Many have promised to live a healthier life for the New Year. Some may have sworn never to smoke at all or lessen their alcoholic beverage intake. Others may have decided to eat healthier foods and reduce too much intake of salt, sugar and fatty foods. When it comes to having a good diet, balance of quantity and nutritional quality must be considered. As a first step to ensuring a healthier you for this New Year, one easy thing to keep practicing now is making sure that you buy first fresh foods, rather than those that have long been on the shelf or supermarket freezers. Here are simple tips in buying different food items:

• Fish should be without foul smell. The eyes should be clear and not too reddish. Whole fish should have firm, shiny flesh and bright red gills. The flesh should spring back when pressed. Cooking will never improve a foul-smelling fish. Remember, if a fish is old, it will have the color of a faded brick. When buying fillet that still has skin, that skin should look as pristine as the skin on a equally good whole fish—shiny and metallic.

• Choose chicken that has a plump body. Make sure that the meat is cool to the touch. Looking at the color of the bones is a way to evaluate freshness. If the ends of the bones look gray, you are looking at a bird that has been lying around for a while. Bones that are pinker in color indicate a fresher cut. A good thing to keep in mind when it comes to chicken is that the pinker the flesh, the fresher it is. Stay away from chicken where the skin looks transparent or patchy colored. It doesn’t matter if the skin is yellow or white; different places of breeding produce chicken with different color skin. When you do see a date for freshness it will fall under these categories:

• When buying chilled or frozen foods, watch out for too much hidden fats from the packaged foods.

• In choosing pork or beef meat, ensure that the meat of choice is red, tender and juicy.

• Fresh vegetables are easily scouted with its bright, lively color and crispiness. Vegetables are usually at their best quality during their peak season. Avoid buying those with signs of decay/bruising/damage.

• Buy enough vegetables to last only of two to four days to ensure that they are still fresh on the last day. Beware of buy-one-take-one promos, as most of the contents are nearly inedible due to onset of rotting.

• Just the same with vegetables, in buying fruits, buy enough for a specific time period, because fruits are very sensitive to heat/humidity and they easily rot in hot places. Avoid buying fruits from stalls that are directly exposed to the sun’s heat. Fruits can also experience freeze-burn; thus, avoid those that might have stayed long in supermarket chillers. Do not buy fruits with bruises, decay, skin punctures, and foul odour. Choose those with bright color and smooth texture. The same with vegetables again, buy according to season.

Don’t just set aside these notes, remember that fresh foods make healthier meals.
(Write the author at wellbeing@mb.com.ph.)