A typical family using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP), the official name for food stamps, will have
about $3.37 per person, per day, with which to buy food
People on tight budgets tend to opt for the cheapest, most
filling foods, such as white bread, factory-farmed ground
beef, and ramen noodles, which are detrimental to your
health
New research found the difference between buying food for
the most healthy diet pattern or the least healthy diet
pattern came out to about $1.50 per day
Bone broth, fermented vegetables, and sprouts are examples
of inexpensive foods that are phenomenal for your health
Growing your own vegetables can also save you considerable
money on produce; 53 money-saving tips for buying organic
are also included
By Dr. Mercola
While food assistance varies from state to state, a typical
family using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
(SNAP), the official name for food stamps, will have about $3.37
per person, per day, with which to buy food.1
Many families run out of food stamps after the first two
weeks of the month and rely on food banks to fill in the gaps.
On a budget this tight, fruits and vegetables are often
purchased only if there's money to spare, and often there isn't.
In the documentary film
Food Stamped, in which the filmmakers attempt to
eat a healthy diet on a food-stamp budget, they visit food
stamp enrollment clinics and tag along with low-income shoppers
who tend to opt for the cheapest, most filling foods, such as
white bread, factory-farmed ground beef, and ramen noodles.
In interviews with members of Congress who also took the food
stamp challenge, even the elected officials – when forced to eat
on meager budgets themselves – likewise fell prey to the allure
of cheap convenience foods.
But while cost is one of the most often-cited obstacles to
eating a healthy diet, there are low-cost superfoods
available that contribute priceless benefits to your health.
Further, research from the Harvard School of Public Health
(HSPH) found that eating a healthy diet costs only $1.50 more
per day…
Healthiest Diets Cost About $1.50 More a Day Than Least Healthy
Diets
Researchers from HSPH conducted a meta-analysis of 27
studies, evaluating the differences in prices per serving and
prices per calorie for different types of food. Eating a
healthier diet (defined as rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and
nuts) was found to be significantly more expensive than an
unhealthy diet (rich in processed foods, meats, and refined
grains).
However, the difference between buying food for the most
healthy diet pattern or the least healthy diet pattern came out
to about $1.50 per day.2
Part of what makes the processed food diet cheaper is the fact
that the US government is actively supporting a diet that
consists of
high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), soybean oil, corn oil, and
grain-fed cattle, a direct result of their flawed
farm subsidy system.
The junk foods are made even cheaper through the use of
unhealthy filler ingredients and preservatives that prevent
spoiling, with the end result being that the very worst foods
for your health are often significantly cheaper to buy. The HSPH
researchers reported that US food policies focus on:3
"'Inexpensive, high volume' commodities, which has
led to 'a complex network of farming, storage,
transportation, processing, manufacturing, and marketing
capabilities that favor sales of highly processed food
products for maximal industry profit.'"
Adding to the problem, many on the most limited food budgets,
such as those who receive food assistance dollars, live in "food
deserts" – areas without grocery stores, and perhaps only a
convenience store or a fast-food restaurant where they can
purchase their food.
So while it's certainly possible to
eat healthy on a limited budget, this first requires that
you understand what constitutes a healthy meal, and then that
you have access to such foods, which is not always the case.
And as for cost, an extra $1.50 a day is a major hurdle for
many, but for others for whom the cost can be readily absorbed,
the extra investment will yield great returns for your family's
health. The researchers explained:4
"While healthier diets did cost more, the difference
was smaller than many people might have expected. Over the
course of a year, $1.50/day more for eating a healthy diet
would increase food costs for one person by about $550 per
year.
This would represent a real burden for some families,
and we need policies to help offset these costs. On the
other hand, this price difference is very small in
comparison to the economic costs of diet-related chronic
diseases, which would be dramatically reduced by healthy
diets."
