What do those 3 things have in common?  I am going to tell you.  NuVal is a company that makes choosing healthy foods at the grocery store a little easier.  NuVal scores food based on a combination of nutritional factors and comes up with a number.  The numbers range from 1 to 100 – the higher the number, but more nutritious the food choice.  You can find out more about how NuVal works and the science of it here. 

Now, moving on.  Last week Tina from Carrots’N’Cake asked for volunteers who shopped at Meijer to check out the NuVal program at their local store.  I volunteered and thought it would be fun to see the gluten-free side of it as well.  Sometimes the gluten-free replacement foods aren’t as nutritious as the traditional version due to the removal of the whole wheat, rye, barley & oats.  This makes trading-up, as NuVal calls it, even more important.  If you are trying to choose between vegetables or fruits, choose with one with the higher number.  Spinach is rated with a 99! 

Apples?  Rated a 96.  🙂  My favorite!

Want to trade-up for a healthier sandwich?  Forgo the cheese and add a slice or 2 of avocado.

You can even choose a healthier cooking oil.

As you can see, the Canola Oil is the healthier choice. 

Cereals?  Sometimes it is hard to find mainstream gluten-free cereal, but you can even make healthier trade-ups there.

Strawberry Chex- 26

Honey Cinnamon Puffins (the only gluten-free puffins) – 25

Kix Cereal – 29

I checked the gluten-free product aisle and there were no scores on the gluten-free foods there.  It would be great to see the NuVal scores there eventually, too, to help make even more great trade-ups. 

You can see if there is a store that has NuVal in your area here.  You can check the scores of some of your favorite foods here.