How much does a healthy lifestyle cost? We calculated the costs of a healthy diet per one week

This article has a purpose to show that it is really possible and not hard to eat healthy and avoid additional expenses.

Good nutrition, based on healthy eating, is one of the main factors that helps us with living a healthy and active lifestyle.. In the short term, unhealthy nutrition can contribute to stress, tiredness and lowers our capacity to work. Over time, it can contribute to the risk of developing illnesses and other health problems.

It is therefore beneficial to eat a healthy diet, however, the stereotype that “healthy’ equals “expensive” can stop us from choosing better food. But it is only a misconception that persists. One part of the problem is that people may confuse “healthy” with other labels that do increase costs, like “organic” or “gluten-free”. However, unless you have a diagnosed medical condition, you can have a nutritious diet without worrying about those extra labels.

 

People associate healthy products with health-food stores with their beautiful displays and often higher prices. In reality, you can get healthy whole foods at any grocery store.

Below, you will find an example of tasty and balanced healthy food for one week and its price at your local grocery store.

An ideal daily amount of consumed food varies, depending on age, metabolism and levels of physical activity, among other things. Of course, it can be more or less, depending on your needs – so that you can increase the number of written products. This ration is just a general example.

Breakfast

The most suitable dish for feeling full and getting a portion of morning energy is porridge. Of course, we do not mean ready-made cereals that are cooked within a minute, but whole-grain oatmeal with the addition of milk or water. 

Let’s calculate the cost and say we eat porridge three times in a week. Oatmeal (60 grams) with honey (30 grams) and nuts (20 grams) = 0.07 EUR + 0.23 EUR + 0.2 EUR = 0.5 EUR per day. This is 1.5 EUR per week. 

Besides porridge, you can eat cottage cheese (250 grams), let’s say twice a week, and add fruit or honey (30 grams) to it. One day would be 0.68 EUR + 0.23 EUR = 0.91 EUR. For two days that is 1.82 EUR.

Let’s say that for two days of the week you cook eggs for breakfast (two eggs), to which you can add a little cheese (40 grams) and a tomato. 0.4 EUR + 0.32 EUR + 0.25 EUR = 0.97 EUR (per day) or 1.94 EUR for 2 days.

 

Lunches could look like this:

Rice 50-60 grams (0.07 EUR), chicken hips 150-200 grams (1.2 EUR), vegetable salad 300 grams (about 0.65 EUR). All together – 1.92 EUR. You can eat this meal 3 times a week and it will cost 5.76 EUR.

Bulgur 50-60 grams (0.13 EUR), fish (hake) about 150 grams (1.49 EUR), roasted vegetables 300 grams (about 0.25 EUR). All together – 1.87 EUR. If you eat this lunch 2 times a week, it will cost 3.74 EUR.

Once a week you can eat spaghetti from durum wheat 45 grams (0.14 EUR) with fish 150 grams (1.49 EUR) and a vegetable salad 300 grams (about 0.65 EUR) = 2.13 EUR.

And the other time you can cook spaghetti from durum wheat 45 grams (0.14 EUR) with shrimps 200 grams (3.39 EUR) and a few tomatoes (about 0.5 EUR) = 4.03 EUR.

 

Dinners 

Turkey filet 200 grams (2.25 EUR), roasted potatoes 250 grams (0.18 EUR), a salad with cucumber, lettuce and corn 5 spoons (about 0.64 EUR) = 3.07 EUR. Two such meals will cost 6.14 EUR.

Say you eat a vegetable stew (400 grams, 0.35 EUR) three times a week.  Three such meals will cost 1.05 EUR.

And another dinner option is tuna salad. You need lettuce, a tomato, 5 spoons of corn and a can of tuna. It will cost around 2.50 EUR per one or 5.2 EUR per two meals.

 

Then we add up the results. All together for a week is: breakfasts (5.26) + lunches (15.66) + dinners (12.39) = 33.3 EUR.

To this list should be added a bottle of olive oil, salt, spices, tea, if you don’t have them at home. And if you are used to eating snacks between the main meals, you can make them so: fruit, yogurt, nuts. All these additional costs will be about 15 EUR. 

 

To sum up, eating healthy is not expensive. Of course, the costs can go up or down, but you can try to be flexible through buying different food or going to another shop where the prices might be lower. But as you can see, eating healthy is quite affordable!

 

Sources:

https://www.sahealth.sa.gov.au/wps/wcm/connect/public+content/sa+health+internet/healthy+living/is+your+health+at+risk/the+risks+of+poor+nutrition#:~:text=Poor%20eating%20habits%20include%20under,%2C%20salt%20and%2For%20sugar.

https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/food-and-diet/what-should-my-daily-intake-of-calories-be/