Buy Organic 🥦 and Save Big Bucks 💸

September 25, 2021

Jonathan Isbill MS, RD, LD

Sep 25, 2021

Heart Disease: Average Yearly Costs = $18,953 per patient per year.

Diabetes: Average Yearly Costs = $16,752 per patient per year.

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The total direct costs of Diabetes in the U.S. tracked over the last 15 years

- 2007: $116 billion per year
- in 2012: $176 billion per year
- in 2017: $237 billion per year

I don’t want to talk about the corrupt and fraudulent behaviors behind the scenes that have led to such high costs and similarly high rates of chronic disease… but safe to say we both know it shouldn’t have to be like this.

And now with the Covid-19 pandemic, which we all know has been insanely challenging and strangely more complex than anyone around the globe could have anticipated… has cost us so so much more in time, money, heartache and broken spirits, mental health ramifications, loss of education, social development and more.

But, let us not forget that the vast vast majority (well over 90%) of patients admitted to ICU with Covid-19 virus held additional chronic comorbidities (like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, COPD, etc). Now, if we had an already healthy nation, without the crazy rates of excessive poor health from heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, it is likely we would have faired much much much much much better.

I hope at least that, we can agree upon.

On the other hand

Average Cost of Food per HOUSEHOLD per year is close to $6,000 or about $2,500 per person per year. That’s buying like a normal, regular household where it is normal and regular to have meat, processed junk food, pantries with snacks and crackers, cans and candies, sugary soft drinks, etc. with marginal spotlights for real, whole foods like colorful fruits and vegetables. In these regular and normal American households, it is also common to eat in front of the television instead of the dinner table and just as easy to have one or more people diagnosed with a chronic health condition like those named above, or obesity, autoimmune disease, or others.

But what if this wasn’t how we were designed to live?

What if there was something we could do differently to make a big difference in the long-term?

So let’s think about this, let’s say you start buying organic and we’ll overestimate the extra cost of organic at 2x the regular cost of food. That’s only $5,000 per year in cost of organic, whole food compared to the almost $20,000 costs in healthcare costs for heart disease or diabetes (or both!!). Tack on a few more medications, a potential surgery or excessive doctor visits… you’re looking at a whole lot more in healthcare costs, and you know it.

Now, let’s say you stopped drinking soft drinks, energy drinks, unhealthy and disease promoting concentrated sugary beverages… you would save over $350 per year. And for those of us who were used to drinking one or more fountain drinks or soft drinks per day, you’re looking at much much more. (Talk about addictive purchasing behaviors… eeeek). 💸💸💸

Believe it or not,

this actually makes up most of people’s “grocery bills,” yep – that’s soft drinks and sugary beverages, bottled water, “sports drinks” etc. classified as non-alcoholic drinks. We won’t touch on the costs we place on both our health, our liver, our mental health, our sleep, and also our wallets by way of alcohol intake this week… but I strongly (and lovingly) encourage you to keep track of just how much you are spending on one single category of anything… such as soft drinks, candy, or alcohol.

Now, let’s say you stopped buying sugar, candies, sweets, processed candy junk food type items… well, then you’d save close to an additional $150 per year. So, I just helped you save $500 per year by just cutting out sugar, candy, sweets, soda and soft drinks. Incredible, we’re adding years to your life as well as money back in your wallet, and the longer you live, the more money you will have saved yourself overtime.

And did you know, the average American spends 40% of their food budget OUTSIDE the home, as compared to eating in, cooking a meal yourself? Granted, we throw away up to 30% of the food we do bring in the home, but we actually eat outside the home more than what you might think. Most people eat out in less frequency than eating in, but it’s the fact that eating out is so much more expensive than eating with food from inside your own kitchen that makes it skewed to be almost half of our entire food budget.

And most of us also know that most of the food you go to purchase and eat outside the home from fast-food joints, ordering pizza on delivery, or sitting down at a restaurant is definitely not helping our health any more than it is helping our wallets. I don’t really want to get out the calculator for those folks who run through Drive-thru everyday, or multiple times a day to get a quick sugary coffee drink ($5-10). There’s just so much we can do to improve our lives instead of assuming mediocrity and complacency… vice-gripped with illness and disease, poor physical health, poor financial health, and poor mental health as well.

“Follow the money” they always used to say…

If you take a look at your own budget, checkbook, or monthly expenditure tracking system.. where do you invest in your health and wellness? Where might you be losing profits by purchasing unhealthy sugary drinks, candies, sweets, fast-foods or junk foods on a regular basis?

With the money we do have.. we can either invest it for the future of our health, our family, our memories and our planet… or we can invest it in sickness, disease, illness, and excessive unnecessary taxing systems within healthcare.

Where do you want to put your money? Do you want to put your money where your mouth is? How about putting your health where your money is and your money where your health can be..?

A few questions to ask ourselves:

If normal has brought us where we are today, how might we need to change and how much of a change might we need to make?

Do we really need to buy $20 of candy every weekend or holiday surrounding Halloween, Christmas, Birthdays, etc.?

Is it the candy that makes the memories or the time with people you love, the festivities, the colors and costumes, the rituals that actually make all the difference?

How might we become radically different in order to receive radically different outcomes for our lives of health and wellness and personal growth in the journey that is life?

If you like to hang out online, come find me and say hello! 😁

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If you missed last week’s edition you can check it out here: