How to Eat Nutrient Dense Foods on a Shoestring

ItsFrugal · 03-02-2015 3:22pm #1

For the past while I've been researching ways to pack in the most nutrients to my diet while spending as little as possible.

The area where I save the most and gained the most nutrients is meat. I've changed from eating muscle meat to eating offal. Offal, especially liver is a powerhouse. For example, 100 g of beef liver has, accoding to the USDA database: 4968 RDA vit A, and from vit B to Zinc can have anywhere from 1 to 200 times more vitamins and minerals than muscle meat.

Next in line are the kidneys and then heart. All of which are a fraction of the cost of your typical steak. Liver was hard to eat initially but I started soaking it in water and lemon for a few hours and then cooking it with butter and I now love it.

The best fruit for vit c is the bannana with the orange following after.

Here is the 30 page document if you want to compare: (Ah, cant post links cause I'm new but if you seach google for "the paleo mom downloads" on that page there is a wonderful graphic.

Another saver for me is the juicer. If I find anything going off, I throw it in there to get the last bits of goodness out of it.

Any tips from you guys?

ItsFrugal · 03-02-2015 3:39pm

Another free tip is bone broth! I can get the bones for free from the butchers put them in the slow cooker over-night (when electricity is cheap) then I put it in the fridge till it becomes jelly like. In the morning I scoop out some and put it with boiling water in a cup for a tea!

What are the benefits? Well maybe ask your dog why they go so feral trying to get into the marrow! From a site: "Bone broth is a source of minerals, like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium, in forms that your body can easily absorb. It’s also rich in glycine and proline, amino acids not found in significant amounts in muscle meat (the vast majority of the meat we consume). It also contains chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, the compounds sold as supplements to reduce inflammation, arthritis, and joint pain. Finally, “soup bones” include collagen, a protein found in connective tissue of vertebrate animals, which is abundant in bone, marrow, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. (The breakdown of collagen in bone broths is what produces gelatin.)

What are the benefits of consuming a properly prepared bone broth?

Proline and glycine are important for a healthy gut and digestion, muscle repair and growth, a balanced nervous system, and strong immune system. In fact, a study of chicken broth conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that the amino acids that were produced when making chicken stock reduced inflammation in the respiratory system and improved digestion. (There’s a reason your mom always made you chicken soup when you were sick.)

The gelatin in bone broth can help to heal a leaky gut, which may be of specific benefit those with inflammatory or autoimmune disorders. These compounds also reduce joint pain, reduce inflammation, prevent bone loss, and build healthy skin, hair, and nails."

JoeCat · 22-02-2015 10:24pm

Very interesting tips. Liver fried with onions is delicious.

madmaggie · 23-02-2015 2:01am

I buy the meat on offer in Aldi, and make up stews using herbs and veggies from the garden, eg, carrots, onions, parsnips, thyme and sage. OK, I appreciate not everyone has a garden, but it makes dinner for 2 days for very little outlay. I freeze apples in autumn, also wild blackberries, lovely pies this time of year.

bazwaldo · 03-03-2015 5:11pm

ItsFrugal wrote: »

Another free tip is bone broth! I can get the bones for free from the butchers put them in the slow cooker over-night (when electricity is cheap) then I put it in the fridge till it becomes jelly like. In the morning I scoop out some and put it with boiling water in a cup for a tea!

What are the benefits? Well maybe ask your dog why they go so feral trying to get into the marrow! From a site: "Bone broth is a source of minerals, like calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and potassium, in forms that your body can easily absorb. It’s also rich in glycine and proline, amino acids not found in significant amounts in muscle meat (the vast majority of the meat we consume). It also contains chondroitin sulfate and glucosamine, the compounds sold as supplements to reduce inflammation, arthritis, and joint pain. Finally, “soup bones” include collagen, a protein found in connective tissue of vertebrate animals, which is abundant in bone, marrow, cartilage, tendons, and ligaments. (The breakdown of collagen in bone broths is what produces gelatin.)

What are the benefits of consuming a properly prepared bone broth?

Proline and glycine are important for a healthy gut and digestion, muscle repair and growth, a balanced nervous system, and strong immune system. In fact, a study of chicken broth conducted by the University of Nebraska Medical Center found that the amino acids that were produced when making chicken stock reduced inflammation in the respiratory system and improved digestion. (There’s a reason your mom always made you chicken soup when you were sick.)

The gelatin in bone broth can help to heal a leaky gut, which may be of specific benefit those with inflammatory or autoimmune disorders. These compounds also reduce joint pain, reduce inflammation, prevent bone loss, and build healthy skin, hair, and nails."

What does it taste like? What type of bones do you use?

masculinist · 06-03-2015 9:05pm

What about BSE and all those diseases which meant T Bone steaks were banned at some point ? I agree its great but you have to be very careful about where you get your bones ...

Capt'n Midnight · 20-03-2015 7:10pm

ItsFrugal wrote: »

seach google for "the paleo mom

what is called paleo nowadays has very little to do with what the palaeolithic diet really was.

Also some nutrients are bad for you in excess. Eating lots of very very rich food may mean gout or hypervitaminosis.

The usual advice is a balanced diet with a mix of things.

Penguins can't taste sweet or bitter because they mostly eat fish. But we can tell the difference because detecting ripe fruit and food that's going off is very important to us.

hardCopy · 20-03-2015 7:17pm

AFAIK, Electricity is only cheaper at night if you have dual meters and have a socket running of the night circuit.

L1011 · 20-03-2015 8:23pm

hardCopy wrote: »

AFAIK, Electricity is only cheaper at night if you have dual meters and have a socket running of the night circuit.

You need dual meters but only one circuit, same gear works in the day.

I'm getting mine reinstated (was removed by a previous owner with the storage heaters), have been ensuring any new heavy use appliances have delay start so I'm not stuck waiting for midnight to kick them on.

How to Eat Nutrient Dense Foods on a Shoestring

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