subject: I Can't Afford To Eat Healthy [print this page] If you want to make healthy food choices but feel that you can't do so due to financial limitations consider that as an invalid excuse. Making healthy food choices doesn't have to be expensive. In fact, nutrient-rich foods aren't any more expensive than processed, nutrient-dense foods. More than that, nutrient-dense foods not only fail to serve you as a matter of good health but they are actually more expensive. Let me explain how.
Compare the cost of a box of high-fructose corn syrup laden cereal to the cost of a canister of oatmeal. The canister of oatmeal is not only cheaper but you will get several more servings from it versus the box of cereal. Also, oatmeal is rich in soluble fiber, Vitamin B and complex carbohydrates. It can lower blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease not to mention its many uses. You can make granola, oatmeal cookies, or baked bread. You can even use oatmeal as a body scrub or a face mask. Meanwhile, many of the cereals dominating the grocery store shelves are packed with sugar, salt and fat and serve only one purpose. Indisputably oatmeal would be the healthier and more cost efficient choice here.
There are several more comparisons that could be made that are even more compelling than this one. I could go on for days strengthening my case by making a long list of comparisons from fresh fruit versus processed junk food snacks to fresh vegetables versus frozen, processed meals to make my point, but that won't be necessary as I'm sure that you're starting to get the point. The intent is to get you to see that eating healthy is a choice and it's a choice about what you deem to be important not about financial expense. Fresh, natural foods are always available to us in abundance, are reasonably priced, rich in nutrients and vitamins, less toxic, less burdensome on the environment, better-tasting and feed more of the world's population. For these reasons alone, making the decision to eat healthier should not only be a priority but it should become a way of life. That said, if you want to eat healthier don't use cost as an excuse not to, but instead use your well-being as a reason to make the dietary change. It's a decision that your mind, body, people of the world and the environment will greatly thank you for.
