Supermarkets And Label-Checking Madness

With all the choices in food products, grocery shopping has become a game of chess - you have to plan every move to find what you want. Different health and nutrition concerns warrant different buying and eating habits. The new trend of fitter and healthier lifestyles has made label-reading a requirement. The product ingredients you should or should not consume are there in the supermarket to find if you can navigate correctly. Maybe they should provide maps. With the supersized stores of today, you might want to get out your roller skates.

Perhaps they should separate the grocery aisles by category. One aisle could be the "FREE" aisle. Here you could purchase caffeine-free, sugar-free, lactose-free and gluten-free products. I personally like sugar and caffeine, have no problem with lactose, and really don't know what a gluten is. Not to worry though, this aisle will be free of them all.

The next aisle could be called the "LOW" aisle. Here you would find food low in cholesterol, low in saturated fats, low in sodium and low in calories. Of course, if you are concerned about these, you might want to shop in the next aisle which is the "NO" aisle.

The "NO" aisle makes a lot of promises. This is where you find products that have no carbs, no trans-fats, no hormones, and no antibiotics. Of course, there's the "no sugar added" category which means that it has sugar. They just didn't add any more. I personally have no clue.

Still there are more things to fuss and worry over and make decisions about. Like whether to buy organic or non-organic, whole wheat or white, farm-raised, free range, grass-fed or wild-caught. Then there's the "MAY CONTAIN" category but nobody wants to go there.

Sure, I read the labels only to get more confused because what is low in cholesterol is often high in sodium and what is high in protein is also high in fat. And the doctor says to get your fiber and watch your carbs and easy on the sodium and be sure to include protein. A low carb diet means eating more fat which means my cholesterol will go through the roof.

Besides your shopping buggy and a wad of dollars, you better equip yourself with a calculator as well. It isn't simple any more. Four for five dollars, three for nine ninety-five, or six for five dollars are common tag sights. I prefer to know right away that I am paying $1.49 for my item since I only want one. Single coupon, double coupon, even triple coupon deals are out there but only for coupons that are 50 cents or less. It's a maze of numbers that must be understood or else you might as well fill up your cart with dollar bills and hand them over on your way out.

It isn't easy being the family shopper. It takes study and navigation, a smart mind and lots of savvy. I just might see you there.