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Health & Fitness

The Real Price of Healthy Eating

A recent study claims it's more expensive to eat healthier food, but I think they're looking at it from the wrong angle.

A study was recently released saying that it's more expensive to eat foods in line with the new U.S dietary guidelines. Shortly thereafter all kinds of websites ran the headline “Healthy Eating Costs More.” 

Here we are in a country where two out of every three adults are overweight or obese and the word is being spread that it’s more expensive to eat well.  Thanks a lot!  That’s just one more potential obstacle for those who are considering making a change to improve their lives and health.  Which is frustrating, because I know how hard it can be to make that leap, but what really gets me fired up about it is that it’s just such a short sighted way of looking at things.

First of all, why in the world is this news?  Is anyone truly surprised by this?  It seems the study’s authors were trying to make a point that the new nutrition guidelines would be more helpful if they took into account the cost of following them.  But, I feel that people already knew this so I’m a little confused at all the press. 

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And guess what?  It should cost more!  High quality nutrition has a value, because it’s actually good for you.  Fast food and other processed packaged cheap crap (that’s a technical term I like to use) is nothing but empty calories and artificial flavors designed to tempt you to eat some more.  The companies selling it, after all, are trying to make a profit.   But there’s just little to no nutritional value in it.  It simply makes sense that it costs less. 

However, if you look at the big picture, the increased cost of nutritionally dense food is worth it in the long run.  Eating healthy is an investment in yourself that leads to tremendous tangible benefits from improved energy levels, to potentially less disease and longer lifespan. What's that worth?  The study said that it can cost up to 10 percent more to boost a single nutrient in your diet.  Really? 10 percent?  How much does blood pressure medicine cost over the course of 10 or 20 years?  Seriously, the media world got this one completely wrong. The headlines should be reading "It ONLY costs 10 percent more to eat healthier!"

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Think about it.

For every $100 you spend on food if you're willing to spend just $10 more you could make it healthier.  Sold!  I'll take that deal.

And finally, let's take a hard look at the long term here. I've heard this many times in the past and can't remember who originally said it but the idea is you will pay for your health and wellness choices in your life one way or another. You can pay up front (in both time and money) by buying healthier food, investing in a fitness program and the like or you can pay on the back end by taking more trips to the doctor, popping more prescriptions to ease your symptoms, and spending some quality time in an assisted living facility when you're older and your body has had enough of the way you treated it over the years.

That is the real picture.  You're going to spend money on your health throughout your life, but it's a choice. Avoid it now and you'll just be piling up a debt that will eventually come due in the form of disease and after the fact medical treatments.  Why not be proactive and make the choice to invest in your wellbeing up front? Sure it might add 10% or more to your grocery bill now, but you may actually save money in the long run.  Plus, you'll get to enjoy the benefits of living a healthier life now. It's hard to put a price on that.

Allan Keller is a Westchase area fitness coach and owner of Direct Effect Fitness.  Allan can be reached at 813-333-9922 or allan@DirectEffectFitness.com. Have a question about fitness or nutrition?  Post a comment or send an email and you may see your topic featured in his next blog.

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