When bad economic times hit the first thing to go can be your food budget. Buying cheaper eats—like processed foods or something from the fast food dollar menu—may seem like good financial sense, but you could pay dearly down the road.
It’s true--dollar for dollar processed food delivers more calories. For instance, for about the same cost, you could consume 1,200 calories of potato chips, cookies or soda pop and only 250 calories of carrots, says Jennifer Ventrelle, a clinical nutritionist and registered dietitian at Rush University in Chicago. But all those empty calories are a prescription for weight gain that can lead to a host of health problems including cardiac disease, type II diabetes—even some cancers.
But eating on a skinny budget doesn’t have to mean eating food that’s not healthy. Here are some tips from the experts on how to do it right.
Eat fiber: “Fiber keeps you feeling full because it takes longer to digest than simple carbohydrates,” Ventrelle said. “Consequently, you eat less.”
Sweet potatoes are high in fiber, and also inexpensive and packed with cancer-fighting antioxidants. White potatoes can be high in fiber if you leave the skin on. Bean, lentil, tomato, or broth-based soups take up more space in your stomach and help to keep you feeling satisfied. Lettuce and mixed greens do the same. You can buy them in bundles instead of pre-cut to save on cost.
“Brown rice is another high-fiber option. Buy the long-cooking kind instead of the instant to cut down on cost,” Ventrelle said. "You can make your own 'instant' rice by cooking it ahead of time and freezing half-cup portions in individual bags – a trick that not only saves money but also controls your portion size.”
Eat Colorfully: “Buying colorful fruits and vegetables that are in season are less expensive than those out of season because shipping and storage costs are minimized,” said Colleen Doyle, MS, RD and director of nutrition and physical exercise for the American Cancer Society.
Moreover, eating a produce-rich diet not only helps you eat smaller portions of higher-calorie foods like meats and starches but the most colorful fruits and vegetables are packed with cancer-preventing antioxidants and phytochemicals, she said. Since fruits and vegetables are low in calories, eating a plant-based diet aids getting to and maintaining a healthy weight without feeling hungry.
In the fall, look for seasonal produce such as apples, carrots, collards, kale, parsnips, pomegranates, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, winter squash, Brussel sprouts, broccoli cabbage, cauliflower, cranberries, jicama, onions, pears, blueberries, cranberries and turnips.
Plan ahead: Planning your shopping trips and meal menu ahead of time ensures you do not overspend or overeat said Ventrelle. This also allows you to shop grocery store sales for the best food prices, and divide items purchased for multiple meals.
For example, a three-pound lean pork roast priced at $12 might seem like an extravagant purchase. But think again, said M.J. Smith, author of 60 days of Low-Fat, Low-Cost Meals in Minutes
“The average shopper doesn’t look at the roast and think, ‘that’s enough meat to provide three dinners for a family of four,’ they just look at the price tag and see it as out-of-reach,” she said.
Smith suggests the first meal might be slices of roast pork, served with a baked potato or fresh breadsticks, and steamed broccoli or a salad. For the second and third meals, leftover pork roast can be made into chili or stew, and shredded to make barbecue sandwiches on whole-wheat buns.
Ventrelle suggests creating your own "TV dinners" by preparing large batches of soups, chili, stir-fry dishes, or pastas over the weekend. Divide the food into individualized portions using sandwich-size freezer bags. These can be portion-sized for low-cost “brown bag” lunches at work or for quick meals at home.
Lynette Summerill is an award-winning writer who lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. In addition to writing about cancer-related issues for EmpowHER, she pens Nonsmoking Nation, a blog following global tobacco news and events.