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For whom will this diet be a good choice?
The Thrifty Diet is a plan designed for people who want to learn healthy eating habits and stay with them for longer without spending their fortune on it. To support the local economy, it is worth betting on local products, drawing on seasonal Polish fruits and vegetables, just when they are the cheapest. A thrifty diet can be used by a person of any age and with different culinary skills.
It doesn't have to be expensive
Diet is usually associated with high costs. If we choose high-end products for shopping and do not look for alternatives - indeed, we can overpay. Such alternatives exist we propose them in Multilife Diet. In addition, our menu does not have to be based on expensive, hard-to-reach products with catchy, exotic names. And quite the opposite. The basis of a balanced, valuable and varied diet should be local products, available in bazaars or in a nearby supermarket. This is exactly what the diet for thrifty in MultiLife Diet is based on.
Components of the diet
The diet for thrifty, is based on the pyramid of healthy nutrition and physical activity for adults. The basis of the menu is vegetables and fruits with a predominance of the former (they contain less sugars). The greater their variety, the better!
At the beginning, however, it is worth focusing on the easily accessible assortment, which includes seasonal vegetables and fruits, but also imported and frozen ones. In the diet for thrifty we will find, among others, leafy vegetables, root vegetables, cabbage, as well as berries, citrus fruits, bananas or our native apples, pears and plums. Of the dried fruits, we propose above all the apricot, because it is available and relatively cheap.
Another important group is cereal products. The smaller the degree of purification and processing of the grain, the more fiber, minerals and vitamins we will provide to our body. An excellent choice will be native groats, for example, buckwheat, millet, barley. In the diet we will also find whole wheat pasta, oatmeal/rye flakes, wholemeal bread or graham.
The next floor of the food pyramid occupies dairy products, which in the diet for thrifty also occupies an important position. The proposed meals are based on low-fat dairy products (up to 2% fat). It is also recommended to reach for fermented dairy products, such as kefir, buttermilk or natural yogurts, which are rich in minerals, including calcium, and beneficial probiotics.
The thrifty diet also includes lean meat, fish, legumes and eggs. According to the recommendations, fish in the menu should appear at least twice during the week. The best choice will be mackerel, herring or cod - they are among the cheapest species and contain many valuable ingredients, including omega 3. When choosing meat, it is best to reach for lean poultry meat (chicken or turkey breast), and eliminate processed meat products. From time to time, the meat in the dish is worth replacing with the seeds of legumes. They are cheap and easy to store, so once purchased a supply of legumes, we will last much longer than other fresh sources of protein.
The last floor of the pyramid is fats. In the diet for thrifty we will find fats of vegetable origin, such as rapeseed oil or olive oil. In this group we can also include nuts and seeds. The diet plan focused on seeds found locally, such as walnuts or flaxseed. Since their nutritional value varies, it is not worth limiting yourself to one species.
Herbs are also included in the diet for thrifty, which not only improve the taste of dishes, but also provide many health-promoting ingredients. They can also help reduce salt intake, which is very desirable. When reaching for herbs and spices, it is worth choosing native ones, e.g. parsley, mint, lovage, cumin, juniper.
In the economy plan, however, you will not find exotic ingredients. The proposed meals are varied and tasty, and you can find all the products in the local shop. There are both sandwiches, porridges, scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, as well as soups, casseroles and salads. Recipes of dishes were composed in such a way that it was easy to replace one ingredient with another. This will help you reduce food waste.
Bibliography
- Gawęcki J. (ed.): Human nutrition, the basics of nutrition science. PWN Scientific Publishing House, Warsaw 2012
- Jarosz M., Rychlik E., Stoś K., Charzewska J. (eds.): Nutrition standards for the Polish population and their application. National Institute of Public Health - State Department of Hygiene, 2020
- https://ncez.pzh.gov.pl/abc-zywienia/zasady-zdrowego-zywienia/piramida-zdrowego-zywienia-i-aktywnosci-fizycznej-dla-osob-doroslych-2/
