healthy groceries

Healthy groceries are hard to come by these days. When it comes to navigating the aisles of the grocery store, it can be really challenging to sift through the marketing gimmicks and smart marketing to really make a healthy choice. We dug into recent worked from Muscle & Fitness’ Editor-in-Chief, Shawn Perine, to help give tips on what the best foods are at the grocery store to help you pack on some muscle. Shawn’s simple checklist hits eight top foods for mass building.

HEALTHY GROCERIES: CUTS OF BEEF

When it comes to mass building grub, nothing beats red meat. It is packed with protein and loaded with naturally occurring creatine — not to mention the dose of iron. Some cuts of beef are high in fat, so be selective when it comes to the type you drop on the grill.

The best cuts of beef are: eye round, sirloin tip, bottom round, top sirloin and 95% lean ground beef, all of which have only about six grams of fat per 6 ounce serving with 36 grams of protein.

HEALTHY GROCERIES: CHICKEN AND TURKEY

On average, 6x ounces of skinless chicken breast contains 40 g of protein and only 2 g of fat. Turkey breast is even more nutrient dense, with 42 g of protein and only
1 g of fat per 6 ounce serving.

HEALTHY GROCERIES: EGGS

Eggs are freakin’ awesome. They contain one of the highest-quality sources of protein available and a range of vitamins and minerals. Egg protein sports an extremely high biological value (the method used to determine how much of the protein is absorbed and retained in the body). To keep fat intake low, a general rule of thumb is to remove four yolks from every six eggs you eat.

HEALTHY GROCERIES: CANS OF TUNA FISH

There are plenty of fish 0to choose from when seeking a high quality muscle-building source, tuna being one of the best. As with most fish, tuna is high in protein, delivering 44 g of protein per six-ounce serving.

HEALTHY GROCERIES: CARTONS OF MILK

Although this is plenty of controversy about including dairy in your diet, dairy products offer slowdigesting protein that provides a steady supply of aminos over several hours. In addition to having 8 g of protein, an eight-ounce glass of skim milk also contains a lot of vitamin D and calcium, both invaluable for bone maintenance, muscle strength, muscle growth and fat loss.

HEALTHY GROCERIES: BAGS OF BROWN RICE

Nutrition fact to impress the ladies: more than 90% of rice’s vitamin B6 is lost in the conversion from brown to white rice. Stick with brown rice and leave the white rice for post-workout. Eat one to two cups of brown rice per day, limiting intake after 5 PM.

HEALTHY GROCERIES: SWEET POTATOES OR YAMS

Like brown rice, sweet potatoes are another excellent slow-burning carb source providing more than just macronutrients. A cup of diced sweet potatoes contains more than 25% of the U.S. Dietary Reference Intakes of vitamin C and potassium. They are also high in fiber, one of the reasons it takes so long for the body to process.

HEALTHY GROCERIES: MIXED NUTS AND SEEDS

Feeling a mid-day crash, grab a handful of nuts or seeds instead of something sweet and fast burning. Although high in fats (good fats), most nuts are nutritious and contain beneficial antioxidants and protein. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has stated that, “Eating one and a half ounces per day of most nuts as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol may reduce the risk of heart disease.”

The FDA’s list of healthiest nuts include: almonds, hazelnuts, pecans, some pine nuts, pistachio nuts and walnuts.

By Daniel