Thank you again for all of your great contributions and questions to our Blog.  This month I would like to address a question we received regarding the "Healthy 'Diet' Foods to Avoid" blog post.  The question asked of me was: "With all the food choices out there how do I decipher the healthy from the unhealthy?"

The first step in healthy eating is to be knowledgeable of the foods that you eat. The USDA published a lot of great information on "www.mypyramid.gov" regarding food education and the food guide pyramid and it usage. It is also important to familiarize yourself with the information on the foods packaging.  This will tell you all the information you will need to make a sound judgment in purchasing that item. I.E. calories, serving size, fat, sugar, etc...  More advice and resources on portion and serving size will be provided this week in our blog. We understand that it may be tricky to distinguish between foods that look good for you and that are good for you; however, spending a small amount of time researching what is in the foods you consume will help greatly.  For example two products "Vitamin water" and "Vitamin water Zero" one of these products has zero calories and one does not, but it is easy to assume that any "water" shouldn't have calories and sugar.

If you have been in a grocery store during the past few months you may have noticed

that the price of food is increasing. With the effort to save money sometimes we don't purchase the best foods for ourselves. The good news is that you can eat healthy on a budget. Some healthy inexpensive foods are:

1. Apples: apples can be used in many fall foods or as an easy snack; Apples are normally about $1.99 per pound. One pound of large apples usually contains 2 to 3 apples. At this rate apples can be a healthy alternative to chips or another snack that may be more expensive.
2. Canned Beans: Beans can be used in anything from salads to chili and is a good source of fiber, calcium, and iron. A 15 ounce can of beans normally cost around 1 dollar.
3. Bananas: These are another great source of vitamin c and potassium.  Bananas cost about .85 per pound which again contains about 2 large bananas. These 
4. Yogurt: Yogurt is packaged in single serving containers of about 8 oz. which may cost up to .70 cents each. Yogurt is also a healthy alternative for lunches or mid day snacks.

Saving can be easy during your trip to the market if you perform a little research.  Look in the paper for money saving coupons and utilize daily or weekly sales to maximize your saving.