Healthy Foods on a Budget - Health - Nutrition

In these days of bank closures, foreclosures and greater than 10% unemployment, it is not easy to buy foods that are healthy for us. Foods that are listed as organic or have some healthy additive are usually priced 2 or more times higher than the same non-healthy items. The paranoid in me wants to say that is the conspiracy - large quantities of cheap unhealthy food that debilitate us and make us sick so we can have expensive procedures in hospitals and buy massive amounts of drugs that don't make us any better and some times sicker. But anyway...

Healthy foods don't always have to be expensive and out of reach of a normal budget. Some easy things to do are buy large quantities of in-season fruits and vegetables and freeze the excess. Frozen fruits and vegetables are nutritionally as good as fresh as long as they are frozen as soon as possible after harvesting. Use them out of season in soups and smoothies when they are more expensive or unavailable.

If you have a sunny window, you can grow herbs in pots and use them as you need them. Herbs like basil and parsley taste much better fresh than dried and are much cheaper. Always be on the look out for product coupons (especially on-line coupon sites) and sales at stores for healthy foods and again preserve (freeze) the excess. If you are unsure how to preserve different items, the Ball and Ball co. (makers of those glass canning jars) sell a book called the Ball Blue Book. This book has instructions on how to preserve almost any food you can think of, using many methods including freezing and drying. Also, you can get some good values at bulk stores, like Costco, Sam's or BJ's.

Here are 5 tips on foods that are healthier for you, improve your holistic wellness but won't break the bank:

1. Grains

Grains like like oatmeal, barley and quinoa (keen-wa) have fiber, protein and other nutrients. The fiber helps to regulate blood sugar and remove fats from your system. The protein helps maintain muscle mass. You can use the oatmeal as a healthy and filling breakfast and barley is good in soups and stews while the quinoa makes a very tasty and high fiber substitute for rice.

2. Beans

Also high in fiber and protein, beans can be a part of lunch and dinner for any household. There are many varieties available, red, black, navy, garbanzo and kidney beans. The most inexpensive are the dried varieties. When cooking them use a healthy oil like olive or canola oil and if you use meat make it low fat and low salt meat.

3. Eggs

A great source of high quality protein, eggs are an inexpensive choice over meat. They also contain antioxidants, lutein and zeaxanthin, which help keep eyes healthy. If you have high cholesterol, keep it down to one or two eggs per day.

4. Fish

Canned fish like tuna, salmon and anchovies are a great source of omega 3 fats which have been shown to improve heart health and arthritis, reduce the risk of dementia and Alzheimer's, reduce depression and lower blood pressure. All three fishes mentioned if packed in olive oil or spring water provide a high amount of protein and omega-3 fats without adding unwanted fats or salt to you diet.

5. Milk

Low fat milk, low fat cottage cheese, and low fat plain yogurt are all high in protein, calcium and vitamins notably vitamin d. New research is showing low levels of vitamin D may be linked to several diseases, such as high blood pressure, cancer, periodontal disease, chronic pain, seasonal affective disorder, elevated VLDL triglycerides, peripheral artery disease, and several autoimmune diseases including type 1 diabetes. Buy the bulk quantities of cottage cheese and yogurt. Make sure you get the plain variety, the flavored types are high in unnecessary and unhealthy sugar and high fructose corn syrup. If the plain flavors aren't tasty to you cut up and add fruits like strawberries or peaches to liven it up and improve your health and wellness.

There are many ways you can eat healthy and still not spend a lot of extra money. The Internet is a great place to do the necessary research for this. There are plenty of blogs out there offering information and ideas to help you, Dr. Weil, Jorge Cruz and Cary Ellis are just a few of the many. Look them up, be healthy and...

Be well.

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