Who is this diet good for?
Cost-conscious diet is a dietary plan for all those who want to adopt healthy eating habits and stick to them without spending a fortune. To support local economy, we recommend buying local produce. Go for Polish fruit and vegetables and buy them in season, when they are the cheapest. Our cost-conscious diet is suitable for people of any age, regardless of their cooking skills.
Keep the cost down
Many people view diets as expensive. If you treat yourself to high-end groceries and never look for alternatives, you may indeed find that a healthy diet is costly. But there are alternatives, and we discuss them in MultiLife Diet. What is more, your menus do not have to be based on expensive, hard-to-find products with foreign-sounding exotic names. Quite the contrary. Every well-balanced, nutritious, and varied diet should include local products that are available at open-air markets or in the nearby supermarket. They are the foundation of the cost-conscious eating plan in MultiLife Diet.
Diet components
Our cost-conscious diet is based on the healthy eating pyramid and physical activity levels for adults. The base of the pyramid consists of vegetables and fruit (with a focus on the former, as they contain less sugar). The greater their variety, the better!
However, the first tip is to focus on readily available ingredients including fresh seasonal, but also imported and frozen fruit and vegetables. The cost-conscious diet relies on leafy and root vegetables, brassicas, berries, citrus fruits, bananas, and our familiar Polish apples, pears, and plums. When it comes to dried fruit, our option of choice is apricot because it is easily available and relatively inexpensive.
Grain products are another staple item. The coarser and less processed the grains, the more fiber, minerals and vitamins they supply to the body. Traditional Polish groats (buckwheat, millet, barley) are an excellent choice. Also make sure to incorporate whole-grain pasta, oat/rye flakes, wholemeal or Graham bread in your diet.
The next level in the food pyramid is dedicated to dairy, which is another staple part of the cost-conscious diet. Cost-conscious meal options are based on low-fat dairy products (up to 2% fat). Another great tip is to buy fermented dairy products, such as kefir, buttermilk or natural yogurts, containing a wealth of minerals, for example calcium, and gut-friendly probiotics.
Other components of the cost-conscious diet include lean meat, fish, legumes, and eggs. According to the dietary guidelines, fish should be eaten at least twice a week. The best options are mackerel, herring, and cod. They contain many valuable ingredients, including omega-3 fatty acids, but will not strain your budget. When choosing meat, it is best to go for lean poultry meat (chicken or turkey breast), and eliminate processed meats altogether. Every now and then, swap the meat in your usual recipe for legumes. They are inexpensive and easy to store, so once you stock up on legumes, they will last much longer than other fresh sources of protein.
The last tier of the pyramid is fats. The cost-conscious diet incorporates vegetable fats such as rapeseed oil or olive oil. You can also include nuts and seeds in this group. The eating plan focuses primarily on local seeds, such as walnuts or flaxseed. Their nutritional value varies, so do not limit yourself to any one type.
If you follow our cost-conscious diet, remember about herbs. In addition to punching up the flavor of your meals, they contain a range of health-boosting compounds. They can also help reduce salt intake, which is very beneficial for health. Whenever possible, pick Polish herbs and spices, for example parsley, mint, lovage, cumin or juniper berries.
Please note that the cost-conscious diet contains no exotic ingredients. The meals are varied and delicious, and you can find all the ingredients at your local store. The eating plan includes sandwiches, oatmeal, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, as well as soups, groat risotto, and salads. The recipes have been designed in such a way as to make sure that you can swap one ingredient for another. This is a great way to reduce food wastage.
References
- Gawęcki J. (ed.): Żywienie człowieka, podstawy nauki o żywieniu. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN, Warszawa 2012
- Jarosz M., Rychlik E., Stoś K., Charzewska J. (eds.): Normy żywienia dla populacji Polski i ich zastosowanie. Narodowy Instytut Zdrowia Publicznego - Państwowy Zakład Higieny, 2020
- https://ncez.pzh.gov.pl/abc-zywienia/zasady-zdrowego-zywienia/piramida-zdrowego-zywienia-i-aktywnosci-fizycznej-dla-osob-doroslych-2/