Healthy Food Comes at a Cost

Friday, 05 August 2011 | by Pat's Picks

Being healthy is expensive. According to a new study, trying to meet the nutritional benchmarks set by the USDA costs consumers hundreds of extra dollars each year. The LA Times says raising a person’s fiber consumption by just 10 percent costs an extra $54.75 a year. Raising potassium intake by the same amount would cost $189.80—raising it to the actual recommended daily dose would cost about $380 a year.

On the flip side, increasing your sugar intake, so it makes up just one percent more of your daily caloric intake equals a yearly savings of $25.55; increasing the saturated fat in your diet by the same amount would save $102.20. Researchers looked solely at the grocery bill when determining their figures, and didn’t calculate additional costs/savings that may result from an unhealthy/healthy diet.

Read an abstract of the study, published in the Journal Health Affairs.