Monthly and Weekly Shopping List and Menu

Monthly Shop:

       

Item	Monthly Cost	Benefit	Initial Cost
MACRO FOODS
10 lb of brown rice, popcorn kernels and/or whole wheat flour.	$10.32	Fiber, Calories	$12.00
4.3 lb lentils	$ 5.38	Protein, Fiber, Calories	$6.25
4.3 lb dried black beans	$ 5.00	Protein, Fiber, Calories	$6.25
4.3 lb whole wheat spaghetti	$ 6.45	Fiber, Calories	$7.50
3 x 42 oz box of quick oats	$12.01	Fiber, Calories	$15.96
1 lb unsalted peanuts	$ 5.57	Catalyst, Healthy Fats, Calories	$7.77
1 20 oz box raisins	$2.99	Fiber, Calories, Treat	$2.99
BEVERAGES
0.67 can Coffee or box green tea	$ 1.87	Coffee: caffeine Tea: stress relief.	$2.79
0.28 Brita Water Filter	$ 2.54	Water, Alertness	$8.99
SUPER FOODS
0.44 lb (ground) flax seed	$ 1.19	Omega 3, Healthy Fats	$2.69
6 2000IU Vitamin D tablets	$ 0.34	Vitamins	$10.00
0.63 bag walnuts	$ 2.71	Catalyst, Healthy Fats	$8.99
30 1000 mg calcium tablets	$ 1.20	Calcium	$3.99
0.3 bottle amla powder	$ 1.50	Antioxidants	$5.00
1 b frozen blueberries	$ 4.40	Antioxidants, Treat	$4.40
TOTAL	$65.36		$112.98

If $60 is the limit, then leave out the calcium tablets, as the science has not proven that calcium tablets nor milk improve bone heath. The frozen blueberries can also be left out. They are delicious, but perhaps eaten, when budget allows.

The first month’s start up costs can be alleviated in the following manner:

• Pool purchases as will happen for a family.
• Stagger the initial purchases over three months, so that each month remains within budget. In particular this is possible for the super foods, which keep well and are cheapest in bulk.
• Buy the water filter early if local tap water is unsafe or tastes bad. Otherwise money will be spent on bottled water.

Weekly Shop

Item	Weekly Cost	Benefit
SUPERFOODS
1 box mushrooms	$1.00	Ergothioneine: anti-aging antioxidant.
VEGETABLES
1 bunch kale	$1.49	Dark Leafy Greens, Fiber
Half head broccoli	$0.75	Sulforaphane, Fiber, Dark Leafy Greens
1 lb carrots	$1.29	Phytonutrients, Taste
1 head romaine lettuce	$1.79	Raw, Phytonutrients, Taste
2 tomato	$1.58	Raw, Phytonutrients, Taste
2 cucumber	$1.50	Raw, Phytonutrients, Taste
2 yam	$1.98	Calories, Phytonutrients
FRUIT
3 apples	$1.50	Phytonutrients, Raw, Treat, Snack
3 oranges	$1.50	Phytonutrients, Raw, Treat, Snack
4 bananas	$0.80	Phytonutrients, Raw, Treat, Snack
TOTAL	$15.18	Phytonutrients, Raw, Taste, Snack

Financial Information

The monthly cost of the above shopping lists is

$65.36 (monthly shop) + 4.3 * $15.18 (week shop) = $130.64.

That is $4.35 per day.

The prices are gotten from Market Basket, a popular supermarket in Massachusetts and from the online prices of Stop & Shop and Walmart.

Menu

Breakfast:

7 Meals: Oatmeal w fruit, amla & flaxseed raisins

Some/all meals: Calcium tablet.

One meal: B12 tablet

Two meals: Vitamin D tablet.

Lunch

7 Meals: Rice & Beans w kale, broccoli or carrots: keeps well and heats up easily or can be eaten cold. Prepare overnight as described below.

Snack

6 -7 Meals: piece of fruit

Dinner

4 Meals: Rice

2 Meals: Pasta

1 Meals: Yam

above with salad, kale, broccoli, and/or carrots, walnut, peanuts

Drinks:

Drink eight to ten cups of water per day. Usually this takes some willpower as it is more than most people "feel like"! Start with four cups first thing in the morning before eating anything, because it will be absorbed immediately that way and will wake you up. The health and appearance benefits of drinking lots of water can show up in just a few weeks, as described in this story “How drinking three liters of water per day took 10 years of my face”.

Coffee and tea can be substituted for some water. (Green) Tea has many health benefits: too many to mention and it is calming.

