Grocery shopping tips to eat healthy and save money with autoimmune
Sep 24, 2024
In August, my family and expertise in autoimmune nutrition was featured in The Globe And Mail where I shared tips on how to shop healthy on a budget, while still leaving room for splurges and treats.
If you're not familiar, The Globe is Canada's equivalent to the New York Times. I was honoured to be included, share our story and help their readers with rheumatic disease and inflammatory arthritis find solutions at the grocery store.
Why did the Globe feature my story and shopping tips for autoimmune?
If you're like many of my clients and members, you want to eat for health AND mind your budget at the same time. You want both and there is no reason why you can't have that.
Although I've been practicing for 12 years and have worked with hundreds of clients, it was our family's story that appealed to the reporter. Being the mom to an autoimmune kid creates a special set of insights that others can't possibly understand. He thought it was inspirational for SO many people with arthritic and rheumatic disease who are struggling for direction and need help.
If a child can do this, you can too.
My decision to switch my professional practice from weight loss and gut health to supporting people with autoimmune in 2018 was my daughter's idea at the wise age of 11 years old. Using nutritional intervention, supplements and focusing on gut health, she experienced dramatic improvements in her ultra rare diagnosis of CRMO (four in one million diagnosis). The doctors were shocked and this approach helped her avoid some harsh medications.
After experiencing so much progress, said she wanted others to have the same opportunity as her. My family agreed, so I left the naturopathic clinic where I was working and opened my online private clinic and membership programs.
In my daughter's case (and with many of my clients), she moved through a couple different autoimmune focused nutrition plans to first quickly reduce inflammation (get out of crisis mode) and then into maintenance. We used a combination of food sensitivity testing which I use with my private clients and then we customized her plan from there.
How does my family eat to keep autoimmune in control?
We no longer follow a strict program. The majority our meals are an upgraded version of the Mediterranean Diet for autoimmune (ITIS) while also using lots of Paleo- and AIP-inspired meals and snacks. The key is WHOLE FOOD.
And while we continue to work proactively on health (digestion, hormones and stress) to help keep disease quiet, my goal for my daughter and every single one of my clients with rheumatic disease or inflammatory arthritis is to get them onto a similar eating plan because it allows flexibility while also working to lower inflammation for the long term.
To eat healthy AND save money, here's some of what is discussed in the article ... the things I practice at home and recommend to my clients and members in the Integrative Autoimmune Membership.
- Having a meal plan that everyone in the family contributes to is a must do. It prevents, "why didn't you buy this" comments and helps you stay focused on the ingredients you need versus what you feel like in the moment. There is less food waste and you can swap produce and staples, based on what's on sale.
- I have three shopping lists: one for bulk, one for discount and one for specialty items (health food store). For me, this includes Costco, No Frills or Walmart, and Ambrosia (our local health food store). I also shop at our local butcher and fish monger that often have better, local options at good prices. Saving at big box and discount stores allows for splurges and speciality items at the smaller boutique shops.
- I also shop at farmers markets whenever I can, and select fresh produce based on what is in season (the reporter didn't share that, but I am with you now!). For example, grocery store oranges in September don't make a lot of sense when we have apples, pears, plums growing in our farmers' fields.
- I never make just one meal because I also like to save time. I plan for leftovers and I freeze any unused produce for to add to smoothies, soups and stir fries so nothing is wasted. For example, one of my weekly staples is a baked chicken. When my kids are home from school, I cook 2 whole chickens at once (family of four). This way, we have dinner, leftovers for lunches and then I use the bones to make my own bone broth. Here's a recipe for my favourite >> BONE BROTH.
- I save money by buying organic greens at Costco (6,99 for a large, 1lb box vs. 6.99 for a small box or bag at a regular grocery store). Whatever doesn't get used goes into the freezer for a future meal. Leafy greens are good for digestive health, help regulate blood sugar, deliver antioxidants and can help reduce inflammation and bloating. To learn more about antioxidants in food >> Here's Another Article!
- Frozen fruit and vegetables and often much less expensive then fresh. They're still high nutritional as they are picked at their peak and then flash frozen.
- One of my splurges is dark chocolate. I'll often make chocolate fat bombs that don't spike my blood sugar and uses cocoa powder instead of squares. Dark chocolate is also a source of magnesium, iron and zinc (benefits the immune system). This is more affordable and delivers more servings per dollar. I love making these and will store them in the freezer so they last longer. Here's a recipe you can try >> CHOCOLATE FAT BOMBS.
- Another splurge is local honey! My favourite brand of honey is from Heritage Bee Company (local to me and I'm friends with the owner). Honey is a food staple in many cultures around the work ... with the exception of North America and that's unfortunate It has so many healing benefits: antioxidants, antimicrobial/bacterial, good for allergies, lower impact on blood sugar. If you don't use honey as a natural sugar, swap, try it.
If you find this helpful, go ahead and share it with friends or family you think may benefit and check out the other resources on my website. Remember, you can absolutely continue to eat healthy while on a budget, and not sacrifice in flavour or enjoyment!
