Whiteboard Wednesdays #4 – Smart choices make healthy food affordable

 Whiteboard Wednesdays! An initiative to help YOU achieve your ideal healthy lifestyle inshaAllah! Every Wednesday at 7pm EST we will be doing a whiteboard presentation,  discussion & Q&A featuring cutting edge research on major issues in health and fitness that matter to you and your family’s life. Tune in for the LIVE Facebook broadcast every week to join the discussion!

Today’s topic: Smart choices make healthy food affordable!

• On one hand, health food stores have jacked up prices – The whole foods, vitamin shops, increase the prices on many of their products!
• On the other hand, there is a lack of awareness of what healthy eating really means. 

Quantity & Quality 

Healthy eating is the result of the QUALITY and QUANTITY of food you choose to eat:

• QUANTITY
  • People in the past had healthier eating practices than us
    • Imam Shafi’ (d. 204 AH) said, “I have not filled myself in 16 years because filling oneself makes the body heavy, removes clear understanding, induces sleep and makes one weak for worshipping Allah.” [Jami’ Uloom wa-al-Hikam]
  • Understand the SPECTRUM of healthy eating
    • The foods you ALREADY have, you could be healthier by eating different ratios (i.e. less sugar, more whole foods)
    • Portion control is one of the biggest reasons people and their kids are overweight! If you implement this in your life you end up SAVING money because you will end up eating less food!
• QUALITY
  • This is where we see the cost differences in many of the products.
  • We live in an Obesogenic environment (i.e. fast food, supermarket practices, community gardens)
  • Some factors which drive price up are:
    • Convenience/hyper packaged foods
    • Brand names
    • Trendiness
    • Labels

What does expensive really mean?

 “Expensive” is really the definition of price. 

• Healthy foods are higher in nutrients and satisfy you for a much longer period of time.
• A better way to measure the price of food is to look at price/nutrient or price/satiety ratios. If you look at these comparisons, the price is not so different.
• Let us take a look at the following example.
  • NUTRIENTS: 
    • A can of soda and an apple have roughly the same number of calories (~120). While a large apple costs about $1, a can of soda sells for $0.50 to $0.75 in bulk.
    • If you compare these two using the price/calorie ratio, the can of soda looks cheaper. Unfortunately, the can of soda has no nutrients. An apple is loaded with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. If you look at the price/nutrient ratio, the apple is much cheaper.
  • SATIETY:
    • How many cans of soda do you need to keep you as full as one apple? Apple, fiber wins. If the answer is more than two, the apple becomes cheaper.
• The price of unhealthy foods might be absolutely more expensive but healthy foods are relatively cheaper if you take into account long term medical costs, for example.

WHAT ARE SOME TIPS TO EAT HEALTHY ON A BUDGET?

• ELIMINATE low-quality to make room for better options
  • Stop buying: sugary junk, loads of snacks (trendy, etc.), soft drinks, coffee shop purchases
    • ADD:
      • BULK 
      • BUY IN SEASON
        • winter: bananas, grapefruit, potatoes
        • spring: apricots, broccoli, cabbage
        • summer: blueberries, cherries, corn
        • fall: apples, carrots, cranberries
      • FROZEN for cheap
    • SWAP:
      • • COOKING OIL:  Purchase a SMALLER container of olive oil or coconut oil, instead of a large container of Vegetable oil.
          
        • WHOLE GRAINS:  Add whole grain foods to your diet. Whole grains have more fibre than more processed grains and will keep you feeling full longer, so you will be less likely to feel starved for a junk food snack between meals.
          
  • TASTE & BUYING PREFERENCE ISSUE:
    • We need to train kids to like brown bread and other healthier options.
    • Cute packaging: don’t fall for the commercial tricks (i.e. cute bears on the jars)

If we are serious about the health of our families, we must be willing to look at our own spending habits and identify areas for improvement. This may require getting a reliable travel mug to carry our morning coffee and waking up a few minutes earlier to prepare breakfast or lunch.

These small changes improve our own health long-term and also also result in more flexibility in the family food budget. Remember: small, consistent changes on behalf of both parents result in a positive impact on the quality of food we are able to provide to our children and families.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him said):
“The most beloved of deeds to God are the ones that are performed consistently, even if they are small.”

That is it for our fourth episode of Whiteboard Wednesdays. I hope you enjoyed this article and helped you and motivated you to achieve a more active and healthy family. Stay tuned next week for our 5th episode of Whiteboard Wednesdays inshaAllah!