It has long been found that nutrition directly affects human health. However, many believe that wholesome food is synonymous with not only tasteless, but also quite expensive food. Therefore, it is extremely important to know how to eat cheap and tasty, so as not only not to harm the body, but also to improve it. Based on the lists of products below that will not harm your health, you can independently create a suitable menu that will make anyone feel better and happier even in adverse environments. This article will help you learn how to eat cheaply without harm to health in the simplest way.
Body requirements
Before you begin to learn how to eat cheaper, you should understand what the human body needs to conduct normal activities. Currently, the list includes proteins, carbohydrates and fats enriched with vitamins, minerals and fiber.
Now consider what belongs to each of these groups:
- For example, proteins are necessary for the body in order to reproduce new cells. This substance can easily be found in both expensive and cheap products. A large amount of protein is found in ingredients of animal origin - in meat, fish, cottage cheese, cheese. However, it is known that legumes are also rich in proteins such as soy and beans.
- Carbohydrates give the body the energy needed to feel good. You can find them mainly in products made from flour and sugar, that is, in bakery and confectionery products. In addition, many healthy carbohydrates are found in cereals and pasta.
- Fats are divided into 2 types: vegetable and animal. Now it’s plant species that are recognized as more useful. You can find this substance in nuts and oils.
Fiber, like vitamins with minerals, the body can easily get from a variety of vegetables, fruits and herbs, which can be grown independently or simply bought in a store.
List of Inexpensive Products
If you are wondering about how to eat cheaply and properly, then the first thing you need to do is make a list of products that will contain all the substances the body needs, but at the same time be relatively inexpensive. Consider each of the groups above:
- When choosing proteins, it is best to opt for chicken meat, replacing it with pork or beef, which are quite expensive. In addition, the diet can be diluted with eggs, cottage cheese and legumes. However, it is necessary at least once a month to introduce red meat into the diet so that the body receives essential amino acids that are not found in vegetable proteins.
- To add carbohydrates to the diet, the choice should be stopped on ordinary cereals. All of them, except for semolina and couscous derived from it, are healthy and have a low calorie content. So in the store you need to immediately buy rice, buckwheat, millet, pearl barley - they cost little, but you can eat them for a long time.
- If you want to know how to eat cheaper, but at the same time constantly add various vegetables and fruits to your food, that is, fiber, vitamins and minerals, then you need to pay attention to domestic seasonal products - apples, cabbage, beets, carrots. And in the summer, prices for tomatoes and cucumbers are sharply reduced, which are fabulously expensive at other times of the year. From greens, you can choose parsley and dill, which can be grown independently, even on the windowsill.
- With fats, the choice will be a little more complicated. First of all, it is recommended to abandon all animal fats like butter or lard - they are quite harmful to the body. Therefore, the choice is widespread in Russia, sunflower and olive oil, however, if you just decided to find out how to eat cheaper, then you will have to completely abandon olive oil, since it is much more expensive than ordinary unrefined sunflower oil.
Tips & Tricks
Anyone who wants to know how to eat cheaply and properly should follow a series of recommendations that will help save budget and not harm the body.
- It is best to eat only homemade food, and not eat in a cafe. Prices there will come out much more expensive than if you cooked the same at home. In addition, it is completely unclear what exactly the quality of the ingredients that they use.
- Be sure to take lunch to work with you, as it will be cheaper and more beneficial than buying buns at the bakery or fast food. You can also bring fruits or nuts as a snack if you are hungry.
- The amount of food you eat per day should be limited. It is best to get up from the table as soon as you have satisfied your hunger by 80 percent. All the rest of the food will be a simple overeating.
- During cooking, food is best boiled or steamed. So it will save more nutrients than if you roasted it.
Squirrels
Trying to navigate how to eat cheap and healthy, making your own diet, you need to calculate exactly how many foods to eat per day.
For example, take protein. In order to provide the body with the right amount of this substance, it is necessary to include in the daily diet two eggs or 200 grams of chicken (200 grams of cottage cheese). In addition to this, you can add 100 grams of peas or other legumes.
If you stick to such products, then on a daily basis, based on existing prices, it will take no more than 80 rubles, but if you sometimes refuse cottage cheese and chicken, then in general 40 rubles. Of course, you can’t sit on such a diet for a long time, so you still have to at least occasionally buy fish or other types of meat, but in general a month you can reduce the cost of protein to about a half thousand.
