As a result, we are kicking off a series of articles that takes a look at different foods and compares them serving for serving, as to what provides the best value: quality, healthy food for the best price. This will help you understand how to potentially maximize your budget around food shopping, while insuring you get the nutrients your body needs and SO deserves. Our first healthy food on a budget is protein. We look at the serving size, and the calories, grams of fat, grams of protein and the cost for both a regular and an organic product per serving.
Quick Facts on Protein: First, let's understand the basics of protein and why you need them in your diet:
- Protein comes from animals and plants and provides us with everything we need to build and maintain our muscles.
- Protein is found in fish, meat, poultry, dairy, eggs and tofu, as well as beans, vegetables and fruit.
- The leaner the protein is, the healthier it is for your diet.
- Complete proteins provide you with ALL the necessary amino acids your body requires.
- Incomplete proteins, however, are not sufficient protein sources by themselves. As a result, you need to eat several incomplete proteins to get all of the amino acids your body needs.
To ensure we are comparing apples to apples, so to speak, we are going to focus on complete proteins. The chart below does not include all foods that contain complete proteins, but it provides a good cross-section of popular foods. (All data is taken from Peapod, an online grocery shopping site.)
To really understand what is the best
option, you need to factor in the quality of the
food AND the cost. If the food is high in
fat it isn't such a bargain. For
instance, chicken drumsticks, whole eggs, peanut butter and low fat
milk look to be the best cost options at $0.50 or less per
serving. However, chicken drumsticks, whole eggs and peanut
butter are high in fat. Further, if a food is low in protein
(peanut butter and Tofu), you might not be getting as much 'protein
bang' for your buck.
The best quality proteins on the list (low fat, high protein foods)
are canned tuna, skinless chicken breast and whey protein with
milk. The best protein type in terms of
value (lower fat, high protein and lower
cost) would be your dairy products, especially egg-whites and
low-fat milk. Within the meat/poultry/fish food category,
skinless chicken breast is your best option. In general, red
meats tend to be the worst choice, as they are both higher in
fat and higher in cost.
Have you found a high quality, low costing protein that you
enjoy?
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