Eating Healthy On A Budget And How?

Most times, we find chips and Coca-Cola cheaper. We opt for them not putting nutrients into considerations; Mama J’s food, we think, will save us the money for buying whole-grain bread with egg fried with tomatoes and pepper, apple and good hot tea in the morning coupled with clean water.

The Income available is one factor that affects what we eat, and people often think it is impossible to eat a healthy meal that suits their budget. They often think a portion of healthy food is quite expensive.

   

What is a healthy diet?

A healthy diet is a diet that contains the right amount of nutrients such as carbohydrates, protein, fats, water, minerals, and vitamins to meet an individual’s dietary needs. A healthy diet is rich in Nutrient-dense foods.

       

Nutrient-dense foods include whole grains such as wheat, corn, quinoa, and barley; Fruits such as Blueberries, Strawberries, and Pomegranates; Oily fish rich in Omega 3 fatty acids such as salmon and sardines; low-fat dairy product such as yogurt and milk, lean meats and vegetables such as mushrooms, potatoes, and bell peppers.

Foods low in nutrient density include soft drinks, snacks, and baked foods.

A healthy diet is based on variety, balance, and moderation.

How to eat healthy on a budget?

• Eat variety of foods: No one food can provide all the nutrients the body needs for optimal health; eating various foods helps us ensure an adequate nutrient intake.

 A variety includes whole grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products, and meats in the diet; however, it involves eating from different food groups.

Choosing variety of foods prevents the excess of any food.

• Balance food choices: Balance enables the combination of the foods with low nutrient density one might want to consume and the nutrient-dense foods without causing any harm to one’s health. 

Balance involves mixing and matching foods in proportions that allow an individual to get enough of the nutrients needed and not too much of the ones that can cause harm to the body.

• Eat with moderation: Moderation involves not consuming too much fat, energy, sugar, salt; moderation enables combining foods in their appropriate sizes.

 

Benefits of eating a healthy diet includes to prevent diseases, for proper heart function, for development of strong bones and muscles, to reduce risk of cancer and other non-communicable disease such as diabetes, hypertension, stroke and mental disorders such as depression, anxiety.

      

How to eat healthy on a budget;

• Cook at home

• Plan your meals

• Shopping for seasonal produce

• Grow your produce

• Buy whole foods

• Stick to your shopping list

Eating a healthy diet that suits a family budget is both possible and vital. A healthy diet includes the classes of nutrients in the right proportion. It is advisable to take varieties of foods from different food groups. Balancing and moderation helps to ensure our diets are healthy, consume foods with a high nutrient density, buy seasonal foods, cook at home, and grow your produce to reduce the cost of eating a healthy meal.

Thanks for reading!

Ensure you like and comment.

Article by;

Kikelomo Omotosho

Food, Nutrients & Health

......................................................

For other related articles visit our blog

www.thefoodlegends.blogspot.com