I didn't want to hijack the other thread, but several people have said that making healthful meals with fresh raw ingredients is cheaper than buying convenient but unhealthy food.
Can someone please tell me how? I'd love to serve my kids (and myself) more healthful meals. I just don't see how buying the fresh meat, vegetables, and sides could be less expensive?
I am sincerley curious, so please do not think that I am using sarcasm to call anyone out.
And I don't buy lack of time as an excuse. If something is truly important to you, you will MAKE time for it.
I shop my local 99 Cent Store all the time for AWESOME fresh produce. Places like Whole Foods dump stock there they can't fit on their shelf space. It's not rotting or near expiration. It's healthy and it's cheap. Just the other day, I scored organic artisanal lettuce, 3 lbs of carrots, yellow zucchini, perfectly crunchy fresh Jazz apples and cans of low-salt, water packed salmon.....for around 10 bucks! Even when I lived in Minnesota in the winter, I would buy fresh, take the time to prepare it properly and FREEZE meals.
Sorry to come off angry but I'm so sick and tired of Americans making excuses about eating healthy. Insisting it be impossibly cheap and easy is exactly the problem. Some things are worth the money and require work and time. TOO BAD!!!!
Simple starches such as sweet potatoes are very cheap which is why "cheap" diets are often less healthy; they tend to be largely based on simple starches and bad fats. Healthier complex starches, good fats and proteins tend to be more expensive.
Learn more about nutrients in foods, (not just a classification) as this one simple aspect of a "diet". As I have and will continue to use sweet potatoes as one part of a healthy diet.(Not to mention the micronutrients in sweet potatoes) Whether it be to lose weight (fat) or gain muscle. Also, insulin spikes can be very productive in providing transport to cells.
But if you are not active active person and feel health is only about diet and not exercise….then yes avoid macros than are fast acting.
Each macro (proteins, fats, and carbs) all have different break down times depending on the source (type). And each one can be utilized in ones diet based on timing of consumption…IF you have the knowledge to make them highly effective.
A diet works on a sliding scale, so from one small angle and for a specific reason, yes there could be an argument to avoid sweet potatoes….if your a coach potato
Nutrition is a science not a website. It is very complex and there is no one size fits all……but because of limited education that is not in depth, Americans rely on a simplistic understanding of what they consume.
Now I could break down what "good fats" are, but it is complex as are the many different types of protein and carbohydrates. But I don't see that happening in a short post.
The long term return on the investment will offset the up front cost.
What you spend on spinach today, you will save on Metformin later.
Our poor species. It's so hopeless sometimes it's pitiful.
People spend thousands on cars with airbags, fancy brakes, rear cameras, and all kinds of crazy safety features, but whine like hysterical babies when faced with spending $2 more on a healthy lunch.
We spend millions on beauty products & services to make our faces and hair look pretty but are bloody OUTRAGED if it is suggested we invest the same amount in healthy food that will do far more to preserve youth and beauty than any cream or spray.
EVERYTHING in life can't be "the cheapest"!!!!! There are some things you should not cheap out on ALL the time. Healthy food (and the WORK out into preparing it) is a decent investment - period.
Your make an outstanding point. The problem is people don't understand, having a sense of being "full" does not equate to fulfilling your body demand for nutrients.
A simple example would be a steak. People will argue all day the a higher priced cut of meat is far more expensive based on the simple mindset that it is more $ per pound, but if you can consume less quantity (weight), but higher quality and still fulfill the nutrient equivalent then is it really more expensive? I know it is debatable, but people see with their eyes and feel with their stomach, not seeing the bigger picture. And this is all due to lack of understanding/knowledge of diet.
We do not need all the things going into your body that everyone is accustomed to, and the feeling of being full and satisfied does NOT equal to health.
I always buy chicken whole. A whole chicken costs less than a 0.75 pound package of sliced chicken breast. Once you get good at it, you can skin and quarter a chicken in five minutes.
If you have a local farmer's market, they usually sell stuff really cheaply and it tastes better than the grocery store.
I try to buy items I can use in multiple meals so I don't waste food. So let's say I buy black beans. One morning I make a Tex Mex style omelet, then one day for lunch I have a salad with black beans, and then one night I make tacos with black beans.
The long term return on the investment will offset the up front cost.
What you spend on spinach today, you will save on Metformin later.
Our poor species. It's so hopeless sometimes it's pitiful.
People spend thousands on cars with airbags, fancy brakes, rear cameras, and all kinds of crazy safety features, but whine like hysterical babies when faced with spending $2 more on a healthy lunch.
