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Affordable and healthy is not an oxymoron
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October 20, 2009 - Even if you are a committed and conscientious dieter, there are days when you feel overwhelmed to the point that you resort to old habits, throw in the towel and pull up to a fast food window. Later, you wonder “what happened?” Were you thinking about your budget at the cost of your health?
Is fast food really cheaper than the good stuff? Obviously not in the long run when you factor in the medical costs and loss of productivity that accompany poor food choices over many years. But what about the short term? What about in the supermarket?
Enter the “Affordable Nutrition Index” announced this week at the American Dietetic Association's Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo in Denver. The ANI is a rating system of over 300 foods based on a balance of their nutritional content versus cost.
The system is the brainchild of Adam Drewnowski, Ph.D., professor at the University of Washington, and creates a nutrition-value-per-dollar score. The nutrition components factored into the score include nine essential nutrients with positive qualities (protein, fiber, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and vitamins A, C and E) and three nutrients with negative qualities (saturated fat, added sugars and sodium).
At the top of the rankings were carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, oranges and bananas. Also getting good grades were peas, string beans, squash, lettuce, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, grapes, nectarines and apples.
Twenty-five Campbell Soup Company lower sodium soups were also highly ranked perhaps because the Camden based company supported the research. Maybe we should take the results with a grain of lower sodium salt.
Still, the idea that food can be good for your health and your wallet is worth exploring. Jennifer Fanega, a Philadelphia holistic health counselor and graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, contends that foods packed with antioxidants, vitamins, minerals and fiber can be just as affordable as foods laden with trans-fatty acids, sugar and chemicals.
Fanega wants to alleviate consumer frustrations with the perceived high cost of healthy food. She teaches a class called Eating Healthy on a Budget: Cheap Eats!, where she gives simple, realistic methods for selecting healthy ingredients and preparing tasty meals without breaking the bank, and getting maximum nutrition for minimum cost. And unlike the ANI, she also provides useful recipes and snacks.
For more info: The Eating Healthy on a Budget: Cheap Eats! class is being held on Sunday, November 1, 2009 from 12 to 1 pm at Hawthorne Yoga and Reiki, 1241 Carpenter Street, Philadelphia.
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