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For people living on a tight budget, buying the most inexpensive foods
may not always be the most frugal purchase over the long term. Listed
below are some tips to make sure you get the most nutrition value for
your money.
Focus on Energy Dense, Whole Foods
1. Do most of your shopping at the perimeter of the grocery store.
Focus on purchasing fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, dairy
products, and healthy grains, such as beans and lentils.
2. Limit buying empty calorie foods such as soda, processed snack foods
and ice cream. If you are a really tight food budget, skip buying these
foods at all in favor of foods that give you more nutrition for your
limited food dollars.
3. Pay attention to food labels. Visit the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration's web site for specific information on food labeling.
Note that ingredients are listed on food products in descending order
by weight.
4. Try to avoid paying for foods that list empty calorie ingredients,
such as sugar, near the top of the ingredient list. Frequent
consumption of foods high in sugar can also lead to cavities and
expensive dental bills down the line. Types of sugars that may be
listed on food ingredient labels include corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose,
brown sugar, corn syrup, and cane sugar.
5. Eat a variety of foods. Humans need a wide variety of different
nutrients to stay healthy such as iron, manganese, calcium, vitamin C,
vitamin K, etc. Eating a wide spectrum of nutrient dense foods helps to
insure that each of these dietary requirements will be met.
6. Avoid foods with trans fat. Trans fats are unhealthy, artificial
fats that were invented by food manufacturers to extend the shelf life
of products. The FDA recommends that consumers keep their intake of
trans fats as low as possible. Trans fats are most often found in
processed foods such as cookies, doughnuts, cakes and French fries. |