The Price Difference Between Healthy Food & Fast Food

If you check out the dollar menu at your favorite fast-food restaurant, the prices seem hard to beat – for about $3 you can get a double cheeseburger, a small order of fries and a dessert. You could easily spend three to four times as much for a nutritious meal at a sit-down restaurant. But with careful grocery shopping and a little time spent in the kitchen, you can eat healthy food on a strict budget.

Fast Food Nutrtion

A double cheeseburger provides 25 grams of protein, a good portion of the 50 grams to 125 grams of protein you need daily. But the burger also comes with 23 grams of saturated fat, including 11 grams of saturated fat. Your daily total of fat should not exceed 44 grams to 78 grams and your daily intake of saturated fat should not top 16 grams to 22 grams. A small order of fries adds another 11 grams of fat, including 1.5 grams of saturated fat. And three chocolate chip cookies adds another 24 grams of fat – 10.5 from saturated fat.

Healthy Meal

Your bargain meal provides 1,150 calories – more than half the total of a standard 2,000-calorie-a-day diet – and exceeds the high range of recommended saturated fat intake. For less than $3, you could eat a low-fat, healthy meal that included foods from all food groups. It would take an initial investment of about $10 in groceries and a commitment to spend about 30 minutes in the kitchen. A sample meal includes 1 cup of black beans, 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup of broccoli, a medium apple and 1cup of nonfat milk. The calories for the meal add up to about 560. Total fat is fewer than 4 grams and the saturated fat content equals less than 2 grams.

Fiber

The sample healthy meal includes more than 23 grams of fiber. A healthy diet includes at least 25 grams of fiber daily for a woman and 38 grams for a man. While saturated fat can elevate your cholesterol, fiber can help lower it. Fiber also helps reduce your blood pressure and your blood glucose and may help you lose weight. The fiber in the beans, rice, broccoli and apple will keep you feeling full longer than the fiber in the sample fast food meal, which contains 8 grams of fiber.

Considerations

Restaurants that bill themselves as organic or healthy will likely charge more for a meal than you’d pay at a fast-food restaurant. But if you want a cheap, healthy lunch without cooking at home, you don’t have to entirely ignore fast food options. Some fast food chains offer a selection of healthy side items, including beans, coleslaw, salads, and steamed vegetables and some include low fat entrees that include grilled chicken and stir fried vegetables.