we can't realistically eat it before it spoils. Food waste, in my opinion, is a crime.
Fact: roughly one-third, or about 1.3 billion tons, of food produced for human consumption is wasted every year. Freezing isn't always the answer. Canning and preserving food remains one of the best solutions.
Staple Foods on My Grocery List
I don't buy all of these foods weekly, but I make sure that over the course of a month, I work every one of them into our meals. Some daily, some weekly:
Fruits, vegetables, eggs, olive oil, broccoli, carrots, wild-caught salmon, tuna, barley, mushrooms, walnuts, peanuts, turkey, tempeh, nut butters, wild blueberries, quinoa, Gruyère cheese, pumpkin seeds, chickpeas, tofu, cottage cheese, yogurt, sweet potatoes, oranges, kidney beans, kale, almonds, Swiss chard, kiwi, cabbage, avocado, black beans, onions, sardines, oatmeal, edamame, buckwheat, pumpkin, spinach, and watercress.
You are what you eat. Start planning to grow a garden in 2027. It's rewarding, nutritious, and genuinely therapeutic. If you don't have much space, container gardening works just as well. Plant a salsa garden if you love salsa, herbs for flavoring and teas, tomatoes for sauces, and easy-to-grow greens like lettuce, arugula, spinach, and kale.
Remember: you are what you eat.