by Deborah Steinmetz

Created on: May 29, 2009   Last Updated: June 29, 2009

Healthy eating with a limited income may not be as difficult as you may think. First one must define healthy. Do you look at foods and consider your blood pressure? blood sugar levels? the fat content of the food that you eat? What does healthy mean to YOUR body?

The first step in determining what healthy means to you personally is to find out how your body processes foods. Some foods that are considered healthy for one, may NOT be so healthy for others. In addition, many think of foods that would or could promote weight gain as being unhealthy. Again, you need to look a little deeper.

Bad carbohydrates are among the most UNHEALTHY foods in existence. These would include foods such as white breads, pastas and anything made with a white flour product. Excessive consumptions of Carbohydrates, which are very low in cost, can lead to excessive weight gain. If you are not able to use all of the carbohydrates consumed, they immediately store as fat!

Proteins build lean muscle and muscle burns fat. Animal proteins also have natural fat and unless you are drinking the grease from cooked meats and Bacon - the natural fat in meats is safe!

Low fat versions of many products claim to be healthy; however, besides being MORE expensive than the full fat versions, they are not any healthier and in ALL cases they contain much more sodium and sugar in them to compensate for the lack of flavor in the product. Natural fat gives you the flavor without the added sodium and sugar.

Doubt it? Next time you are at the grocery store pick up a container of LOW FAT sour cream, or any low fat or NO fat product and compare it to the full fat version. Your body can use fat much easier than it can use excess sodium and sugar. Remember - sugar gets stored as fat if its not used. Fat consumption does not CREATE fat unless all you are doing is eating and drinking FAT !

Fat is necessary for the human body for hair, nails and skin. If you remove fat from your diet, you may find that you will begin to have dry hair, that may fall out or break off easily. Your nails may split easily and you will be more prone to a variety of dry skin conditions, which all of the aforementioned may cause extra trips to dermatologists for help for the skin irritations - thus costing you more money, and completely biting into your budget.

The best way to eat healthy on a budget, is to visit your grocery store every couple of days, find your fruits and/or veggies on sale. Splurge a little bit on the

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