We spend millions on beauty products & services to make our faces and hair look pretty but are bloody OUTRAGED if it is suggested we invest the same amount in healthy food that will do far more to preserve youth and beauty than any cream or spray.
EVERYTHING in life can't be "the cheapest"!!!!! There are some things you should not cheap out on ALL the time. Healthy food (and the WORK out into preparing it) is a decent investment - period.
This is all true. Unfortunately not all people plan out their lives in that way. They might have their kids and then think how they're going to feed and educate them. Or buy the best house and car that they can get financing for and then be painted into a corner when life happens. That's so common here, in the US. I've been trying to influence my kids about that, don't commit to things that you can't get out of before you are really able to afford to.
I do wonder how a nurse would have such a tight food budget. I've been a single mom and have had a deadbeat husband (hundred years ago.) And have always had horses on top of the kids. In California. My nursing income, even as a new nurse always provided a decent food budget.
That doesn't help the majority of our society who will have a newer version of iPhone than me but with little motivation to prioritize their health and use that phone to google nutrition.
Don't you all just wish you had the power of persuasion and could turn this train around? I miss my sweet 80 somethings who have been replaced with chronically ill 50 and 60 somethings. It's scary how the age gap has closed in since starting nursing in my early 20's. Do you know what I mean?
Unless you're eating ramen noodles every day, when you actually cost a fast food meal or one of those pre-packaged dinners, it's not cheaper. Might be faster, but definitely not cheaper or healthier than preparing homemade.
For flavour, I use various spices or add salsa to various dishes. All those condiments can be pricey and full of chemicals.
Unhealthy food will cost more in the long run than healthy food. Buying fresh produce and lean meats will never equal how much will eventually be spent in medications, doctor bills, and possibly hospital admissions which are a common expense added to an unhealthy diet.
I've been grocery shopping for a family for 35 years. I don't have studies to cite, or websites to link. I only know what my shopping experience tells me. Buying healthy costs more in my grocery cart.
Some poor people without a car literally have no physical access to a grocery store. In many "ghetto" neighborhoods in Detroit, I know from experience, the only option is the corner convenience store. Hard to buy healthy food in that situation. And the logistics of trying to do a grocery store run on the public bus is harder than you might imagine.
I imagine it is even worse in the poor neighborhoods of a city like Los Angeles.
Specializes in Cardiology, Cardiothoracic Surgical.
1) Farmers' markets, you could can or freeze most of the vegetables if you buy in season. Requires an extra storage freezer.
2) For some things like berries, frozen is often cheaper and the food is more nutritious than fresh- instead of the berries traveling thousands of miles sitting out to air, they're flash frozen when ripe.
3) Consider veggies that store well- sweet potatoes, most squashes, most root veggies like parsnips or turnips. Often really cheap
too.
4) Dried beans are super cheap, throw some in the slow cooker, come home and you can throw together a meal real quick.
5) Make big batches of things like soup, salad or casserole and freeze in bulk. Pinterest has some great ideas for layered salads.
Some poor people without a car literally have no physical access to a grocery store. In many "ghetto" neighborhoods in Detroit, I know from experience, the only option is the corner convenience store. Hard to buy healthy food in that situation. And the logistics of trying to do a grocery store run on the public bus is harder than you might imagine.
I imagine it is even worse in the poor neighborhoods of a city like Los Angeles.
I have been poor, without a car, and lived in a really poor neighborhood. All you want to do is eat something, anything, nutritious or not. I never gained weight because I could not afford enough junk food to get fat. One hot meal a day with a few snacks the rest of the time.
I am now fat because I can afford to eat what I want and it is difficult to go back to starving myself, especially when it is done on purpose.
mclennan, BSN, RN
684 Posts
And I don't buy lack of time as an excuse. If something is truly important to you, you will MAKE time for it.
I shop my local 99 Cent Store all the time for AWESOME fresh produce. Places like Whole Foods dump stock there they can't fit on their shelf space. It's not rotting or near expiration. It's healthy and it's cheap. Just the other day, I scored organic artisanal lettuce, 3 lbs of carrots, yellow zucchini, perfectly crunchy fresh Jazz apples and cans of low-salt, water packed salmon.....for around 10 bucks! Even when I lived in Minnesota in the winter, I would buy fresh, take the time to prepare it properly and FREEZE meals.
Sorry to come off angry but I'm so sick and tired of Americans making excuses about eating healthy. Insisting it be impossibly cheap and easy is exactly the problem. Some things are worth the money and require work and time. TOO BAD!!!!