Bone Broth: Some of the Most Affordable Foods are Also the
Healthiest
If you're on a strict budget, you may need to start to think
outside the box of what constitutes a "square" meal. Let's say
you have $2 for dinner. You might be tempted buy a burger and
fries from a dollar menu.
This will fill you up for the time being, but will not give
your body the nutrition it craves. With that $2 you could
instead buy an avocado and cage-free organic eggs, with which to
make a variation of this
Rise and Shine Baked Avocado recipe.
This might not be a meal you're accustomed to, but it will
ultimately be far more satisfying and make you feel leaps and
bounds better than the fast-food burger meal. Other
phenomenal foods are also very inexpensive, making them
ideal for budget shopping (although they do require some
preparation at home, as most healthy foods do).
Bone broth is one such example. Making your own bone broth
is extremely cost effective, as you can make use of leftover
carcass bones that would otherwise be thrown away. And while the
thought of making your own broth may seem intimidating at first,
it's actually quite easy.
It can also save you money by reducing your need for dietary
supplements, as bone broth provides you with a variety of
important nutrients—such as calcium, magnesium, chondroitin,
glucosamine, and arginine—that you may otherwise be spending a
good deal of money on in the form of supplements.
Simmering bones over low heat for an entire day will create
one of the most nutritious and healing foods there is. You can
use this broth for soups, stews, or drink it straight. The broth
can also be frozen for future use. Keep in mind that the "skin"
that forms on the top is the best part. It contains valuable
nutrients, such as sulfur, along with healthful fats, so just
stir it back into the broth.
There are lots of different ways to make bone broth, and
there really isn't a wrong way. You can find different
variations online, but in the video above I offer some basic
directions. If you're starting out with a whole chicken, you'll
of course have plenty of meat as well, which can be added back
into the broth later with extra herbs and spices to make a
chicken soup, or you can use it as a separate meal.
Fill up a large stockpot (or large crockpot) with pure,
filtered water. (A crockpot is recommended for safety
reasons if you have to leave home while it's cooking.)
Add vinegar and all vegetables except parsley
to the water.
Place the whole chicken or chicken carcass into the pot.
Bring to a boil, and remove any scum that rises to the
top.
Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let simmer.
If cooking a whole chicken, the meat should start
separating from the bone after about 2 hours. Simply remove
the chicken from the pot and separate the meat from the
bones. Place the carcass back into the pot and continue
simmering the bones for another 12-24 hours and follow with
step 8 and 9.
If cooking bones only, simply let them simmer for about
24 hours.
You may want to add fresh parsley about 10 minutes
before finishing the stock, as this will add healthy mineral
ions to your broth, but this is optional.
Remove remaining bones from the broth with a slotted
spoon and strain the rest through a strainer to remove any
bone fragments.
Fermented Foods: The Inexpensive Ultimate Superfood
When you consume
junk foods, certain bacteria flourish and produce
endotoxins, which your immune system detects and, interpreting
these endotoxins as an attack, responds with inflammation. Your
body changes its metabolism to redirect energy for "battle." The
result is overproduction of insulin, increased fat storage,
dampening of your appetite control signals, and eventually
obesity.
The best way to reverse this inflammation and restore a
healthy metabolism is by eliminating excess sugar and processed
food, and adding more friendly, beneficial bacteria from
naturally
fermented foods. Almost everyone has damaged gut flora these
days, unless you're part of the minority that eats a strict
organic whole foods diet and avoids antibiotics. Fermented
vegetables are one of the most palatable fermented foods that
can provide you with a robust dose of
beneficial bacteria, known as probiotics, for a fraction of
the cost of buying a supplement (and with far more beneficial
bacteria).
Fermented foods are very potent detoxifiers, capable of
drawing out a wide range of toxins and heavy metals, including
some
pesticides, from your body, and the beneficial bacteria they
contain may also help prevent diabetes, digestive issues,
neurological problems, cardiovascular disease, and even acne.