Carbohydrates
With carbohydrates, anyone who wants to know how to eat cheaply without harm to their health will be even easier. Now, stocks in grocery stores can be bought relatively cheaply, especially if you buy simple products. So it is better to immediately stock up with buckwheat, rice, millet and hercules. Their price per pack usually does not exceed 50 rubles, although buckwheat and rice can be bought better, but they will cost more. During the day, you can eat 100 grams of rice, oatmeal and buckwheat - all this will cost about 20 rubles, that is, even a month will take no more than 600.
Fats
Those who want to know how to eat cheaply will be pleased to hear that in part the body can get the amount of fat it needs directly from protein foods of animal origin. So all you need is to buy a bottle of sunflower oil to add to the grits during cooking or dressing salads. All this will cost no more than 100 rubles.
Vitamins and Minerals
Perhaps the biggest expense item for food will be fruits and vegetables. However, it is simply impossible to do without them in proper nutrition, since it is from them that the body receives the vitamins and minerals it needs to maintain the body in excellent condition.
However, if you have your own plot of land, then you can grow them on your own in the summer, and then harvest them for the winter - so you can save quite a lot of money. In addition, the supply of potatoes, carrots and beets in a suitable cool place will be stored all year.
However, if there is no such garden, you will have to buy them at the store. The best choice will be to stop on cabbage and carrots - they are relatively inexpensive. But you need to choose apples local, they will be much cheaper than foreign and more familiar to the body. Only a month you need to eat at least 1 kg of cabbage, beets, carrots and two kilograms of apples. However, the diet can be easily diluted with seasonal fruits such as citrus fruits in the winter, when the price drops significantly.
Nutrition rules
To know how to eat cheaper and more properly, you should carefully understand the existing rules of healthy eating. If you adhere to them constantly, the body will feel much healthier and better.
- All food for the day should be divided into 5 receptions. The best option would be to eat at regular intervals.
- For breakfast, lunch and dinner, it is better to eat no more than 300-400 grams of food, and during snacks - no more than 150 grams.
- Do not eat shortly before going to bed. It is advisable to do the latest appointment no earlier than 3 hours.
- Doctors recommend eating at least 5 servings of a variety of vegetables and fruits per day. So you need to make your diet with this in mind. Yes, it can cost a little more, but the body will definitely say thanks and thank you with good health.
Sample menu
If you want to save money, but at the same time eat tasty and right, then it is recommended to make a menu in advance. During its compilation, you need to focus on the rules of nutrition, and also choose only healthy and healthy foods. An approximate menu for the day will be presented here, which, if desired, can be used for your needs.
Day menu
So, we pass directly to how to eat cheap and healthy. The menu given here will be quite simple, and consist of standard products that can be bought at any store at a relatively low price.
- For breakfast, you can boil rice or buckwheat porridge, and then as a complement to it, serve a portion of low-fat cottage cheese or a cabbage salad seasoned with sunflower oil. From drinks it is best to stop for coffee or tea.
- As a snack, it is best to choose dairy products or fruits. A glass of kefir or apple will satisfy your hunger and supplement the body with the necessary useful substances.
- For lunch, it is recommended to cook vegetable soup. A second piece of boiled herring and dried fruit compote will go to it.
- After a long day, dinner is best made hearty, but at the same time quite light. The best option would be to steam the chicken cutlets, and to them pearl barley or stewed vegetables.
Student Nutrition
Scholarships are very low in the country now, so a very important question is how to eat a student cheaply, so as not to constantly sit on instant noodles or scramble around the hostel for neighbors.
For them, the diet can be reduced by such products. Meat is best replaced with various offal. They cost much cheaper, but they are quite useful, and if cooked correctly, they are also tasty. Another substitute for protein are mushrooms, which you can pick yourself in the forest for free.
But the best option would simply be to keep a standard set of cheap foods - cereals and vegetables in the refrigerator, and then experiment with them enough.
Cheap travel food
When traveling, it’s not necessary to spend a huge pile of money on food in restaurants. Consider, for example, how to eat cheaply in Italy. To save money, it is best to pay attention to the small bars and cafes that are popular with locals. In addition, due to the hot climate in this country, it is not customary to eat a lot for breakfast or lunch - basically all the food here is used for dinner.
And during the day you can safely have a bite to eat in a small restaurant. And if you don’t lean on meat and seafood, then you will have to spend no more than 20 euros per person per day. In addition, you should pay attention to local products, which may vary by region - they always cost a little cheaper.
Conclusion
Of course, in the presence of today's prices, it is almost impossible to eat right and very cheap - every week you will have to spend about a thousand rubles on all products for a person. However, you may notice that as soon as you refuse a variety of junk food like fast food, sweets, bread, sandwiches and alcohol, the body will feel much better and the wallet will become more complete.