Eat Clean on a Budget

Many people believe eating healthy is expensive, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, when compared dollar for dollar, many times it is evident that filling up on fresh whole, natural food is more cost effective than buying processed junk foods. There are several strategies for adhering to a clean diet while staying within a tight budget.

Eat Seasonally

When a produce item is in season, it is more readily available, and therefore less expensive. Find out what crops are in season in your area, and plan your shopping trips accordingly. Not only will you save a bundle of money, you'll also preserve more nutrients: Brian Halweil, author of "Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket", says "If you harvest something early so that it can endure a long distance shipping experience, it's not going to have the full complement of nutrients it might have had."

Buy Frozen

When your favorite fruits and vegetables are not in season, don't be afraid to buy them frozen. The U.S. National Library of Medicine confirms that vegetables are generally frozen immediately after they're harvested, when they are at their nutritional peak; therefore, in most cases, frozen and canned vegetables are an acceptable alternative to fresh produce.

Pass up Organic

Some people think that in order to eat healthier, they have to switch to more expensive organic foods. But according to a review ordered by England's Food Safety Agency and carried out by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, there is no hard evidence that organic produce is superior to conventional produce in terms of nutritional value. So go ahead and buy the regular apples; you'll most likely receive the same vitamins as the organic varieties.

Go Meatless

By replacing the meat in your lunch or dinner meal with beans or rice a few nights a week, you can save a lot of money, especially if you are a heavy consumer of meat products. MyPyramid.gov encourages replacing meat with beans, tofu, chickpeas or rice as a regular way to control calories and reduce fat intake.

Go for Generic

Generic food items are often nutritionally similar to name brands, with a much lower price tag. Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph.D. and nutrition and diet editor for CNS Today, advocates buying generic store brands instead of more expensive name brand food items. "The nutritional value of the food is the same, whether it's canned, frozen, or bagged," she says.

http://www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid/meat_tips.html

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/17113255

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002095.htm

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/ezra-klein/2009/08/organic_foods_vs_conventional.html

http://life.gaiam.com/gaiam/p/Benefits-of-Eating-Whats-in-Season-at-Your-Local-Farmers-Market.html

1. http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/17113255 - video-related

By Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph.D., CNS TODAY nutrition and diet editor

TODAY

updated 2/12/2007 10:28:56 AM ET

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My weight-loss clinic is filled with patients who want to "

With food prices rising, I want to convince you that it's not so hard to eat healthy on the cheap. I took a trip to my local supermarket to give you some tips on how to eat well while minding your pocketbook.

Here are some ways you can save money on your food bill, and still

Before you even walk out the door, sit down, write out a list, and stick to it. Shop once a week, and cut out coupons from the paper (skip those for processed foods that are expensive, even with the coupon!)

Money-saving fundamentals:

Buy generic:

Skip organic:

Chose large-sized drinks:

Make your own snacks:

Cut down on the number of snacks you buy. Make a family decision - choose one treat from the chip and cookie categories, and buy a large bag of each for the week. No need for multiple bags of snacks. Most processed snack foods are expensive and typically provide little if any nutritional punch.

Go frozen:

Avoid the exotic:

Buy sale items:

What about restaurant eating?

Dr. Fernstrom's Bottom Line:

Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph.D., CNS,is the founder and director of the

PLEASE NOTE: The information in this column should not be construed as providing specific medical advice, but rather to offer readers information to better understand their lives and health. It is not intended to provide an alternative to professional treatment or to replace the services of a physician.