You only need a small amount of fermented vegetables to boost
your health; one-quarter to one-half cup of fermented veggies
with each meal is ideal. The investment is small, as cabbage
comprises 80 percent of the recipe. Even better, it's easy to
make fermented veggies at home in six simple steps. If you
can, make a large batch at once, as the finished product will
keep for many months in your refrigerator, offering you a
medicinal superfood whenever you want it.
Cut Down on Your Protein Intake to Stretch Your Food Budget (and
Improve Your Health)
Protein is one of the most expensive parts of most people's
diets. The featured study found, for instance, that price
differences per serving for healthier versus less healthy foods
were largest among meats/proteins. As far as inexpensive,
high-quality protein goes, organic free-range eggs are one of
your best options.
Wild Alaskan salmon is another, and though it can be pricey,
you only need to eat a few ounces two or three times a week.
There's no doubt that high-quality protein is an important
part of any diet, including an anti-aging one. However, you do
need to be careful to not consume too much. Please
understand that the average American consumes anywhere from
three to five times as much protein as they need. Protein is
generally encouraged as being a healthy choice, especially if
you are swapping it for refined carbs, but I believe it is the
rare person who really needs more than one-half gram of protein
per pound of lean body mass. Those that are aggressively
exercising or competing and pregnant women should have about 25%
more, but most people rarely need more than 40-70 grams of
protein a day.
To determine your lean body mass, find out your percent body
fat and subtract from 100. So if you are 20% body fat you would
have 80% lean body mass. Just multiply that by your current
weight to get lean body mass. For most people, this means
restricting protein intake from 35 to 75 grams a day. As
mentioned, pregnant women and those working out extensively need
about 25% more protein though. When you consume protein in
levels higher than recommended above, you tend to activate the
mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) pathway, which can help you
get large muscles but may also increase your risk of cancer.
There is some research that suggests the "mTOR
gene" is a significant regulator of the aging process, and
suppressing this gene may be linked to longer life. Generally
speaking, as far as eating for optimal health goes, most people
consume too much low-quality protein and carbohydrates,
and not enough healthy fat. This is good news if you're on a
tight budget, as cutting down on the protein you consume will
help to slash your food bill.
Grow Your Own Vegetables (Including Sprouts)
Growing your own vegetables is one of the best ways to
include organic produce in your diet at a very low cost. When
factoring in startup and maintenance costs, a well-maintained
food garden yields a
$500 average return each year compared to the market price
of produce, according to the National Gardening Association.
Contrary to popular belief, you don't need a lot of space to
grow vegetables.
In her book The Edible Balcony, Alex Mitchell
details how to grow fresh produce in small spaces. Filled with
beautiful color photographs throughout, the book helps you
determine what might work best for you, depending on your space
and location, and guides you through the design basics of a
bountiful small-space garden. For example, those who live in a
high-rise apartment will undoubtedly have to contend with more
wind than those who live on the bottom floor.
There are solutions for virtually every problem, and in this
case, wind-tolerant plants can be used, or you could construct
some sort of protective screening. You can use virtually every
square foot of your space, including your lateral space. Hanging
baskets are ideal for a wide variety of foods, such as
strawberries, leafy greens, runner beans, pea shoots, tomatoes,
and a variety of herbs. And instead of flowers, window boxes can
hold herbs, greens, radishes, scallions, bush beans,
strawberries, chard, and chilies, for example. Other creative
solutions to take advantage of every nook and cranny, and
recycle common household items for your garden, include:
Attaching horizontal rows of gutters on a wall, which
can hold your leafy greens and herbs
A hanging bottle herb garden, using discarded plastic
bottles
Two or more stacked tires with a plastic bag to hold the
soil can make for an excellent planter for plants that like
warm soil, such as sweet potatoes and basil
Sprouts are another authentic "super food" that many
overlook. In addition to their superior nutritional profile,
sprouts are really easy to grow even if you're an apartment
dweller, as they don't require an outdoor garden. A powerhouse
of nutrition, sprouts can contain up to 30 times the nutrition
of organic vegetables grown in your own garden, and allow your
body to extract more vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and
essential fats from the foods you eat.
