Eating Healthy on the Cheap

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Plant-based diets may offer the best investment for dietary health.

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The public health community sees the economic downturn differently than most. For example: gasoline prices going up? Great! In the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, they found that rising prices of gasoline may be associated with an unintended increase in physical activity. Every 25-cent increase in gasoline price was associated with about an extra ten exercise units—roughly equivalent to 17 minutes of additional walking per week for every extra quarter per gallon.

What effect might the economic downturn have on healthy eating, though? Recently, researchers at Harvard compared the cost and healthfulness of various foods across the country, hunting for the best nutritional bargain. They conclude that people should purchase more nuts, soy, and beans, and whole grains—and less meat and dairy.

Although spending more money was associated with a healthier diet, large improvements in diet may be achieved without increased spending. The purchase of plant-based foods may offer the best investment for dietary health.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

The public health community sees the economic downturn differently than most. For example: gasoline prices going up? Great! In the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study, they found that rising prices of gasoline may be associated with an unintended increase in physical activity. Every 25-cent increase in gasoline price was associated with about an extra ten exercise units—roughly equivalent to 17 minutes of additional walking per week for every extra quarter per gallon.

What effect might the economic downturn have on healthy eating, though? Recently, researchers at Harvard compared the cost and healthfulness of various foods across the country, hunting for the best nutritional bargain. They conclude that people should purchase more nuts, soy, and beans, and whole grains—and less meat and dairy.

Although spending more money was associated with a healthier diet, large improvements in diet may be achieved without increased spending. The purchase of plant-based foods may offer the best investment for dietary health.

To see any graphs, charts, graphics, images, and quotes to which Dr. Greger may be referring, watch the above video. This is just an approximation of the audio contributed by veganmontreal.

Please consider volunteering to help out on the site.

Doctor's Note

For more on eating healthy on a budget, see my video Biggest Nutrition Bang For Your BuckThe Effect of Canned Tuna on Future Wages offers a perspective from the other side of the health/wealth equation.

Note that the Harvard paper is open access, so you can download its entirety by clicking on the link in the Sources Cited section above.

For more context, check out my associated blog posts:  Uric Acid From Meat and Sugar, and Best Nutrition Bang For Your Buck.

If you haven’t yet, you can subscribe to my videos for free by clicking here. Read our important information about translations here.

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