What IS the real price of your long term health?

A famous saying says ‘your health is your wealth’, but how many people take into account their long term health, and what it costs? This article is here with the facts you need to consider that could just save you thousands of dollars in the future (or even right now!). What could you do with thousands of extra dollars? Think of all the fun you could have when you didn’t have to spend it all on painful procedures or life-threatening health scares. Plus, there’s a great solution to discover right now to save you money in more ways than one!

The first thing to consider, is ‘where do health expenses come from’?

Of course, there are certain expenses that can’t be avoided, like check-ups or sudden disasters such as a broken arm. However, so many can just be avoided by eating properly. What types of expenses might you be able to avoid easily, and for only pennies extra?

Long term prescription medications

Surgery (knee, hip, heart, etc)

Elevated insurance premiums every month

Doctor visits due to aches, pains or symptoms

Losing hours at work (or play) due to not feeling well

Colds, the flu, coughs & other short-term illnesses that disrupt what you want to do & make you buy expensive OTC medicines to combat symptoms

Plus, there are the hidden intangible costs like lost time with the family or friends, stress for yourself or family members who worry about you, and of course, feeling pain or symptoms. You may not think much of a doctor visit co-pay, or the addition of 30-90 dollars per month in prescriptions, but those all add up when you look at them over the course of a year…or more! Plus, you have better things to do with your time than sit around in a waiting room.

What will and what won’t people spend on?

It’s surprising to see what people won’t spend money on, when it comes to being healthy. For example, you’ll find plenty of people who won’t pay the extra dollar for "Free Range Outdoor Eggs" which contain higher levels of vitamin-d, well known to fend off colds and coughs. They may not even spend the easy 3 or 4 dollars for a bottle of 100 1-a-day vitamin d capsules. But then they’ll gladly hand over $15.00 or $20.00 for cold medicine once they get sick. Or even a $35.00 doctor co-pay on top of that. Plus they have the ‘expense’ of lost time and feeling bad. (Do the math! 4 dollars x 4 bottles = 16 dollars for a whole year (plus) worth of 1-a-day vitamin D caps, is that less than you spend on medicine when someone catches a cold? Wouldn’t you rather be so healthy you never GOT the cold?)

That’s only the most simple of examples though. There are others that are much more extreme and time consuming. Even while insured, there may be expenses over $10,000 for something like hip, knee or heart surgery which could have been avoided by not carrying extra weight. Not to mention the permanently raised insurance rates for both health (and if you carry it) life insurance. Chronic conditions like low bone density & diabetes can be even more costly in the long run. Those are expenses that never go away.

The Amazing Solution:

Most health problems can be prevented or solved through eating well. And most problems people have with eating well are simply MISCONCEPTIONS! False beliefs keep people thinking that:

Eating healthy is always much more expensive than eating normally

You have to ‘waste money’ in premium grocery stores to do it

Preparing healthy meals is too hard / takes too much time

Healthy foods taste bad or are only vegetables that no one likes

Kids/families won’t like the flavor or recipes

Nothing from the above list is true. Let’s take a closer look:

Selecting healthy foods in any grocery usually consists of buying non-processed foods like whole vegetables, fruits, and lean meats. The less work that someone else has to do to the product, the less it’s going to cost. Compare a bag of apples or several bananas to those little ‘portion control’ calorie pack foods. Which one do you get more of for your money? Which one is better for you, gives you more fiber, and fills you up for the same amount of calories? Fruits always win that war.

You can get 3 chicken breasts for $2.99, mixed salad greens (a whole bag) for about $2.50 and an easy to make veggie couscous could total less $1.00 per portion when you combine & divide up the cost of all ingredients. In total, buying at these "outrageous" prices will give you a per-meal total of $2.16 for a family of three eating the above foods. (Sale prices may vary, doesn’t include pantry items such as spices & dressings which last over many meals) You can’t even buy value menu meals as hearty as this for $2.16 a person.

When was the last time you looked at a natural cook book? Are you still eating or serving the same thing over and over just because it’s what you’ve always done? Natural is usually ‘close to the original state’ which means you’re not going to have to spend a lot of time in preparation. Can you work a blender? Then you can make super healthy & anti-oxidant rich breakfasts in minutes any morning. You’ll be amazed at the variety & ease of preparation if you take a little time to plan ahead. After all, wouldn’t you rather spend an extra 20 minutes a week than spend that time in a doctor’s waiting room?

You may hear trendy dieters complaining that fruits have sugar and carbs however, they’re so rich in vitamins, minerals, fiber & anti-oxidants that you really can’t go wrong eating them. Did you know that you’d have to eat 66 apples get enough calories for 1 pound of fat? (apples have about 53 calories for an average one) It’s the fiber & pure water content that fills you up while your body gets the nutrients. Fruit is also very kid friendly, both in meals or as a snack. When you buy ‘in season’ fruits they cost less, and give you variety throughout the year so you’re not getting tired of a certain flavor.

Frozen fruits & vegetables are always in season, meaning they cost less when their fresh counterpart is out of season. If you’ve got the space, you can also save by buying in bulk. Wouldn’t you rather spend .50 cents extra per pound on grass fed beef or pesticide free fruit than spend three times that trying to fix the symptoms that these toxins cause in your body after years of ‘punishing it’ with chemicals?

Where is the real cost?

You can pay a little up front on natural foods, and pay a little in time making your own natural meals, or you can spend many times that amount later on as you scramble to fix all the problems caused by eating in an unhealthy way. The choice and the method aren’t difficult at all when you see the facts laid out like this.