Knowledge is essential for understanding principles of good nutrition and practicing healthy eating habits. Knowledge provides a foundation that helps you grasp the importance of healthy eating as well as the tools you need to accomplish healthy eating goals. Knowledge can also help dispel misconceptions, such as time and expense, which surround the topic of good nutrition. Despite what you may hear or read, it is possible to eat healthy and stay within your budget. With a little knowledge and planning, healthy low cost meals can become the norm, rather than an exception, at your dinner table.
Analyze the Food Pyramid
The U.S. Department of Agriculture food pyramid provides free information relating to food groups and dietary guidelines within each group. Analyzing the information it contains can help you understand the importance of eating a variety of foods as well as help you plan nutritious meals in the right proportions. An interesting aspect of the food pyramid is that not do the foods closer to the bottom contain the least amounts of salt and sugar, making them healthier choices, but they are also often the least expensive.
Plan Meals
Taking the time to plan meals is one of the best ways to ensure your meals are both healthy and cost-effective. Using the food pyramid as a guide, the weekly sale flier from your favorite grocery store and recipes you either have on hand or find in books, magazines or Internet sites, plan meals using a "bottom-up" approach to ensure you build meals around whole grains, fruits and vegetables before moving on to foods such as meats and dairy products. Creating a shopping list as you plan can help keep expenses in check, and if you stick to your list, help prevent impulse buying.
Shop Smart
Get the most nutrition out of the foods you purchase by reading food labels. All food labels contain five sections that provide information such as servings and serving size, calories, fat content, nutritional information and daily value nutritional information you can use when comparing different foods. Get the best value for your dollar by looking at unit pricing labels. Analyzing unit pricing will allow you to determine price according to weight and compare the cost for different types of foods, such as frozen versus canned, as well as different sizes of the same type.
Tips
Combine your desire to save money with your quest for healthy meals by considering alternatives whenever possible. For example, instant oatmeal and rice are no more healthy, but are almost always more expensive than their regular counterparts, in-season fruit is usually less expensive and chuck and bottom round roast are both leaner and less expensive cuts of meat. Also, consider purchasing bulk, rather than packaged foods, as these are often less expensive than packaged foods and in addition, allow you to purchase the exact amount of food you need.
References
- United States Department of Agriculture: Inside the Pyramid
- San Bernadino County Department of Public Health: Eat Well-Plan Healthy, Low-Cost Meals Using the Food Guide Pyramid
- United States Department of Agriculture Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion: Recipes and Tips for Healthy, Thrifty Meals
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration: How to Understand and Use the Nutrition Facts Label
- Oregon State University: Stretching Your Food Dollars-Strategies at the Store
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