Could You Eat Healthy Food on $3.37 a Day?

Food assistance varies from state to state. A typical family using the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the official name for food stamps, will have about $3.37 per person, per day, to buy their food.

Not enough money is the most often-cited obstacle to eating a healthy diet, but there are low-cost superfoods available that contribute priceless benefits to your health. Research from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) found that eating a healthy diet costs only $1.50 more per day than eating an unhealthy one.

Part of what makes the processed food diet cheaper is the fact that the US government is actively supporting a diet that consists of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), soybean oil, corn oil, and grain-fed cattle, a direct result of their farm subsidy system.

So while it’s certainly possible to eat healthy on a limited budget, this first requires that you understand what constitutes a healthy meal, and then that you have access to such foods, which is not always the case.

And as for cost, an extra $1.50 a day is a major hurdle for many, but for others for whom the cost can be readily absorbed, the extra investment will yield great returns for your family’s health.

If you’re on a strict budget, you may need to start to think outside the box of what constitutes a “square” meal. Let’s say you have $2 for dinner. You might be tempted buy a burger and fries from a dollar menu.

This will fill you up for the time being, but will not give your body the nutrition it craves. With that $2 you could instead buy an avocado and cage-free organic eggs. This might not be a meal you’re accustomed to, but it will ultimately be far more satisfying and make you feel better than the fast-food burger meal.

Other phenomenal foods are also very inexpensive, making them ideal for budget shopping (although they do require some preparation at home, as most healthy foods do).

Bone Broth: Some of the Most Affordable Foods are Also the Healthiest:

Making your own bone broth is extremely cost effective, as you can make use of leftover bones that would otherwise be thrown away and it’s actually quite easy.

It can also save you money by reducing your need for dietary supplements, as bone broth provides you with a variety of important nutrients, such as calcium, magnesium, chondroitin, glucosamine, and arginine.

Simmering bones over low heat for an entire day will create one of the most nutritious and healing foods there is. You can use this broth for soups, stews, or drink it straight. The broth can also be frozen for future use.

There are lots of different ways to make bone broth, and there really isn’t a wrong way. You can find different variations online. If you’re starting out with a whole chicken, you’ll of course have plenty of meat as well, which can be added back into the broth later with extra herbs and spices to make a chicken soup, or you can use it as a separate meal.

1. Fill up a large stockpot (or large crockpot) with pure, filtered water. (A crockpot is recommended for safety reasons if you have to leave home while it’s cooking.)

2. Add vinegar and all vegetables except parsley to the water.

3. Place the whole chicken or chicken carcass into the pot.

4. Bring to a boil and remove any scum that rises to the top.

5. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting and let simmer.

6. If cooking a whole chicken, the meat should start separating from the bone after about 2 hours. Simply remove the chicken from the pot and separate the meat from the bones. Place the carcass back into the pot and continue simmering the bones for another 12-24 hours and follow with step 8 and 9.

7. If cooking bones only, simply let them simmer for about 24 hours.

8. You may want to add fresh parsley about 10 minutes before finishing the stock, as this will add healthy mineral ions to your broth, but this is optional.

9. Remove remaining bones from the broth with a slotted spoon and strain the rest through a strainer to remove any bone fragments.

Fermented Foods: The Inexpensive Ultimate Superfood:

When you consume junk foods, certain bacteria flourish and produce endotoxins, which your immune system detects and, interpreting these endotoxins as an attack, responds with inflammation. Your body changes its metabolism to redirect energy for “battle.” The result is overproduction of insulin, increased fat storage, dampening of your appetite control signals, and eventually obesity.

The best way to reverse this inflammation and restore a healthy metabolism is by eliminating excess sugar and processed food and adding more friendly, beneficial bacteria from naturally fermented foods.

Fermented foods are very potent detoxifiers, capable of drawing out a wide range of toxins and heavy metals, including some pesticides, from your body. The beneficial bacteria they contain may also help prevent diabetes, digestive issues, neurological problems, cardiovascular disease and even acne. You only need a small amount of fermented vegetables to boost your health; one-quarter to one-half cup of fermented veggies with each meal is ideal. The investment is small, as cabbage comprises 80% of the recipe. Even better, it’s easy to make fermented veggies at home. If you can, make a large batch at once, as the finished product will keep for many months in your refrigerator, offering you a medicinal superfood whenever you want it.

Cut Down on Your Protein Intake to Stretch Your Food Budget & Improve Your Health:

Protein is one of the most expensive parts of most people’s diets. The featured study found, for instance, that price differences per serving for healthier versus less healthy foods were largest among meats/proteins. As far as inexpensive, high-quality protein goes, organic free-range eggs are one of your best options. Wild Alaskan salmon is another, and though it can be pricey, you only need to eat a few ounces two or three times a week.

There’s no doubt that high-quality protein is an important part of any diet, including an anti-aging one. However, you do need to be careful to not consume too much.

The average American consumes anywhere from three to five times as much protein as they need. The average person needs about one-half gram of protein per pound of lean body mass per day. Those that are aggressively exercising or competing and pregnant women should have about 25% more, but most people rarely need more than 40-70 grams of protein a day.

To determine your lean body mass, find out your percent body fat and subtract from 100%. So if you are 20% body fat you would have 80% lean body mass. Just multiply that by your current weight to get lean body mass.

Grow Your Own Vegetables, Including Sprouts:

Growing your own vegetables is one of the best ways to include organic produce in your diet at a very low cost. When factoring in startup and maintenance costs, a well-maintained food garden yields a $500.00 average return each year compared to the market price of produce, according to the National Gardening Association.

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a lot of space to grow vegetables.

In her book The Edible Balcony, Alex Mitchell details how to grow fresh produce in small spaces.

Sprouts are another authentic “super food” that many overlook. In addition to their superior nutritional profile, sprouts are really easy to grow even if you’re an apartment dweller, as they don’t require an outdoor garden. A powerhouse of nutrition, sprouts can contain up to 30 times the nutrition of organic vegetables grown in your own garden, and allow your body to extract more vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and essential fats from the foods you eat.

During sprouting, minerals, such as calcium and magnesium, bind to protein, making them more bioavailable. Furthermore, both the quality of the protein and the fiber content of beans, nuts, seeds, and grains improve when sprouted. The content of vitamins and essential fatty acids also increases dramatically during the sprouting process.

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