NUTRITIONAL BARGAINS

       In Thailand, when the economy falters and consumer confidence slips, we can tell from the Mama Index. Mama is the leading brand of instant noodles.
       When people feel they are not secure in terms of wealth, they choose to eat cheap instant noodles instead of normal meals. Then Mama's sales rise.
       This reflects the natural tendency to cut back on spending during tough times, and it is the same in the US.
       We have heard a lot about the impact of a recession diet - folks resorting to cheaper cuts of meat and buying more "food extenders" like Hamburger Helper. But do we lose valuable nutrients when we try to save money at the grocery store?
       The Washington Post reports Adam Drewnowski, director of the Centre for Public Helath Nutrition at the University of Washington, said many shoppers where tempted to buy inexpensive processed foods during tough economic times.
       However, he argues many of these products provide little nutritional value. Shoppers may save money, but their health may suffer.
       Drewnowski figured he could help cash-strapped consumers by figuring out which foods packed the most nutritional punch for the least amount of money.
       He started by scoring foods based on the amount of nutrients they contained. Then he calculated the prices of 4,000 foods using data from the US Agriculture Department and local supermarkets. That allowed him to figure out the amount of nutrients per US dollar of edible portion.
       What he found was both old school and radical at the same time. The most nutrient-rich foods that were also wallet-friendlly included eggs, milk, beans, lean ground beef, potatoes and soup.
       He acknowledged many of these were already staples of our diets but said they might have fallen out of favour. Eggs were eschewed, due to cholesterol, potatoes had became a forbidden carbohydrate, and soup was maligned for its sodium content.
       "They kind of lost their glamour in intervening years as we went after acai berries and pomegranate," Drewnowski said.
       But often overlooked is the nutritional wallop that such foods do have - especially for the price. A complete shopping list is available at www. nutrientrichfoods.org.
       Drewnowski said the main lesson was not to be lured into buying a bargain without checking the label first.
       "Don't just grab a pack of something because it says 79 cents [Bt27]," he said.

Healthy cooking

       Rungpet Phannapayuk (right), general manager of marketing and brand communications, Prantalay Marketing Co Ltd, recently gave Prantalay healthy cookery books to Dr Adinun Kittiratanapaibool, assistant hospital director of BNH Hospital. The Prantalay cookery book contains interesting information related to nutritional benefits of seafood, such as the best way to defrost frozen seafood for the best nutritional benefits and a variety of healthy recipes that consumers can easily prepare at home.