During sprouting, minerals, such as calcium and magnesium,
bind to protein, making them more bioavailable. Furthermore,
both the quality of the protein and the fiber content of beans,
nuts, seeds, and grains improve when sprouted. The content of
vitamins and essential fatty acids also increases dramatically
during the sprouting process. You can find
tips for planting and harvesting sprouts here.
I've assembled everything you need to grow delicious and
nutritious sprouts
here.
53 More Tips to Eat Organic on a Budget
Vani Hari, blogger and founder of FoodBabe.com, has
compiled a long list of tips on how to save money while buying
organic.5
In order to protect your health, I believe you should spend 90
percent of your food budget on whole foods, and only 10 percent
on processed foods (unfortunately most Americans currently do
the opposite). This requires some strategy, especially if you're
working with a tight budget, but Hari's tips that follow will
help considerably.
FIND AND USE ORGANIC COUPONS
Check the websites of your favorite companies for
coupons and special promotions; almost all of them have
some.
Join your favorite company's social media pages for
special coupons and deals.
Check out various organic coupon sites online for
organic food/natural living coupons, and money-savings
ideas.
Most stores take each other's coupons, so don't be
afraid to use them all in one shopping trip at your most
convenient or favorite store.
AT HOME AND IN THE KITCHEN
Stay organized. Plan out your meals for the week
according to organic foods that are on sale and/or that you
have coupons for.
Budget. Write out a weekly and monthly budget to help
you keep track of both erratic spending and responsible
spending. This will allow you to see your spending habits
and help you prioritize purchasing organic food within your
budget.
Do it yourself, rather than buy it. Make your own kale
chips, smoothies, and vegetable juices to replace
store-bought with more overhead.
Learn how to portion and prioritize – it is preferable
to always buy organic meats and dairy products, and,
therefore, learn to portion your consumption of these
products each week. For example, keep meat to 4 ounces or
less per serving.
USE YOUR FREEZER
Nine times out of 10 the organic frozen produce at the
store is cheaper than fresh, especially if the fruit or
vegetable is out of season.
Freeze all leftovers using inexpensive mason glass jars
or silicone ice molds for smaller portions.
Buy local produce when in season and freeze to save for
out of season, for example in the spring and summer spread
berries on a sheet pan and freeze overnight and then store
in jars for the fall and winter.
Double recipes and freeze leftovers; this works great
with soups and stews.
Freeze core kitchen staples like butter and cheese.
MAKE CHOICES
Meat & dairy (animals products like chicken, eggs,
cheese, butter, yogurt, milk, etc.) are the most important
to buy organic because of the combined risk of pesticide,
antibiotic, and cancer-causing growth hormone exposure.
Reduce meat and dairy consumption if you cannot afford
organic.
Buy a whole organic chicken for less per pound, vs. just
the breast, legs or wings, which are more expensive per
pound. You can use the carcass to make your own chicken
broth, as described above.
Use the "Clean 15" and "Dirty Dozen" lists available on
ewg.org to help you navigate which products to buy organic.
For example, if you have a choice between more expensive
organic red peppers and less expensive conventional
asparagus – choose the asparagus. Asparagus naturally repels
pests allowing it to be grown with minimal pesticides.
Include red pepper in your diet when it is in season or you
can find it cheaper at another grocery store.
Do not buy pre-washed and ready to eat fruits and
veggies, as they can cost twice as much.
Eat out only twice a week or less– eating organic at
home is significantly less expensive than eating at organic
restaurants.
BUY IN BULK
Take advantage of the "buy one get one free" sales or
buy one get the other for a discounted price. You never know
when it will go on sale again, so make sure to take
advantage of it and store for later use.
Always buy packaged staples on sale.
Buy unpackaged foods from bulk dispensers. Bring
measuring cups with you to the grocery store if you are
buying from bulk containers. That way you can get exactly
the amount you need for a specific recipe and you won't be
paying for extra.