© 2010 MSNBC Interactive.†With a little pre-planning, you can be a healthier eater on a budget. You can enjoy greater variety, avoid deprivation, and gain a shopping strategy that is both easy on your waistline and your wallet.
Instead of choosing a "value meal" at a fast-food restaurant, downsize to a "kid's meal" - better portion control, and an option of bottled water (instead of soda) and veggies instead of fries if you choose. Too tired too cook? Buy a rotisserie chicken at the store, and add the side dishes, drinks, and dessert at home.Look for sales, but only if you know what to do with the food! Items like meat, and poultry can be divided and frozen for later use† for a variety of meals. Shop the warehouses, if you can split the packages with a friend - particularly for perishable foods. That five-pound bag of vegetables doesn't look very big in a warehouse store, but can hardly fit in many refrigerators.
Go with "standard" colors of vegetables and fruits - green peppers, for example, are not as exotic as yellow, red, or orange, but are a fraction of the cost. Stick with whole fruits and vegetables, and cut them up yourself. Don't buy the pre-cut stuff. And any leftovers can be put in a plastic bag and frozen for later use.The winter does pose a challenge when balancing nutrient intake and cost. Bananas, apples, and pears are all good choices. For other produce, go to the frozen food cases. Frozen (or canned packed in water or 100 percent juice) fruits and vegetables are good choices. Skip ones packed in sauces. And look for low-salt options.Try freezing your own berries during the summer, when prices are low.There's been in explosion in single-serving snacks from chips to cookies to cereal. Many are available 100-calorie portions. While portion control is a great thing, you don't need to pay for it. Buy some snack-size re-sealable plastic bags, and make your own single-serving packets.
Avoid buying soda, juice drinks, and sports drinks. Limit 100 percent juice purchases - buy the whole fruit instead. Stick with water - from the tap (unless there is a health concern to limit your local area's tap water). Skip the bottled water. If you do purchase 100 percent juice or soda, choose reduced-sugar or sugar-free, and a large size (half gallon is common) for better savings. The single serving packages are costly - you're paying for the container.
There are some benefits to buying organic foods, but the nutritional content is equivalent is both organic and "conventional" (non-organic) foods. You don't necessarily get better nutritional content with organic foods, although some people prefer the taste of organic foods. Buy conventional items to save money. Try to buy locally grown foods, when in season, for added savings.Generic brands can provide a great savings when shopping and are often labeled as the store's brands. The nutritional value of the food is the same, whether it's canned, frozen, or bagged eat healthy," but believe it's just too expensive. Maybe you feel the same way. eating healthy.

• Don't go shopping on an empty stomach! Make sure you shop after a meal, or after a light snack to help resist temptation.

• Shop the perimeter (outside) of the store first. That's where all of the healthier choices usually are; you'll avoid all the more processed, costly items.

• Look for sales on fresh fruits and vegetables - stores get a bargain sometimes, and pass that savings on to you

• Choose a large bag of fruit (like apples or pears), instead of the single, large fruits priced per pound. foods . University of Pittsburgh Medical Center's Weight Management Center . Reprints

Foods - fresh vs. frozen or canned

URL of this page:

Vegatables are an important part of a well-balanced diet. Many people wonder if frozen and canned vegetables are as nutritious as fresh vegetables. The answer to this question depends on both the time between the harvesting of the vegetable and the canning and freezing process. Generally, vegetables are canned or frozen immediately upon harvest when their nutrient content is at its peak.

The way vegetables are prepared at home can also affect the nutrient content. Vegetables of any type (fresh, frozen, or canned) that are boiled in large amounts of water for long periods of time lose much of their nutritional content compared with vegetables that are lightly steamed.

Vegetables fresh from the farm or just picked are more nutritious than their frozen or canned counterparts, but frozen and canned vegetables are an acceptable nutritional alternative. Just be mindful of the amount of salt added to canned vegetables; try to buy those without added salt. And, don't overcook any vegetables.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002095.htm

Organic Foods vs. Conventional Produce

Speaking of Tom Philpott, he takes

Philpott has a couple of problems with this. He notes that the Organic Center -- an outlet funded by organic food companies -- has published studies coming to a different result. He also notes that they published a

Obviously, neither Philpott nor I are epidemiologists. We're not nutritional scientists. I won't pretend to be able to fully evaluate the worth of competing studies on these matters. Philpott also makes a circumstantial argument about nitrates that is plausible, but hasn't been studied. I'm skeptical, as a lot of these connections fall apart when studied. But you should check it out for yourself and decide.

At any rate, the hard evidence of health benefits for organic foods has been mixed at best. There are no long-term studies showing that consumption of organic foods will make people healthier over a long period of time. That's not to say organic foods are bad. They may taste better, or be more environmentally friendly. And we may even eventually find that they are healthier. But I'm much more worried about getting people to eat fruits and vegetables in general than I am about getting fruit and vegetable eaters to switch to organics. And what we do know is that organic produce is more expensive and harder to find.

By Ezra Klein †|† August 11, 2009; 5:18 PM ET issue today with my contention that studies don't show that organic fruits and vegetables are measurably more nutritious than agriculture grown through conventional means. The most recent data on this come from a massive literature review commissioned by Britain's Food Safety Agency (their version of our FDA, essentially) and conducted by Britain's London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. They concluded that a "systematic review of literature over 50 years finds no evidence for superior nutritional content of organic produce." critique of the British survey. Among their criticisms was that "the [British] team did not include total antioxidant capacity among the nutrients studied," which makes me pretty suspicious, given the wealth of studies showing that antioxidants do not appear to reduce the risk of cancer or heart disease or anything else.

