Having a Healthy Diet on a Budget

Eating a healthy diet on a budget requires some planning and discipline but will help you save on healthcare costs in the long run. Besides, there are plenty of nutrient-dense foods that are affordable and easy to incorporate into your menu.

What to Add to Your Diet

Being rich in antioxidants, russet potatoes help boost immunity and prevent chronic diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease. They are also loaded with vitamins and minerals, including manganese, potassium, vitamin B6, and vitamin C. And they are cheap. Onions are also inexpensive and offer many benefits such as healthy blood sugar levels, stronger bones, and better digestive health. Other cheap foods to add to your diet are cantaloupe, apples, berries, and sweet potatoes.

Plan Your Meals

Planning your meals will help you to make a grocery list and avoid shopping mistakes. Having a grocery list also helps avoid impulse buys which can be expensive. Before you go to the store, you may want to go through your pantry and fridge so that you don’t buy things you already have.

Sticking to your list will help you to avoid expensive purchases. Shopping at eye level, on the other hand, can be a pricey mistake. Brands are known for paying a lot of money for premium placement. Avoid the middle of the store as well as this is where you typically find highly processed foods.

Use an App

If you find it difficult to plan your meals or get easily sidetracked while shopping, consider using a grocery list app. They are easy to use and can help you maximize your savings. Some apps feature a mealboard and allow you to import and add recipes. You will also get the total cost of your purchases so that you can stick to your budget. Some apps also allow you to track your fridge and cabinets inventory. Others enable users to send, share, and sync lists, organize and browse products by category and aisle, comparison shop, and scan barcodes. And if you find it difficult to make a list of what you need, you can use a grocery list template to buy essentials. Finally, there are apps that feature item descriptions, including flavor matches, cooking uses, taste profiles, and photos. This will help you to add nutrient-rich foods to your diet and come up with healthy meals.

Cook at Home

Cooking at home will save you money that you spend on dining out. It is a good idea to prepare large meals and use the leftovers to make burritos, salads, stir-fries, and stews. If you also use inexpensive, healthy foods, you will save a lot of money.

There are plenty of great recipes to follow and prepare meals out of leftovers. For example, you can add vegetables, milk, and eggs to spaghetti to make frittata. Or you can use leftover bread to make bread pudding by adding whole milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Avoid Junk Food

While this sounds like obvious, you will be surprised how expensive junk food is. Besides, items such as processed food, prepackaged meals, cookies, and soda are laden with empty calories. Products to avoid include potato chips, sweetened breakfast cereal, sugary drinks, and bottled smoothies. Surprisingly, some foods that are advertised as healthy turn out to be bad for health as is the case with brown rice. Recent studies show that brown rice contains arsenic which increases the risk for heart disease and lung, bladder, and skin cancer.

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Teaching Kids the Importance of Balanced and Healthy Diet

Eating a healthy diet is especially important for children as it aids their physical and mental development. While adults need the same categories of nutrients to stay healthy, kids need different amounts based on age.

Essential Nutrients for Children

The nutrients that aid development include omega-3 DHA, vitamin D, iron, and calcium. Omega-3 offers multiple health benefits and is found in fatty fish such as tuna, mackerel, and salmon. It is essential for a number of health aspects, from immunity and heart health to the normal brain function and fetal development. Vitamin D helps strengthen the immune response and is found in cooked fatty fishes, cod liver oil, fortified foods, and eggs yolks. Iron not only facilitates kids’ cognitive development but helps prevent anemia and boosts immunity. Foods that are healthy and rich in iron include legumes, spinach, quinoa, and pumpkin seeds.

Encourage Healthy Eating

Encouraging kids to eat certain foods helps teach the importance of a balanced and healthy diet. It also helps kids to develop healthy eating habits. To this, it is important to show and explain what eating right is. Basically, children need dairy products, grains, vegetables, fruits, and protein-rich foods. Protein is important for a number of body functions such as immune response, repair of tissues, and growth. Include foods such as peas, beans, eggs, poultry, and lean meat. Fruits are packed with vital minerals, vitamins, and fiber and are a good source of antioxidants. Serve a variety of dried and fresh fruits but avoid juices and canned fruits that are high in sugar. Eating vegetables also helps protect children against disease as they are rich in fiber, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, and water. Avoid canned and frozen vegetables as they are high in sodium.

Talk about Portion Size

While it is important to encourage children to eat certain foods, portion size also matters. Make sure they know that the amount of pasta, rice, or legumes they have matches their fist. Fats such as mayonnaise or butter should match the tip of a kid’s thumb. Visualizing portion size is a good way to teach children to eat right. It is also a good idea to read serving size together when preparing packaged or canned foods.

Teaching Children to Eat Healthy to Avoid Disorders

The best way to teach children how to make healthy food choices is to be a positive role model for them. When parents eat a balanced diet, they show children that healthy eating is important for them. On the other hand, overeating or being obsessed over products with certain nutrients can lead to eating disorders later in life. If children loose or gain weight quickly over a short period, this is a red flag. Other signs to watch for are shaming others, talking a lot about appearance and weight, and skipping meals.