Supermarket Slimdown

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CANNED-FOOD AISLE

To stock your pantry with the healthiest choices on the canned-food shelves:

Be on sodium alert. Canned veggies and legumes make it easy and convenient to add fiber to your diet. But some canned foods, especially soups, can be high in sodium. To keep your daily sodium intake at or under the recommended 1,500-2,300 milligrams, look for reduced-sodium versions of soups, broths and other preserved foods.

Choose fruits canned in their own juice. One cup of canned peaches in heavy syrup has 84 more calories and 23 more sugar grams (almost 6 teaspoons!) than the same amount of juice-packed peaches.

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Low-sodium soups Fortunately, there are plenty of healthy choices. Two to try: Nile Spice Red Beans & Rice Soup, which has 170 calories, 1 gram of fat (none saturated), 590 milligrams of sodium and an impressive 10 grams of fiber per 11/4-cup serving, or Healthy Choice Hearty Chicken Soup, with 140 calories, 2 grams of fat (1 gram saturated), 4 grams of fiber and 480 milligrams of sodium per cup.

Lump crabmeat makes a nice change if you eat a lot of tuna. A 2-ounce serving of canned crab has just 35 calories, 1 gram of fat (none saturated), 300 milligrams of sodium and 8 grams of protein.

Vegetarian baked beans (1/2 cup) have just 118 calories, 1 gram of fat, 6 grams of protein, 504 milligrams of sodium and an impressive 6 grams of filling fiber.

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Canned meat Watch out for saturated fat and sodium. One cup of Hormel Foods Mary Kitchen Corned Beef Hash contains 390 calories, 24 grams of fat (11 grams saturated) and 1,000 milligrams of sodium!

Soups with 800 or more milligrams of sodium Maruchan Ramen Noodle Soup, Lime Shrimp flavor, has 930 milligrams of sodium per 1.5-ounce serving (half a package); Campbell's Chunky New England Clam Chowder has 890 milligrams of sodium per 8-ounce serving; and even a cup of Campbell's ready-to-serve, chunky chicken noodle soup has 850 milligrams. (Note: Most people eat an entire can of soup or package of ramen, doubling the sodium amounts listed here and putting them at or over an entire day's allotment.)

DELI COUNTER
The deli counter, featuring prepared salads and meats, can be a minefield of calories and saturated fat:

Choose meats that are less processed. In other words, opt for roast turkey, beef and ham over heavily processed, high-fat, high-calorie meats like salami and bologna.

Avoid most side dishes. They may be tempting, but most are dripping with mayo and other high-fat dressings.

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Flavored turkey breast With all the varieties, you could have a different-flavor turkey sandwich every day of the week. Three ounces of salsa-flavored turkey contains 90 calories, 1.5 grams of fat (less than 1 gram saturated) and 540 milligrams of sodium. Also try lemon-pepper or honey-roasted turkey -- both are healthful and delicious in sandwiches and wraps.

Hummus This low-cal chickpea dish is yummy as a dip or a substitute for mayonnaise. You also can add it to soups. One tablespoon has 23 calories and 1 gram of fat (less than 1 gram saturated). Hummus is a calorie and fat bargain compared with mayonnaise, which has 103 calories and 12 grams of fat (2 grams saturated) per tablespoon.

Rotisserie chicken This versatile bird is great eaten alone, shredded for tacos or cut up on top of a salad. Discard the skin, and 3 ounces of white meat will give you just 102 calories and 2 grams of fat (less than 1 gram saturated) for 20 grams of protein.

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Tuna salad Just 1/2 cup of pre-made deli tuna salad contains 330 calories and 28 grams of fat (5 grams saturated). You'll save calories and fat by making your own: A homemade version prepared with 3 ounces of light tuna and 1 1/2 tablespoons of light mayo has only 164 calories and 8 grams of fat (less than 1 gram saturated). You save 166 calories!
Pastrami Three ounces packs 293 calories, 25 grams of fat (9 grams saturated) and 1,031 milligrams of sodium. If you can't live without it, try turkey pastrami instead: Though containing 894 milligrams of sodium, a three-ounce serving has 121 calories and 5 grams of fat (2 grams saturated).