Healthy Food Budget Guidelines for The Real World

This meal was made by two college students who live on a strict healthy food budget.  They were trained by The Healthy Diet Paradise, and they came up with this meal on their own.  You can combine a meal like this with brown rice and eat it for several days.  There's a lot of information and tips on this page to help you get started. 

If you listen to news reports, a healthy food budget is very expensive, and is not achievable for most.  We're going to show you that this not true. You can eat like royalty and never go hungry. 

We have tips for students, single parents, low income families, and anyone else who may have a hard time with the cost of healthy food. 

How do we know this?  Because we live this life each and every day.  Morning, noon and night, whole, natural food.  Yes, there are some challenges, but we'll help you navigate some of the pitfalls and rocky terrain, and open your eyes to a new way of life.


You Eat Less With a Healthy, Natural Food Diet

Experts and consumers understand that whole foods are more expensive.  This is only partially true.  When you buy processed foods, especially those that contain a ton of fructose, it stimulates your appetite.  Your appetite is being stimulated because fructose is not recognized by your brain.  So your brain is sending out desperate hunger signals.

When you're eating unprocessed, whole foods, you eat a whole lot less.  You can go hours and hours on the same meal.  It can take up to eight hours to feel hunger again after eating a nutrient-rich meal.

You will also save on health care costs and co-pays, because a whole foods diet will keep you out of the emergency room.  You will save money on convalescent homes.  You won't be breaking any bones because a poor diet causes osteoporosis.  You won't get sick in old age or  become dependent on others for your care.   Learn more about the benefits of healthy eating here.

A poor diet turns your bones to powder. 

More on osteoporosis and diet here.

A nutrient poor diet causes extremely rapid aging.

More on aging and diet here.

Sort Our Your Priorities

Your healthy food budget has to take priority over getting your nails done, getting your hair done, entertainment, extracurricular activities, and any other non essentials. 

So the first thing you do is look at your priorities.  If you're going to the hair salon once a week, if you're souping up your car with $2,000 rims, or going to casinos, you may want to scale it back a bit. 

Fruit is Nature's Candy

Let's discuss fruit for a moment.  Your healthy food budget for fruits and vegetables can take you in different directions.  People may claim they want fruit and vegetables, but what they actually prefer is fruit. Fruit is considerably more expensive than vegetables.  Fruit is the healthy food of choice for many.  But the truth is, the healthy foods that we don't like are cheaper.

I look at fruit as nature's candy.  Although fruit contains a ton of nutrients, vegetables contain more.  From a health perspective, your diet should contain a lot more vegetables than fruit.  It's easy to get your kids to eat fruit.  It's a whole different animal to get them to eat vegetables.

Vegetables Are Your Wallet's Best Friend

On our leeks page, we showcase two gigantic leeks that cost $1 each.  If you cook an inexpensive meat, some brown rice and leeks, the cost is less than $1 per person.   Your healthy food budget can be stretched a lot farther when you consume more vegetables than fruit.

Vegetables contain phytonutrients that can sustain you and prevent disease.  Fruit also has vitamins and antioxidants, but you cannot live on just fruit. 

If your diet only consisted of vegetables without fruit, you'd become healthy and very strong.  Sure, you'd miss the sweetness of fruit, but you'd survive and thrive. 

The same is not true of fruit.  The point I'm making is we have to use common sense.  If you're serious about eating healthy and staying within a reasonable budget, you're going to have to eat a lot more vegetables than fruit.  This single act will lower your food costs considerably.

Healthy Food Budget For Organic Fruits & Vegetables

Organic fruits and vegetables are a completely different thing altogether.  The price tag for organic fruit and vegetables is considerably higher than non organic.  Most of the general population cannot afford to live on a 100% organic diet.  If you can afford it, go for it.  If not, then just do your best to buy organic if and when it's reasonable for you to do so. 

The Farmer's Market has organic produce, but it's not certified.  These small farmers cannot afford to officially certify their produce, and they sell organic produce at ridiculously low prices.  If you get there late, a lot of them have their produce at half price.  The Farmer's Market is certainly the way to go if you're on a strict budget.

Another thing you can do is only buy organic foods on the hot list.  They include apples, pears, green bell peppers, strawberries, spinach, et cetera.   Here's a list of the dirty dozen non organic foods to avoid.  This page has great tips, including buying fruits with thick skin to lower pesticide exposure.

The only exception our household makes is milk and eggs.  We buy these products strictly organic.  Click the links below to learn why.

Click here to learn more about milk. 

Click here to learn more about eggs.

Eliminate Processed Foods

At The Healthy Diet Paradise, we completely eliminate processed foods.  Even if you do not buy organic produce, your system has a lot better chance of eliminating toxins and pesticides from produce, because your body is not being overtaxed with chemical additives and the strange hybrid of bizarre formulations found in processed foods. 

So just by virtue of eating a non processed, whole foods diet, you're miles ahead of the game.  

The individuals on our hair loss diet program are not required to eat organic foods, and their hair grows back just the same.

Buying Poultry on a Budget

If you love premium breast meat, you already know that it's more expensive.  Select thighs and drumsticks and save a bundle.  When thighs and legs are cooked slowly on low heat, they're even better than breast meat.

When you're buying chicken or other meats, look for sales like the picture below.  The chicken below has a combined markdown of over $3.  Grab as many as you can and freeze them quickly.  This chicken is very fresh, and I've never had a problem with quality.  

Healthy Food Budget for the Hair Loss Diet

I've had some people come to me, telling me that they cannot afford the hair loss diet.  If you look at our hair loss menu, you'll see some foods listed there that may look expensive.  For example, a small box of quinoa is $3.99.  To substitute quinoa, use brown rice.  A 25-pound bag of brown rice costs $12.99, and can last up to six months.  Black and red rice are exotic, and considerably more expensive.

The Picture Below is Wild Caught Salmon in a Package
Bought at The Dollar Store

We recommend wild caught salmon to our hair loss diet guests.  Wild caught salmon is very expensive.  To substitute salmon, eat sardines, tuna, mackerel, and other low cost fish.  The protein breaks down into compounds that will compliment the hair loss diet beautifully, and will work just as effectively to restore your hair.

Another tip is to wait for two for one sales, loss leader sales, or combining store coupons with product coupons. 

Taking Care of That Sweet Tooth on a Budget

The picture below is showing dark chocolate bought at the dollar store.  If you were to purchase these chocolates at regular price, they range anywhere from $2.29 to $3.89.  When you spot these, grab them and store them.  This chocolate is better than any other brand we've ever eaten.  And don't forget, dark chocolate is a super food.  Click here to learn about the benefits of eating dark chocolate.

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