John Myers
It is becoming increasingly difficult for low-income households to eat a balanced and healthy diet. The risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, or cardiovascular disease increases.
In Germany, too, there is poverty-related malnutrition and sometimes hunger. According to a study by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, people who have little money available for their purchases do not primarily pay attention to which foods are healthy, but rather to cheap filling foods.
Risk of disease increases
While industrially processed food is hardly becoming more expensive, the prices for healthy, fresh food such as fruit and vegetables are skyrocketing. This exacerbates the situation, because the more processed food, the higher the risk of developing obesity, type 2 diabetes, or cardiovascular disease. The risk of cancer also increases.
Highly processed foods are often low in fiber and have a high glycemic index. Blood sugar rises rapidly as these foods or their carbohydrates are absorbed quickly. There is an insulin reaction that quickly lowers the blood sugar again – and the body responds with cravings. We get the urge to eat further and more.
Exempt healthy food from VAT
Experts from the German Diabetes Society have been calling for years to exempt healthy foods such as fruit, vegetables, and nuts from VAT and, in return, to subject unhealthy, heavily sugared products such as soft drinks to higher taxes.
Saving tips:
- If you want to eat healthily and cheaply, you should prefer fresh products from the region and prepare simple dishes yourself.
- Meat rarely belongs on the menu. Those who largely do without it protect their health and their wallets.
- It doesn’t always have to be organic, a conventional apple from the region will also do.
- Towards the end of the sales period, supermarkets often advertise at lower prices in order to get rid of their goods while they are still “fresh”.
