Eating healthy for cheap

moneyistooshorttomention

Thinking on further from my comment about the common sorrel (French sorrel) I grow and the way it's basically always got some leaves available.

If you have a garden - then I think it's a good strategy personally to put in some perennial food plants of the type that require pretty minimal care. It takes a bit of initial effort to source and plant them and give them a large dollop of initial "goodness" on the soil (eg seaweed fertiliser/rock dust/whatever) and then it doesnt take much time at all for maintenance of them thereafter. What I've found pretty troublefree so far is:
- apples, plums, strawberries, chuckleberries (yes really - they are a pretty new type of berry on the market - but pretty prolific and very nice), rhubarb.

For a family - then 2 rhubarb crowns should provide generous amounts for instance and you could probably get them at a garden centre for around £5 each.

These things might take a year or two to "get going" - but, once they do, then that is a good contribution to your fruit/veggies without much effort.

greenbee

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

- have some fruit of some description with my morning cereal at breakfast (fresh and/or frozen and/or dried). Personally - I'll probably add one or two other things too (eg a bit of freshly-ground flaxseed - for the essential oils).

Be careful with this... I started using ground flaxseed added to my food when I was severely anaemic to offset the effects of a massive daily dose of ferrous sulphate... :cool:

cbrown372

NewShadow wrote: »

I would suggest, if you ask for suggestions, you'll get a lot of blanket opinions.

What's healthy for you has to be based on:

Your family - how many of each gender at each age, women of a certain age needs more calcium for example, children have more need for fat (unless you have a family history of Alzheimers, at which point you might want to look into research regards fat for the whole family)

your activity levels/types of activity - for indicative carb/protein and calorie loads,

any dietary or medical requirements - I'm an odd bunny in that I need to ADD salt to my diet (yet I keep being told by uninformed people - not here, but in general - that's unhealthy, not for me it isn't). Family history should also be considered here - if a relative has a history of late onset diabetes or heart attacks for example.

your work life balance - how much time you have to cook from scratch vs buying the best off the shelf options

what your family actually like to eat - no point serving up rabbit food if everyone hates it

your budget - again, what's realistic at a sustainable level given other budgetary considerations

your ethical/philosophical priorities/concerns - do your research. Don't just believe anyone on here. Read for yourself (and look for peer reviewed stuff over yummy mummy or feel good articles)

And most importantly - don't demonise any food group or food type. Fat, sugar, carbs... they all have a place in a balanced diet. It's about thinking how you get them, how much of each you need, and how often.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a double chocolate melted fudge cake with caramel sauce and ice-cream - just maybe not for breakfast...

But it's Sunday can I not just have that small slice of double chocolate melted fudge cake left over from last night

Good luck OP, start slowly get the kids involved.

moneyistooshorttomention

greenbee wrote: »

Be careful with this... I started using ground flaxseed added to my food when I was severely anaemic to offset the effects of a massive daily dose of ferrous sulphate... :cool:

Can you clarify on that? - I'm probably adding a dessertspoon worth say. Seem to remember we're advised to have a tablespoon worth? Do you envisage it having a side-effect?

At the moment - I'm still taking iron supplement - 65 mg of ferrous sulphate and accompanying supplements of Vit. C and lysine at the same time to help absorption.

This is a temporary thing (as I think that a few months worth should be enough to do the trick to get my iron levels up to internationally accepted standards - and my hair back to normal thickness). I won't take any "medical" thing for longer than a few months (had to take The Pill for a few years - but that was the only exception to that rule) - and I figure a few months worth should do the trick.

greenbee

1. don't take ferrous sulphate. It may be cheap, but I'd suggest that you buy something kinder to your body. I assume you'll want vegecaps/gluten/soya free, so solgar or viridian brands should be suitable and I'd opt for something like iron bisglycinate which is non-constipating. More expensive, but much easier on the system. Trust me, I've taken a LOT of iron

2. We can't give medical advice here, so if you are anaemic then you should talk to your GP about dosage, timings and testing, but it can 3 months for iron supplementation to take effect . Iron dosage is worked out based on body weight to avoid issues with overdoes, as high levels of iron are toxic (in fact my iron tablets say 'WARNING: accidental overdose of iron-containing products is a leading cause of fatal poisoning in children under 6. KEEP THIS PRODUCT OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN. IN case of accidental overdose, call a doctor'. I was always told that if i couldn't remember if I'd taken a dose, not to take an extra, as my initial treatment was pretty much at the limit and I had to be weighed regularly just in case the dose needed readjusting.

