Eating healthy isn’t about sticking to a strict regime 100 per cent of the time.
It’s about making small, incremental and achievable changes which slowly become natural to you throughout your life.
And if those changes actually save you money in the long run, double the win! Try these cheap ‘n’ easy food swaps you can start incorporating into your diet today.
1. Swap dried fruit for… fresh fruit.
Dried fruit has a healthy reputation. But just because it’s sold in trail mixes don’t make it so (otherwise M&Ms would be healthy too, right?). With most of the water evaporated, dried fruit allows you to eat way more sugar than you would normally, bombarding your liver with fructose.
Luckily, fresh fruit is packaged with just the right amount of fibre, water and vitamins to help you metabolise the fructose. We enjoy one or two serves of fresh fruit a day with our meals.
2. Swap margarine for… butter.
Oh, slimy, sickly margarine. Luckily for you, this stuff is pretty unhealthy too (as well as being overpriced). It’s made from pro-inflammatory vegetable oils, which are chemically extracted, deodorised, bleached, recoloured and flavoured. Mmmm.
Butter, on the other hand, has just one ingredient (two if you add salt) and tastes incredible. Plus, a study of 636,151 participants found no association between butter and heart disease!
3. Swap tinned legumes for… dried legumes.
While eating your veggies is always the number one priority, it’s worth noting that the heavy metals in tins can leach into the food over time. The amount may be miniscule, but it’s something we avoid if we can help it.
Thankfully, dried legumes are actually a lot cheaper than the tinned stuff and you can buy them in bulk (because when is a dinner NOT improved by a handful of beans or lentils?). Simply soak them overnight and you’ve got a base for a nutritious, protein packed meal.
4. Swap tuna for… sardines.
Canned tuna is super cheap and versatile. But it’s not the most sustainable fish, and it has higher levels of mercury, a neurotoxin. Of course, most of the time the benefits of eating tuna (and other big fish) outweigh the risks, but it’s a good excuse to share the love.
Sardines (even the fresh type) are cheaper than tuna and are loaded with anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids and calcium from the small edible bones. Being so small, they have very low levels of mercury.
Plus, they taste delicious (and are actually Sarah’s favourite). Try our Sardine Witlof Boats if you don’t believe us.
5. Swap maple syrup for… rice malt syrup.
At 40 per cent fructose content, any food that’s drenched in maple syrup is not exactly healthy (we’re looking at you, pancakes). We prefer rice malt syrup because it’s fructose-free, meaning it won’t overload the liver.
But note, we don’t really recommend using oodles of syrup (no matter what kind). For a treat, we only use enough RMS for a subtly sweet flavour.
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