Ideal nutrition shopping list for women

A, C, and D are not just letters of the alphabet. In nutritional terms, they’re vital nutrients for women.

These are vitamins found in healthy food choices are just one way that women can meet their special nutritional needs throughout life, according to Taking Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), an international, nonprofit organization for weight loss.

Registered dietitian Ann Ruelle and nutrition consultant for TOPS Club Inc. offers her list of “must have” grocery items for every woman.

The Dietitian’s Grocery List:

What to eat - Folic acid: Folic acid creates and maintains new cells, especially during childbearing years.

What to put in a grocery cart: Enriched breads; cereals; pastas; dry beans and peas; spinach, collard greens and other green, leafy vegetables; and orange juice.

What to eat - Vitamin A: Vitamin A benefits vision and helps fight infections.

What to put in a grocery cart: Carrots, sweet potatoes and spinach.

What to eat - Vitamin C: Vitamin C repairs bodily damage from daily stress, aches, and pains.

What to put in a grocery cart: Oranges, orange juice, red and green sweet peppers, and grapefruit.

What to eat - Vitamin D: Vitamin D helps create and maintain strong bones.

What to put in a grocery cart: Salmon, shrimp and milk fortified with vitamin D. Consider a supplement, and discuss this with a physician.

What to eat - Calcium: Calcium builds strong bones and teeth and helps prevent debilitating fractures and osteoporosis in the future. Many females stop consuming dairy products in their early teens.

What to put in a grocery cart: Low-fat yogurt and milk, fortified cereals and collard greens. Talk to a physician about taking a calcium supplement when menopause approaches; it can be more difficult for your body to absorb at that stage.

What to eat - Iron: Iron assists with many body functions, but it is a difficult mineral for the body to absorb. Absorption can be increased by adding foods rich in Vitamin C.

What to put in a grocery cart: Lean cuts of beef round steak and bottom rump roast, fortified cooked cereals, lentils, soy and spinach.

What to eat - Potassium: Potassium builds muscles at all stages of life.

What to put in your grocery cart: Sweet potatoes, white potatoes, halibut, banana, spinach and oranges.