Substitutions

Substitute the lentils and beans among the various legumes. Substitute the brown rice with other whole grains like millet, whole wheat, quinoa, bulgur and oats if desired and budget allows. Lentils and brown rice have the lowest cost, which is why they are featured here. It is possible to rearrange the proportion of legumes and whole grains as long as significant portions remain of each group.  These are the primary sources of calories and protein. In fact, they provide all that for about $1.30/day.

Substitute the walnuts and peanuts with other nuts and fatty vegetables like avocado. Always have good fats in the diet. Oils -healthy or not- are an inferior substitute to nuts or fatty vegetables, because they can increase artery narrowing atherosclerosis, while nuts reduce it.

Kale may and should be substituted with other dark leafy greens like collard greens, turnip greens, swiss chard, green chard, dandelion greens, spinach and broccoli. They all are beneficial and each has their own unique blend of Phytonutrients. The rule is dark green. The lighter green vegetables like cabbage have less benefit.

Kale is easy to grow in the garden. Once established, it reseeds itself. It is large so that it provides a lot of food per plant. It grows in all weather, but freezing, so it has a long season.

Substitute fruits with fruits, vegetables with vegetables with the season and desire. Retain a balance of leafy greens, fruit, salad vegetables, yellow vegetables and root vegetables as each type provide unique phytonutrients.

Organic is usually too expensive for this budget. Do not despair, the amount of contaminants (e.g. pesticides) on conventional produce is 10 - 100x lower than in dairy or meat, so by going to produce we are already reducing the amount of pesticides and antibiotics by a large amount. as discussed here.

Do not substitute white rice for brown rice or potatoes for yams, juice for fruit per comments on white calories below.

Nutritional Information

The above shopping list was calculated down to one day and entered into http://www.cronometer.com, a nutrient calculating website. The results using grams per day is here. It shows that almost all nutrients are met.

Below a summary of the cronometer results of what the diet provides on average each day. The daily requirement is in parentheses.

Nutrient	% Daily Requirement	Comment
1957 calories	118%	Can be increased/reduced with rice & legume intake
67.8g protein	121%	All aminoacids are sufficiently provided
57g fiber	191%
2.6g Omega 3 Fatty Acid	162%	No trans fats or cholesterol
1450 mg Calcium	121%
163 mg Iron	204%
505.2 IU Vitamin D	126%

A few nutrients far exceeded recommendations. However, all those nutrients come direct from the produce (e.g. carrots, kale, lettuce), so it is totally safe, because the body can regulate its intake from produce.

Phytonutrients:

Phytonutrients are the trace nutrients found in plant food. There are hundreds of them, many only recently understood. They all play a role in maintaining health and fighting disease. Vary the produce on the menu to get as many as possible.

Preparation Suggestions and Comments

Time Constraints:

If busy and little time, keep it simple: that is few ingredients and zero-attention cooking. For example: rice, beans and one or two vegetables. Cook the food in a microwave or vegetable steamer, because those require no attention and have timers.

Brown Rice:

1. Rinse the rice thoroughly.
2. In the evening boil the rice for about 5 - 10 minutes in a microwave or on the stove. Boil in 6 parts water to 1 part rice.
3. Drain off the water.
4. Wrap the bowl or pot in towels. Stuff the packet into a cooler. Pack tightly.
5. The rice will cook itself overnight in the cooler and be tender in the morning. This is called the “hay box” method. A link is here.

A note about brown rice: Brown rice is an inexpensive versatile whole grain that is nutritious and slightly sweet, which is why it is included here. Only oatmeal comes close in value. Unfortunately, brown rice usually has some arsenic in it, because it is grown in soil contaminated by now-banned insecticides. The cooking method above takes away about half the arsenic and brings it to acceptable levels. To reduce the amount of brown rice in the diet: include even more lentils and beans. It is also possible to replace half of the brown rice with white basmati rice. For more information see this report: “How much arsenic is in your rice?”

Popcorn:
Pop in an air popper or in a pan with a little oil as indicated in the directions

Whole Wheat Flour:
Make simple pancakes by mixing flour and water.

Lentils:

1. Soak the lentils during the day.
1. Better yet, sprout the lentils for 1.5 days.
2. Boil the lentils for 5 - 10 minutes in a microwave or stove top.
3. Wrap the bowl or pot in many blankets
4. The lentils will cook overnight in the blankets and will be fully cooked by the morning.

Beans:

These could be done in  a slow cooker (aka crock pot) overnight or during the day.

Broccoli:

Chop broccoli fine 45 minutes before cooking.  This releases enzymes that make the cancer fighter sulforaphane in the broccoli. Chop before cooking because heat destroys the enzymes. After 45 minutes they have done their work. See this video clip for more info.

