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Are All Cheap Foods Unhealthy? When economy turns bad, many employees will be retrenched. The affected families not only have to reduce many such unnecessary expenses as going to movies, travelling, luxury stuffs, but also have to cut down their food bills. There is no exception during the recent financial crisis. Such actions have aroused some concerns among the health experts. When people are hungry with limited spending power, they will naturally turn to the cheapest sources. Very often, people would tend to go for the value meals at fast-food restaurants, as these so-called cheap foods are usually most filling. Unfortunately, most of these foods are calorie-dense with lots of fat and sugar, and they are bad for the health because consuming too much of these foods will cause people to put on weight. Two-thirds of US adults are either overweight or obese, and childhood obesity is so epidemic that the next generation is expected to have life expectancy shorter than that of their parents. As we know, people who are overweight or obese are possible victims of high bad cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure), stroke and likely candidates of heart disease. A new research by researchers from the University of Washington Centre for Public Health Nutrition aims to find ways to help people get the most nutrition out of every dollar spent. In so doing, they hope that they could persuade the federal government to put more affordability into the calculation when issuing new dietary guidelines next year. In fact, not all cheap foods are unhealthy. People just need the right information and some time to find the most affordable nutrient-rich foods.
The findings of the research showed that education and other demographic factors play a role in whether people have the information to select more nutritious alternatives, and the extra time taken to shop and cook for them. After studying the eating habits of 164 adults in Seattle area, the researchers found that women with highest incomes and most education ate the most nutritious fare, with steadily improving dietary quality for every dollar spent. Meanwhile, the prevailing so-called thrifty food plan recommended by the United States Department of Agriculture requires between 9 and 16 hours a week to purchase, prepare and cook, but the average working women in the United States spends about 5 hours a week doing that. The researchers finally find the best buys, the middle ground between the most nutritious yet expensive and the not-so-healthy in each food group. For example, salads are good but salad greens can cost 4 times as much as green beans and cannot last nearly as long. Spinach is excellent, but if one cannot afford, iceberg lettuce also has merits. Potato actually has more potassium than a banana. It can be a good source of nutrition, as long as people boil, mash or bake, but not fatty fry it. People should also consider bringing protein-rich eggs back to the table. If people have no time to cook from scratch, or live in a low-income neighborhood where fresh products are scarce, they can use frozen or even canned veggies. Canned tomatoes pack even more of the nutrient lycopene than the pricier fresh ones. Canned or frozen corn kernels mean people do not need to pay for the cob. However, People should watch the sodium (salt) level in the can. The researchers also pointed out that somewhere between expensive salmon and cheap bacon, there is lean hamburger. One just has to drain it well, chicken that can be quick-cooked in many ways other than artery-clogging deep-fried.
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