Buy smaller organic spice packets or jars; old spices
lose their medicinal qualities so it is smarter to buy in
smaller quantities.
Buy the whole animal and freeze the portions you don't
use. You can do this by contacting your local farmer and
then splitting the cost with a group.
Find out what foods are in season and buy those in bulk,
as they are significantly cheaper.
Join a buying club with your neighbors, friends or
family and buy large quantities at a discount.
BUY ONLINE
Various services will deliver organic and non-GMO food
directly to your doorstep, many with some of the lowest
prices available for organic staples, meat, dairy, and other
goods.
CHOOSE ORGANIC BRANDS THAT SAVE YOU MONEY
Choose more inexpensive grocery store brand products.
Regardless of the brand, they are all required to follow the
same guidelines set forth by the USDA organic certification
program if they contain the USDA organic seal and chances
are that you won't be able to tell the difference between a
brand name and store brand.
Join grocery store loyalty programs for discounts.
Use your rewards cards always. Most convenient stores,
grocery stores, and drug stores allow you to sign-up for a
rewards or savings card that will help you save money on a
few of your items at the checkout counter. Even if this time
of purchase does not contain organic food, the extra money
that you are saving on your items can be put towards buying
it when need be.
Always remember that if you are not satisfied with your
organic product, most grocery stores and organic food
companies offer you money back guarantee.
BUY LOCAL
Local food can be significantly cheaper than food
shipped from miles away.
Find a farmers market near you through
LocalHarvest.org or
the USDA - get to know your local farmers, create a
personal relationship, and negotiate prices.
Ask your farmer about his farming practices. Some
farmers do not spray pesticides on their crops but do not
seek USDA certification to keep prices lower.
Be the last person to leave the farmer's market. Farmers
will likely cut their prices at the end of the day, so they
do not have to take their produce back to the farm.
Buy a share in a community-supported agriculture CSA
program. It's nice to contribute to a local farm's operating
expenses while getting a weekly box of fresh fruits and
vegetables.
GROW YOUR OWN FOOD
Plant an herb pot in your kitchen or somewhere
convenient so you can always have fresh herbs on hand.
Organic herbs are one of the most overpriced items at the
grocery store.
Once you start growing produce, give herbs, fruits and
vegetables as gifts to family and friends (saving money on
other material objects they might otherwise not use or
collect).
If you're really adventurous, get a couple of chickens
and hatch your own eggs.
STOP WASTING FOOD
Raw nuts and flours should be kept in the refrigerator
to last longer without going rancid.
Line your refrigerator's crisper drawer with paper
towels to absorb excess moisture, which will help keep
produce longer.
To repel bugs, place a bay leaf in containers of rice,
flour, and pastas.
Buy and keep bananas separated from one another. They
spoil slower.
Turn almond butter, yogurt, sour cream, tahini, and
cottage cheese containers upside down when stored in the
fridge – this creates a vacuum seal, keeping them fresh
longer
Do not throw away nut meal from homemade nut milk – use
it for smoothies or to make nut flours by placing the pulp
on a baking sheet and drying it out in a 250 degree oven or
dehydrator.
Repurpose vegetable pulp from juicing to add fiber to
soups, smoothies, or make crackers or bread.
Placed limp celery, baby carrots, and radishes in water
with a slice of potato to make them crunchy again.
Keep all organic citrus fruits in the fridge – they will
last up to 1-2 weeks longer.
Do not wash organic dark leafy greens or berries until
they are ready to consume.
Store herbs, spring onions, and asparagus upright in a
large glass filled with an inch of water.
If you know you will not have a chance to eat it, freeze
food before it goes bad.
Choose to eat less, use a smaller plate to help you
control the amount of food you might eat or end up wasting.
Compost all food waste to put nutrients back in your
garden (you will spend less on fertilizer).
Copyright 1997- 2015 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.