Trying to eat healthier? You may have to pay for it.
While the new U.S. dietary guidelines may be more straightforward than the old nutrition pyramid they replaced, a new study out of the University of Washington finds that the impact on the wallet is a little less appealing. MyPlate, as the USDA's set of rejiggered nutritional guidelines is known, advises Americans to up their intake of potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D, and calcium (and to cut back on sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar.)
But as Reuters reports, researchers found that meeting the recommendations for just one of the nutrients — potassium — can lead to an almost 10 percent increase in the $4000 that the average American spends on food each year. Potassium, which is the most expensive of the nutrients recommended for increase, would boost the average grocery bill by about $380 annually.
That increase comes at a time when many Americans are already struggling to pay for groceries. "Almost 15 percent of households in America say they don't have enough money to eat the way they want to eat," Hilary Seligman, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, told the AP after examining the results of the study. She added that estimates show that 49 million Americans currently make food choices based on cost.
"Right now, a huge chunk of America just isn't able to adhere to these guidelines," said Seligman, who specializes in nutrition and food insecurity but was not involved in the study.