Raw Rewind: 3 Ways to Waste Money on a Raw Food Diet
The following is a Fit On Raw article I originally published in 2009. It’s a bit of an oldie, but definitely still a goodie! 
Are you finding a raw diet too expensive to manage? Are you depressed because you have been raw for only a short time, but have seen your food bill increase twofold?
Maybe you are hesitant in actually going raw because you have heard all the horror stories of people having to mortgage their house just to keep up their raw lifestyle.
Just kidding…
But many people do in fact find it financially difficult to stay raw. It’s just too expensive!
Well, it certainly doesn’t have to be. Here are 3 ways that many people waste money on a raw food diet.
#1: Buying Supplements and Superfoods
If you are new to the raw food diet, you might not know that many raw food “gurus” promote the use of supplements and superfoods. They believe that a raw diet is incomplete in terms of nutrition. Supplementation and the consumption of superfoods helps to fill in the gaps.
Some common supplements used within the raw food movement include spirulina, hemp powder, and various powders made from greens and fruits. And many of these products are *very* expensive. A pound of spirulina powder costs over $12!
Superfoods, so-called because of their supposed superior nutritional qualities, are also very popular within the raw food movement. These include wheatgrass, goji berries, maca, raw cacao, acai, even bee pollen!
And just like supplements, these foods are very expensive. An 8-ounce bag of dried goji berries costs over $10.
I can buy an entire day’s worth of food for less than that…and I often do!
It really gets my goat when people complain about how expensive the raw food diet is. Of course it is, when you are throwing handfuls of cash at unnecessary supplements and superfoods!
The people advocating the use of these “foods” are simply affirming the stigma that the raw food diet is extreme and difficult to do. I will not name names, but many of the raw food “experts” that promote the use of these products also sell them at very high prices.
It certainly makes you wonder…
If you are eating a healthy raw food diet based on lots of sweet fruit, moderate greens and non-sweet fruits, and low amounts of fat, then you will not need to supplement.
Of course, there are individual circumstances in which supplementation of some form is necessary. This diet is not about dogmatism. If you need to supplement, do it and don’t think twice about it. But in many cases, healthy living is all you need.
UPDATE: Still wondering about those superfoods like cacao and wheatgrass? Check out my articles here and here.
#2: Buying Foods You Don’t Like
Do you waste money on produce that you don’t like just because you think it’s good for you? Let me guess, you buy the produce and then it just sits on your counter or in the fridge. A week later, you open up your vegetable drawer to find a rotten, moldy mess.
What’s that sound? Oh right. It’s your hard-earned cash headed straight down the drain.
Here’s a tip: if you don’t like a food, do *not* buy it! Seriously, the chances of you actually eating it are close to nil. Plus, it just takes up space in your kitchen. AND rotting food only makes everything around it turn much quicker!
And are these foods *really* so good for you? Take kale, for instance. Many raw foodists tout this food as being one of the best foods you can eat because of the high level of certain nutrients.
However, kale is harder to digest than other greens like romaine and bib lettuce due to the amount of cellulose it contains. Your body has a difficult time breaking down this cellulose and so much of the food ends up being eliminated. So in the end, you aren’t even capable of utilizing those so-called “better” nutrients!
More importantly, just because a food has more of something does not make it better for you. The appropriateness of a food in one’s diet depends upon how close the nutritional composition of the food is to meeting the consumer’s needs.
Foods that are hard to digest tell us that the make-up of these foods does not align with our own unique anatomy and physiology and so is not optimal.
So stop listening to the raw “gurus” and stick to the foods that you truly enjoy. Your wallet, and your palate, will thank you.
UPDATE: Want to know which fresh raw foods I hate the most? Check it out here.
#3: Buying Exclusively From Health Food Stores
When I first went raw, I bought all of my produce exclusively from health food stores. I figured that since their prices were higher, their produce *must* be higher quality, right?
Wrong. In fact, I eventually discovered that the majority of the produce offered at these high-end stores was the same quality as my local grocery store. Many times it was even the same brand!
The only difference, besides the pricing, was that there was a higher selection of organic produce. However, this produce was usually *horrible* quality and *outrageously* overpriced, even compared to the conventional produce offered.
Instead of buying everything at health stores, try your local supermarket or Walmart. Many stores today sell a wide variety of good produce at decent prices. They even sell decent organic foods, especially greens and peppers.
UPDATE: If you’re going to shop at health food stores, make sure you buy in bulk. Whole Foods offers a 10% discount on produce that you purchase by the case.
And You?
Got any ways to waste money on a raw food diet that you’d like to share? Please leave them in the comments below.
Go raw and be fit,
Swayze
P.S. Here’s another huge money-waster…cooked food cravings. How do cravings for cooked foods waste your hard earned dough?
Because cooked food cravings often lead to cooked food binges, and binges cost money.
