It's hard to say how much healthier we would be if we followed the diet recommended in the Dept. of Health and Human Services dietary guidelines, but now we can say how much poorer we would be–$380 a year, according to researchers at Washington University. Health Affairs publishes a report by the researchers, who determined that in Kings County, Washington, increasing consumption of potassiumâ€â€the most expensive of the four recommended nutrients in the federally endorsed dietâ€â€would add $380 per year to the average consumer’s food cost. The diet also advises us to eat more dietary fiber, vitamin D, and calcium, and to get fewer calories from saturated fat and added sugar. On that note, the researchers found that each time consumers obtained 1 percent more of their daily calories from saturated fat and added sugar, their food costs significantly declined.
Read the report in Health Affairs.