Food, Finance and Health

Food, Finance and Health
The prices of all commodities are on the rise. When one works on a budget, it is difficult to decide on what to spend and what not to spend. If we compromise on the food, we pay the same to the doctors as our health is compromised. 
Here are a few suggestions one can consider:
1. Buy local and buy seasonal
Locally procured produce will be cheaper than produce imported from other countries. Seasonal fruits and vegetables will be cheaper than off season produce as the overheads incurred in cold storage are not included in the price.
2. Money spent on aerated drinks is a waste of hard earned money. Period. Aerated drinks interfere with the body’s basic metabolism making them prone to metabolic syndrome diseases. 
3. Dry fruits and nuts are expensive. However, these foods help is supplying important nutrients to the body. Money spent on this is worth every penny. Roasted Bengal gram and groundnuts are cheaper and also provide good nutrition. Include them in the daily diet. 
4. As much as possible do not re-use oil which has been used for frying. While frying, use small quantities of oil in a deep pan and refill as and when required. Once used for frying, polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) undergo rapid oxidation making it rancid. 
5. One requires a daily intake of Vitamin C and mostly people think of oranges. Though oranges provide good quantities of vitamin C, amla (gooseberry) is a better and cheaper source. It has 20 times more vitamin C than oranges. 
6. Choose fruit over packed juice – reason being that one is paying extra for preservatives and stabilizers that they do not need. 
7. Include protective foods like fruits, raw vegetable salads and cooked vegetables every day. If one is not getting sufficient fibre, they will have problems of the gastro intestinal tract forcing them to have fibre from a bottle and laxatives on a daily basis.
8. Plan your shopping and outings after meals so that family members are not consuming large quantities of junk food. Even if they do, it will be limited quantities.
9. Avoid foods which are modified too much to make it low calorie, low fat, low cholesterol etc  be packaged as ‘Health foods’ . e.g Energy bars are priced high and are basically made up of a few nuts, raisins and dates along with a whole lot of sugar to make it palatable. Wiser option would be to just carry a fistful of the nuts, raisins, dried figs and dates in your handbag and eat them when hungry.  
Attitude change:
As much as possible, women, do not treat yourselves like the official dustbins of the house. Attention is drawn to this point in more than one post in wellness awareness as women fail to understand. 
1. Many women claim that they do not like to waste food because there are thousands of people without food. The thousands will not be fed if they eat the extra portions left over after meals. If food is left over at a restaurant, get it packed.
2. Deal with the extra food away from your body – throw it, give it to the beggars or keep it in the fridge and eat it the next day. 
3. There is no point eating all the extra food and paying 4 times as much to the gym. 
If we could give every individual the right amount of nourishment and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest way to health. – Hippocrates, Father of western medicine.