Wanna get rid of your cravings, go raw for good, and save some cash? Then be sure to check out my cravings crushing program…
“How to Conquer Your Cooked Food Cravings Once and for All”
A Guide for Destroying Cravings on a Raw Food Diet
To learn more about the program and order your copy today, click on the link below:
8 comments
The air has a sinister feel to it as I walk up the half-deserted street in the rough part of the city. I come to the darkened narrow alley which has a reputation for harboring the sort of vice for which I am in search of. I slowly creep along the damp pavement dodging the occasional rat and stepping over discarded garbage and soiled produce boxes. As I reach the deep red brick wall at the alley’s end, a silence comes over the air. Suddenly, a cat screams out as though attacked by some invisible predator. I jump in fear and drop the wrinkled envelope that I was clutching. As I bend over and pick it up off of the soiled pavement I notice, out of the shadows, a figure floating toward me. Faint footsteps can be heard echoing off the alley walls as the solemn shape approaches. I instinctively back up toward the dark brick wall until I feel the dampness on my back. I tense up as I feel something brush against my leg. Looking down I see another rat slither into the shadows. As the footsteps become silent I hear a deep gravely voice command “Have you got da money?” I force out a shaky response “Yes, all $12 of it”. I then see a large weathered looking hand pierce the dark mist and become illuminated by the moonlight above. The hand is clutching a brown wrinkled bag which has been carelessly rolled at the top into a handle. “Here’s your stuff. Now hand over the loot” Barks the raspy voice in a strained almost forced manor. I timidly extend the envelope which is quickly snatched by a second equally rough hand. I clumsily grab the brown bag, almost dropping it, as I feel the sweaty damp roll of paper in my fingers. A breeze then cascades over me as the dark figure lumbers away, invisibly up the alley. Slowly I gather my strength and make my way through the piled trash, back toward the desolate street. As I walk homeward, I can’t help but feel relieved, after surviving another run to the “supplier”. For the past week I have so dreaded this day but at the same time I have had to endure those terrible aching withdrawals. I wonder how the other raw foodists are able to survive drinking their smoothies without spiralina, Goji, bee pollen, and hemp. I am just thankful that there are those maverick health guru’s brave enough to supply these superfoods so I can continue to get my fix. I just can’t survive another trip to the Health Food store. I can’t get anymore loans from the bank. If only they would build a Walmart in this decaying city. At least with my superfoods in hand, I shall have the energy again to clean all of that rotten uneaten fruit from my fridge, that I detest so much. Such is the burden that I must bear. I hope that someday, some wise oracle (whose name will likely begin with an S.) will come to explain a way to get out of this vicious cycle of despair. Perhaps, I am dreaming too large but I will continue to look to the horizon… where my computer is sitting to see if any emails arrive from Fitonraw.
I wait daily with breathless anticipation.
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Nick Reply:
September 9th, 2011 at 5:03 PM
Bill, nice job I really enjoyed you story, wasn’t sure were you were going, but nice ending. I guess you eat 801010. Yeah, I can believe people spend all that money on so called super foods. I just eat plain old fruits and veggies and feel great !
Thanks Nick
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Luis Medrano Reply:
September 9th, 2011 at 10:23 PM
Cool Story!
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I agree with you 100 %. I think other expensive things people think you need on raw food diet are high end blenders and dehydrators. I’ve been eating taw fro 3 years using 50 dollar blender and a knife and a cutting board. And I never eat kale, I don’t like it. I eat spinach, organic mixed greens , baby romaine, leaf lettuce. These greens I love. Keep it simple. That is whats great about raw food , no pots to clean no waiting for things to cook. Just chop and eat. or just eat period. Then clean your cutting board and knife. Quick and easy.
Thanks, Swayze
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Swayze,
I agree with you and Nick 100%.
That is all I had to say!
Bill
P.S. I am sure when you saw my name you thought this would be another rambling run-on message again. Ha! I bet your relieved?
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Sorry, I almost forgot,
Yes, I am following 80/10/10! How else would I have the energy to write such nonsense!
Have a spectaculus day!!
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I agree that you don’t “need” a dehydrator or a super blender to live healthy and raw, and that eating simple-to-prepare foods like fruit, smoothies, and salads are the best. However, it is really nice to sometimes have something crunchy besides nuts, or a raw dehydrated treat to share with a non-raw friend. The dehydrated foods also help keep me from temptation, but were needed more at the beginning of this journey.
Some foods you apparently don’t use are sprouts, but for those of us who do, money can be saved by easily and cheaply growing your own. It only takes a jar, a rubberband, and some fine netting from a fabric store, plus a few seeds to grow a pint of sprouts to add to smoothies or salads.
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Yes I do use sprouts I always have some sprouts growing. If I had more time I would have tons of sprouts growing and eat mostly sprouts. I Love sprouts ! Yeah I guess it would be cool to have some dehydrated things once in a while.I wouldn’t mind having something crunchy now and then.
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Leave a comment, beautiful.