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Eat local. Eat what's in season. Confused by multiple messages about what to eat and where to buy it?† We've looked into eating what's in season (and grown locally) and have it all figured out. Here's why you should (really) do it.

Easy on the Wallet

Let's begin with cost. When produce is in season locally, the relative abundance of the crop usually makes it less expensive. Think of the packaged herbs you see in a grocery store during the winter - a few (usually limp) sprigs of basil, all too frequently with black speckles and moldy leaves, cost about $3 per half ounce. In contrast, the gorgeous, bright green, crisp basil you see in both grocery stores and at farmer's markets in the summer when basil is in season often sells for as little as $1-2 for an enormous bunch. It's the basic law of supply and demand, and when crops are in season you'll be rewarded financially by purchasing what's growing now.

It's the Taste That Counts

For most of us, the taste of the food we buy is every bit as important as the cost, if not more so. When food is not in season locally, it's either grown in a hothouse or shipped in from other parts of the world, and both affect the taste. Compare a dark red, vine-ripened tomato still warm from the summer sun with a winter hothouse tomato that's barely red, somewhat mealy, and lacking in flavor. When transporting crops, they must be harvested early and refrigerated so they don't rot during transportation. They may not ripen as effectively as they would in their natural environment and as a result they don't develop their full flavor.

"Foods lose flavor just as they lose moisture when they are held. Fresh, locally harvested foods have their full, whole flavors intact, which they release to us when we eat them," explains Susan Herrmann Loomis, owner of On Rue Tatin Cooking School in France and author of numerous cookbooks. "Foods that are chilled and shipped lose flavor at every step of the way - chilling cuts their flavor, transport cuts their flavor, being held in warehouses cuts their flavor." It's hard to be enthusiastic about eating five servings a day of flavorless fruits and vegetables and it's even harder to get your children to be enthusiastic about it. But 16-year-old Jenny Morris from Littleton, CO is a big fan of eating locally grown fruit in season. "I'd stand in line for one of those peaches from the farmer's market," she says, referring to the succulent peaches harvested mid-summer from Colorado's western slope.

Variety All Year Long

Many people are surprised to find that a wide variety of crops are harvested in the fall (squash, apples, endive, garlic, grapes, figs, mushrooms) and winter (citrus, kale, radishes, turnips, leeks) in addition to products that we readily associate with the summer like sweet peas, corn, peaches, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, and green beans. To find out what's harvested seasonally in your area, go to www.localharvest.org to find farmers' markets near you and seasonal produce guides.

Save Nutrients, Save Flavor, and Save Gas Too!

According to Brian Halweil, author of "Eat Here: Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket," "If you harvest something early so that it can endure a long distance shipping experience, it's not going to have the full complement of nutrients it might have had." In addition, transporting produce sometimes requires irradiation (zapping the produce with a burst of radiation to kill germs) and preservatives (such as wax) to protect the produce which is subsequently refrigerated during the trip. While no definitive study quantifies the impact of these treatments, Halweil says there is good reason to believe that eating local is really the safer option. Loomis shares his concern and adds, "We have become terribly cavalier about quality, flavor and texture." She prefers to buy her produce locally, and preferably from a farmer she knows.

IMBY (In My Backyard), or Not Too Far

Because of limited growing seasons in most regions, it's virtually impossible to eat locally and in season 100% of the time. So what's your best bet? If possible, grow it and pick it yourself - you'll know exactly what went into growing those vegetables and you can enjoy them at their peak the day they are harvested. If gardening isn't your thing, visit a local farmer's market weekly or join a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm, some of whom even deliver the weekly harvest to convenient distribution locations. While it might not always be possible to purchase your seasonal produce locally, the next best thing is to purchase what's in season somewhere else - and hopefully not too very far away to minimize shipping time and subsequent damage.

So determine what's in season right now and dig in. You'll be rewarded with high quality produce, packed with nutrition, at a lower cost. And your taste buds will definitely thank you for it!

localharvest.org An associate professor of psychiatry, epidemiology, and surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Fernstrom is also a board-certified nutrition specialist from theAmerican College of Nutrition.