Released December 3, 2008
AUBURN UNIVERSITY, Ala. — Betty could be the name of any middle-aged American dealing with the stresses commonly associated with this time of life.
Imagine that she is a medically uninsured, recently widowed 45-year-old salesperson at a local mall jewelry store. She often wonders how she will make ends meet supporting a 19-year-old daughter attending a nearby regional university and a 17-year-old son eagerly looking ahead to college after high school graduation.
She's eating more and more of her lunches and dinners at the fast-food restaurant located only a few steps away at the food pavilion — something she's uneasy about. As a middle-aged black woman with a family history of hypertension and type 2 diabetes, she knows she's pushing the envelope a little farther with each visit.
Day after day, though, she never wavers. In the long run, cheap, convenient value meals may exact a heavy toll on her health, but for now, they're helping her stretch her dollars.
Betty is not alone. Countless thousands of Alabamians facing similar challenges are turning away from healthier, more expensive fruits and vegetables, opting instead for cheaper, processed foods chock-full of calories and nutrient-poor carbohydrates.
And like Betty, they're pushing the envelope farther and farther with each visit.
One expert says the whole approach must be reconsidered for the sake of everyone's health. Instead of looking for high-calorie food bargains, the first priority should be avoiding obesity, says Robert Keith, an Alabama Cooperative Extension System nutrition and health specialist and Auburn University professor of nutrition and food science.
Yes, healthy foods may cost more, but in the end, cheaper, processed foods are not worth the price because of the heavy toll they ultimately exact on health, he says.
"Clip coupons, look for sales, do whatever you need to do, but keep these cheap, processed foods from becoming a staple of your diet," Keith advises.
"The one thing you don't want to be, especially if you're an uninsured person, is obese," he says.
Indeed, as Keith has stressed many times in the course of his career, obesity often is accompanied by chronic, often life-threatening diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension and heart disease.
In a tragic sense, the old saying "you get what you pay for" especially applies in this context. Paying less now for cheap foods often leads to a future of chronic, sometimes crippling disease.
Instead of these cheap, processed products, Keith says, consumers, especially the uninsured, should look for foods that that provide the greatest benefits to their health, even if consuming them costs somewhat more or requires consumers to reduce their caloric intake.
The obvious choices are fruits and vegetables, ideally those that contain the highest amounts of vitamins A and C and the host of phytochemicals that have been shown to enhance our immune functions, he says.
"Whether this effort involves clipping coupons or confining your intake to what's in season, the rule of thumb should be eating as many fruits and vegetables as possible," Keith says.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are always the best, he says, adding that frozen vegetables are a good bet too.
Canned vegetables, because of their high sodium content, are less desirable, though some of this sodium can be rinsed out before cooking. In cases where canned fruits are the only option, use only light-syrup products. These can be rinsed too, though they are no substitute for fresh or frozen products, he says.
Keith says consumers should also look for immune-boosting foods rich in zinc and vitamin B6, which are typically found in lean meats. Good bets include lean chicken, beef and pork.
Once again, look for bargains.
"If you're on a tight budget, be on the lookout for sales," Keith advises. "If the lean chicken is on sale that day, go with the chicken. Likewise, if the beef is on sale, opt for it."
And by all means, drink your milk and consume other low-fat dairy products, Keith advises. These are chock-full of vitamin D, another immune-boosting vitamin.
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