Mark Luigi Dacumos
The keto diet is extremely popular right now, but you may have heard rumblings that it’s expensive. Follow these tips, and you can conquer keto with minimal costs.
What Is the Keto Diet?
There are various forms of the keto diet, but the basics involve cutting carbs and sugar and replacing them with healthy fats. In doing so, you eliminate what causes cravings, constant hunger, and energy crashes, and you allow your body to start burning fat for fuel.
Since keto crushes cravings and hunger, it prevents overeating, which promotes weight loss.
And once you start burning body fat for fuel, you can shed even more pounds.
Keto Benefits
Although many people are doing keto to lose weight, the diet offers many more life-changing benefits, such as:
- Stabilized mood.
- Improved sleep.
- Faster metabolism.
- Increased endurance.
- Improved muscle tone.
- Higher levels of good cholesterol.
- Improved cellular energy.
- Clearer skin and fewer issues like eczema, psoriasis, and acne.
- Stronger immunity.
- Fewer digestive issues like gas, bloating, and constipation.
- Better focus and mental clarity.
- Reduced visceral fat, which can prevent other diseases down the line.
- Healthy blood sugar and insulin levels.
- Fewer energy crashes.
- And more.
While those health benefits are impressive, slimming down via keto can also lead to significant savings. According to a study from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, an obese 20-year old who lowered their weight to a healthy range could save $28,020 over their lifetime. A 40-year-old who did the same could cut their costs by $31,447, and a 50-year-old could save $36,278 over their lifetime.
How were those savings calculated? By factoring in things like missed work days due to illness, a loss of productivity by being sick, and high medical costs linked to treating cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and other ailments linked to a high BMI (body mass index).
The Cost of Keto
With so many benefits, you may wonder why someone would hold back from starting keto, but the cost factor is a major obstacle once again.
Keto has you cut carbs and sugar, which usually represent cheap foods. It replaces them with healthier choices such as meats, olive oil, nuts, vegetables, and the like that often cost more.
Does this mean you can’t do keto if you’re not on a budget? Of course not, as you can follow these tips to minimize your costs.
How To Save Money on Keto
1. Pick generic over name brands.
There’s no need to pay a premium for food just because of the name on the label. By choosing generic options, you can instantly save.
2. Opt for frozen over fresh.
Frozen veggies are not only cheaper than fresh ones, but they also last longer, so you don’t end up tossing them in the trash.
3. Cook your own meals.
You pay a premium for processed and prepared foods. Make your own, and you’ll not only save money, but you can also see more slimming results by avoiding hidden carbs and sugars.
4. Find affordable proteins.
Meat and fish can be expensive. While you’ll want to include them in your keto menu, you can cut costs by using cheaper proteins at times, such as eggs. You can also look for cheaper meat like chicken thighs, ground chuck, and beef sirloin.
5. Buy in bulk.
It’s no secret that buying in bulk can yield significant savings. Stock up on keto-friendly oils, nuts, and other foods, so your kitchen is always stocked at the lowest price possible.
6. Aim for whole foods.
Nothing beats cooking your own meals with whole foods. Your body will thank you for it, you can slim down faster, and you can save a lot of money over less-healthy processed and packaged foods that charge you for convenience.
