Something I’ve heard in regards to losing weight and improving health. Is how expensive it is to improve your diet by eating “healthy”. Of course, it can appear like you can buy a cheeseburger from a fast food chain for less than more nutritious foods.
Eating a healthy diet with being overly expensive
It’s not uncommon for some people to believe that you need to eat fresh foods and organic to be healthy. Sometimes even going as far as claiming if it comes in a box don’t eat it. This isn’t necessarily true. As we will be going into some alternative ways to purchase some whole foods that can be just as good.
Canned and frozen foods
Canned foods, some people may think that because food is in a can that it isn’t as good as fresh foods. So you can get a variety of fish, fruit, and vegetables from a tin. But the truth is canned food can be as good if not better than fresh food because it is sealed. You should be aware of if you’re buying fruit in syrup, juice, or water because the syrup is higher in calories due to the higher sugar content. Canned foods will typically last up to 3 days after being opened, just pop them back in the fridge after you’ve portioned out what you need for the day.
Frozen vegetables, you can pick up vegetables that are bags. You might assume vegetables from the fruit and veg aisle are “healthier” because they’re fresh. But they’re typically frozen close to the time they’re picked. So they may have more nutrients than fresh vegetables. Because as soon as they’re picked they start to lose nutrients and freezing them can help retain more nutrition.
Buying frozen or canned food can help reduce wastage as you’re only taking what you need when you need it. You also have more time to use the food since it’s packaged. As we can end up unnecessarily throwing out food because we may have bought more than we needed and may have been lying around longer and went off.
Plan ahead
Take a shopping list with you when you’re going to the shops. If you know well in advance what foods you need in your refrigerator and freezer. You will only buy what you need. You’re less likely to wander about buying more than you need or be tempted by the deals on less nutritious foods.
Shop local
Aim to eat foods that are locally sourced where possible. For example, animal products such as meat are often more expensive. There are some shops such as Lidl and Aldi, that aim to source foods locally. If foods are more local it’s typically more affordable as food is taking less distance to travel to end up in your local shops.
So on the surface, it can seem like eating a “healthy” diet is expensive. But with some strategies, we can help to reduce the cost of higher food bills. By canned and frozen whole foods and planning what we need at home.