Except in cases of severe iron-deficiency best practice now is to focus on absorption and diet - so vit C supplementation is usually recommended before iron supplementation (and most GPs will suggest alternatives to ferrous sulphate depending on the required dosage - for low doses things like spatone are fine, for higher doses they are likely to suggest ferrous fumarate rather than sulphate). As is cutting caffeine at/after meals as this inhibits absorption.

Don't get distracted by anaemia as a cause of thinning hair, as there can be others (often hormonal as you age) and in my experience hair loss comes after the other symptoms have made themselves apparent (restless legs, migraine, insomnia, ridged nails, mouth sores, lethargy, tinnitus).

You may want to focus on a high-iron diet (chickpeas, dark chocolate, broccoli) and lots of vitamin C (peppers, cauliflower, broccoli again - seriously, it's a miracle food!) rather than supplements.

Anyway... the flaxseed should help keep you regular if you're going to keep taking the ferrous sulphate

moneyistooshorttomention

Greenbee - will investigate. Constipation was a longstanding problem as a child. As an adult it just doesnt happen any longer now that I'm feeding myself - as I have so much roughage in my diet with all the wholemeal everything/leaving skins on potatoes/eat so much fruit.

The doctor isn't bothered about my iron levels - as I am within current British levels. I am - because they don't come anywhere near internationally set levels.

I've decided 3 months is about the limit as to how long I'm prepared to take anything "medical" anyway.

Right now - things being slightly in the opposite direction of constipation anyway and I suspect that's down to, at the moment, taking a 3 months or so course of slippery elm capsules (to get rid of Gerd - think that and cutting back on alcohol is seeing it on its way:)).

greenbee

Slippery elm AND flaxseed:eek:

freyasmum

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

I guess this is where we all follow with our personal definition of healthy?
**************

Within my own family - my mother tells me at intervals she brought us up on a healthy diet. That is at odds of my memory of cakes and more cakes (sugar and white flour ones too), overcooked vegetables, not enough fresh fruit, readymade custard powder, ready made fish fingers. I'm genuinely puzzled as to why she tells me she fed us healthily.

Well, I don't know what age you are, but perhaps it was healthier than the alternative? I.e. Starving?

We are lucky today that food is cheaper than it has ever been when looked at as a percentage against wages. So we can mostly afford to indulge in whichever diet we choose; that has not always been the case (and still isn't in ALL cases, hence the challenges to feed families for £7.00 - I'm quite sure most people would choose healthy food if they were given the choice. But not everyone has it.

And that's before we start looking at how much more we understand nutrition than we did when I was a child - and its not THAT long ago!

Another thing to note is that, as a child, cakes and sweets are much more interesting to remember than sprouts.

moneyistooshorttomention

Age - in my 60s - so my sibling and I were born in the 1950s.

I don't know what the state of knowledge was for the average person in the 1950s as regards nutrition - though imagine it was noticeably less than now. So probably the case that it was health-ier than being on wartime rations for instance (as many people were actively hungry during World War 2 - and, presumably, for the few years after that before rationing ended). I guess, as in many respects, there are a small group of people who are "first in line" (ie the innovators of society) that know things first, then the "second adopters" (yep...got my hand up there), then everyone else and their cat knows...

I do remember the sprouts - overcooked and nothing with them - and the other vegetables (carrots, peas, runner beans was about it) ditto overcooked and nothing with them (eg personally I serve with butter or olive oil/freshly squeezed lemon juice and a grind of salt). Hence I used to think I didn't like vegetables...until I started feeding myself.

NewShadow

Isn't it sad when children feel superior to their parents.

Stereotypically it's teenagers, but...