.

Yam:

Yam can be prepared in microwave and toaster oven. Depending on its size it needs about five minutes in the microwave and ten minutes in the toaster oven. Yams can also be steamed.

Mushrooms:

Mushrooms must be consumed cooked as they can be toxic raw. Any species may be purchased including white button and portabella. Mushrooms are by far the best source of the antioxidant ergothioneine, which protects the mitochondria of our cells against aging. See these this article or this video clip for more info.

Amla:

Amla is made from dried ground gooseberries. These are large, mildly sour, berries that have been in used in Indian medicine for centuries. The powder has the highest concentration of antioxidants of any known substance. A teaspoon contains more antioxidants than most people get in a week. It is cheap, keeps well, and can be bought at any Indian food store. The powder is almost tasteless so it can be added to any meal.  See article  or this video clip for more info.

Minimal meat and dairy:

Meat and dairy are expensive. They provide far fewer calories, protein and other nutrients per dollar than the items mentioned above. They should only be consumed in small quantities as a treat. The budget does not work otherwise. Moreover, there is ample evidence that the degenerative diseases: heart disease, cancer, obesity, MS, diabetes, Alzheimers, gout, lower back pain and more can be avoided by eliminating meat and dairy from the diet. For more info click on meat or dairy from nutritionfacts.org.

Avoid White calories:

White rice, white bread, white pasta, potatoes, juice and junk food all are mostly calories, no fiber and no Phytonutrients. In fact they cause the same pancreas stressing, diabetes causing, insulin spikes as plain sugar. They provide little bulk, so little satisfaction. Carb loading with these foods should only be done by athletes shortly before intensive exertion.

Whole calories, that is those gotten from whole foods are digested slowly, so they provide steady energy, plenty of nutrients and they do not stress the pancreas.

Click here for a discussion on whole vs white carbohydrates from the Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition department.

Cooking Implements

Water:

A water filtering pitcher like Brita costs about $25. If the local tap water is safe and tastes good, then defer this purchase. It is obviously better to drink filtered water, but the price may be prohibitive initially.

Heat:

For heat I am assuming there is a microwave, stove, or vegetable steamer available. If none are available get a vegetable steamer. Vegetable steamers cost about $20. They can cook rice, beans and steam vegetables.They are small, they use little power and they shut off automatically if the water runs out or if the cooking timer expires.

Perhaps even oatmeal can be prepared in a vegetable steamer.

A slow cooker is useful for cooking beans. Cooking lentils does not require a slow cooker.

If You Lack Refrigeration Capacity

Eat the vegetables & mushrooms early in the week and the fruit later in the week. The monthly products all keep without refrigeration: so cook those in daily batches.

If You Have More Money to Spend

If you have more money to spend then expand the diet with whatever healthy foods you like so that you enjoy it. Consider the reality: -- the best diet is the one you stick to --

For health reasons increase the amount of fruit and vegetables to get more phytonutrients and more treats. Phytonutrients are the disease fighters. Fruit is delicious and great for snacks as it provides both easily digested calories and fluids.

For pleasure reasons also vary the whole grains and legumes.

If You Have Extra Time

If you have extra time then consider

1. Adding more spices and ingredients for health and for flavor. Many spices like turmeric are suspected to have major health benefits.
2. Using more time intensive cooking techniques
3. Cultivating sprouts as sprouts are very high in antioxidants.

The biggest mistakes people make

The biggest mistakes people make on a diet like this are:

1. Not eating enough whole grains and legumes by eating smaller meals or by consuming white calories. We must eat our fill of whole grains and legumes, otherwise  we get hungry and start buying snacks, which are usually white calories. Snacks will blow the budget, leave us lethargic over time and cause weight gain.
2. Worrying about not getting enough protein. As the calculations show this diet -and the substitutions recommended above- have sufficient protein. There is no need to include special products, to add supplements or to have special recipes. In short: maintain the recommended ratio of whole grains and legumes and stop worrying.
3. Insufficient fruits and vegetables. In the long run, insufficient fruits and vegetables leave us lethargic. Keep them in the diet and include as many as budget allows.
4. Worrying about weight gain. In general, people on a whole grain and legume diet with sufficient fruits and vegetables lose weight regardless of how much they eat. There are exceptions of course, but the above is the general rule.

Resources

Harvard School of Public Health Nutrition department: Has the Healthy Eating Plate and Pyramid

Nutritionfacts.org : hundreds of short video clips about scientific research on nutrition

www.cronometer.com: free website that tracks anyone’s nutritional intake. Enter what you eat and it calculates and tracks the nutritional content.