You can eat nutritious foods even if you're on a budget.
If you think it's hard to eat a healthy diet on a limited budget, you're in for a surprise. Inexpensive foods can make a low-income diet delicious and keep your family fit and strong. Replace expensive prepared foods with low-cost alternatives. Shop smarter to trim the fat out of your grocery budget, and use the savings for healthier choices, such as organic produce to replace fruits and vegetables that have pesticide residue from conventional farming.
Less Is More
Fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients.
Whole foods cost less than processed foods, but they are more nutritious. Prepared foods cost three times more than whole foods, and they have additives that are not part of a healthy diet. Whole foods like fruits and vegetables fight colon-rectal, mouth and stomach cancers. Fruits and vegetables maintain cardiovascular, joint, urinary and vision health. They are cholesterol-free, and also help prevent bone loss and kidney stones. These healthy foods are powerhouses of antioxidants, fiber, minerals and vitamins.
Variety Is the Spice of Healthy Eating
Spin the color wheel to get a wide range of vitamins and minerals.
A rainbow of fruits and vegetables is nutrient rich. Blueberries, for instance, have more antioxidants than 40 other fruits, and a healthy diet of red fruits and vegetables can prevent diabetes-related circulatory problems and high blood pressure. Dark green, leafy vegetables are caches of calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium and vitamins B, C, E and K. Their phytonutrients fight cell damage and vision problems, and they even have small amounts of healthy omega-3 fats.
Buy Healthy Foods in Bulk and Save With Sales
Buy in bulk to take advantage of lower prices for large quantities.
Expand a low-income diet with bulk prices and sales, and buy locally-grown produce that's in season. Apples, grapefruit, oranges, onions and potatoes are also cheaper by the bag. To slash the cost of a healthy diet, avoid precut and washed produce. Remember that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. For example, hummus is just chick peas, lemon juice and tahini, but prepared hummus costs three times more than all the ingredients combined.
Stretch Your Low-Income Diet Dollars
Meatless meals offer healthy nutrition while helping you save money.
Try low-cost meatless meals, such as beans, brown rice and lentils. Brown rice costs more than white, but brown adds superior nutrition to a healthy diet. Check prices on grocery shelves above and below eye level for cheaper brands, and compare healthy foods by weight. For example, 20 ounces at $3 beats 10 ounces at $2, which equals 20 ounces for $4. Catch check-out mistakes, and count your change to stretch your low-income diet dollars.
Make Organics Part of Your Healthy Diet
Organics are worth the price when conventional farming methods leave heavy pesticide residue.
Buy organic when conventionally-grown produce exposes you to heavy pesticide use. Certain foods (including celery, cherries, green tea, lettuce, peaches, strawberries and sweet bell peppers) are conventionally grown with heavy pesticides. You'll get your money's worth when you pay more for these healthy foods from organic farmers. In contrast, asparagus, broccoli, mangoes and onions have very low pesticide residue. You can spend less for these when conventionally grown to stretch your low-income diet dollars farther.
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