Is Eating Raw Food a More Expensive Way to Eat?

A lot of people ask me if raw food is a more expensive way to eat. Upping your intake of organic fruit, nuts, seeds, seaweeds and superfoods can seem like an expensive endeavour, but it doesn’t have to be.

Working out if raw food is going to cost you more than your standard cooked diet is quite simple – it’s all to do with what you eat at the moment. If you eat ready meals, meat, fish, cheese, take-aways chocolate and/or cake and you drink coffee and/or alcohol then you will find that eating a high raw diet is actually cheaper. If you just eat pasta, bread, rice, lentils, cooked veggies and eat homemade food at home all the time then changing to a high raw food diet may turn out more expensive.

When I first started eating raw food, my weekly food bill was slightly more expensive than my cooked diet bill. After a while I got savvy about sourcing my ingredients so that now my weekly food bill is no more than £35 (approx. $50) a week, and I never go hungry and have all the foods I want in my fridge and cupboards. Taking a little time to source your raw food ingredients wisely can save you a lot (see last week’s article on my blog).

Although the financial factor may play a part in your decision whether to eat more raw or not, it’s fundamentally important to remember that eating raw food is all about helping you feel confident in yourself, physically, emotionally and mentally. Any investment in raw food is an investment in your health and happiness, long term. So, when you see the price of seaweed in the health food shop or the price of raw chocolate remember that you are investing in yourself and your future by choosing these foods over processed, cooked foods and make a mental note to see if you can find a cheaper source.