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Is the LCHF diet costing you more money?

DCUKMod said:
Frank, there are some great low carb, pressure cooker site on the interweb.

I'm a relatively new covert to pressure cooker (IP) cooking (my OH has used a pressure cooker since before I knew him, but it scared me - all that hissing!), having bought an Instant Pot last Black Friday (and evangelised so much @Brunneria bought one), so I tend to look out for bloggers/recipes using the IP. Fortunately, one of my favourite food bloggers is a massive IP user/IP cookery book author. Her food is largely LC.

https://twosleevers.com/facet-recipe/

I also like I Breathe I'm Hungry, who is a strong low carber, but also has an IP, so some of her recipes utilise it. Of course, having been using a pressure cooker for years, you can probably convert your recipes without too much guidance.

https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/recipes
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Ha ha, that's why you always find them in the Car Boot sales; they scare people.
 
DCUKMod said:
Frank, there are some great low carb, pressure cooker site on the interweb.

I'm a relatively new covert to pressure cooker (IP) cooking (my OH has used a pressure cooker since before I knew him, but it scared me - all that hissing!), having bought an Instant Pot last Black Friday (and evangelised so much @Brunneria bought one), so I tend to look out for bloggers/recipes using the IP. Fortunately, one of my favourite food bloggers is a massive IP user/IP cookery book author. Her food is largely LC.

https://twosleevers.com/facet-recipe/

I also like I Breathe I'm Hungry, who is a strong low carber, but also has an IP, so some of her recipes utilise it. Of course, having been using a pressure cooker for years, you can probably convert your recipes without too much guidance.

https://www.ibreatheimhungry.com/recipes
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Two good meal sites from the first quick look.
Pretty sure I'll find a few things I can try.
Thanks.
 
frankbegbie said:
Ha ha, that's why you always find them in the Car Boot sales; they scare people.
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I still won't use the cooker top version. I'll stick with the electric one, with all it's safety features..
 
I think the cost difference really depends on lifestyle and how you replace the individual elements. Prior to diagnosis I was always hungry, always snacking and kept drawer full of bickies. We find LCHF filling so we eat a lot less and it is those expensive carb treats that we have given up.

For a time we kept the cheeseboard, I made crackers with almond flour and replaced the other after dinner carbs with nuts and chocolate fondue which were more expensive. Now we have given up the unequal struggle with restauranteurs friends no longer finish the evening here so we no longer need port, crackers, liqueurs, mints etc. We buy less cheese overall and what we do get is cooking cheese. Plus we would be hard pressed to have our share of the split bill to be in the region of £100 eating at Wetherspoons. Even picnics are cheaper being hello eggy muffins goodbye pork pie, bread and olives and sarnie fillings

Artisan breads, crackers and extra thick for toast are now a Lidl multigrain and 4 lidl rolls a week. For slow cooking we prefer the cheaper cuts of meat so thighs instead of breast, brisket, pork and bratwurst. The wines became Aldi Baron St Jean but due to painkillers and the high probability of diabetic liver I am now tea total.Since I have stopped trying to bake and I grow cabbage and berries we are saving. We do buy more cream and when the celeriac is back that will increase costs. Hopefully next year I will be more successful as only 7 little celeriac plants have survived my care thusfar.

At the moment I am over run with courgettes.
 
frankbegbie said:
Thanks for that I just need the flour and the little pasta machine.
Suppose you can just roll it out thin and make shapes out of it?

I'll give it a go whatever soon.
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The pasta machine rolls it out for u then it has a part that can cut it to spaghetti, different sizes, lasagne etc., but without the machine u can still try the recipe. Roll it out thin then fold it 2-3 times (dust some flour inbetween so it doesnt stick) and then just chop it and unfold the pieces... kinda like how japanese people make udon noodles, just make it thinner. Sorry my explanation is kinda poor, I ll leave a video link here so u see what Im talking about.

Pasta machine + how to make the recipe without mixer (I have one by Imperia, but same thing, this video explains it better whats the thing):

Udon noodles (watch from about 4mins, that shows how to cut it):

Good Luck !
 
miszu said:
The pasta machine rolls it out for u then it has a part that can cut it to spaghetti, different sizes, lasagne etc., but without the machine u can still try the recipe. Roll it out thin then fold it 2-3 times (dust some flour inbetween so it doesnt stick) and then just chop it and unfold the pieces... kinda like how japanese people make udon noodles, just make it thinner. Sorry my explanation is kinda poor, I ll leave a video link here so u see what Im talking about.

Pasta machine + how to make the recipe without mixer (I have one by Imperia, but same thing, this video explains it better whats the thing):

Udon noodles (watch from about 4mins, that shows how to cut it):

Good Luck !
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Not atall that was a good explanation.
And thanks for the video links.
Didn't realize the machines were so cheap.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_...1.TRC1.A0.H0.TRS0&_nkw=Pasta+machine&_sacat=0
 
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Initially my grocery bill went up, but that was more than offset by savings through not buying take aways, carby snacks etc. My grocery bill is now going back down as I'm doing a lot of intermittent fasting - 1 or 2 meals a day. Tend to just do a big online shop with the heavier, freezable and less perishable items every 2 to 3 weeks and top up with veggies and salad as necessary.
 
When I was made redundant a few years ago I started to keep a spreadsheet of all of our spending (sad I know but more necessary when you have no income!)
I therefore have records from 2009 to today of annual expenditure on all sorts of things.
Started to low carb in late 2015 but I can safely say that our 2016 food bills were lower than 2015.
I don't collate the annual data until the new year so can't say for sure what this years will be like but the absolute amount we spent in 2016 was less than 2015. So even with inflation and only one eating low carb our food bills went down by 7% . We also spent a lot less on eating out (which for us includes takeaways) which reduced by 40%. So in our 2 man household we save annually with just one low carber.
See I told you I had a spreadsheet obsession...hehe
 
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DCUKMod said:
I would say that initially you may find you're spending more shopping, but that could be new/different ingredients, which once bought are in the store cupboard for some time. That obviously gets better as these ingredients/spices or whatever build up.

Low Carb eating needn't be expensive. I have set myself various challenges over the almost 4 years since I started eating reduced carbs and ensure that we experiment with cheaper cuts of meat very regularly.

One of my latest finds have been pork and beef cheeks, which pressure cook, or slow cook beautifully, with the connective tissue making for a gelatinous sauce The last pork cheeks I bout were under £2 for six, from my local butcher. That was plenty for three portions.
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You little Hipster, you.:)
Cheaper cuts of meat have become fashionable in the last few years; so much so that they are not always cheaper these days.
My son (a bit of a foodie) raves about beef cheeks for making chilli.
You just cook them whole until they disintegrate.
None of this mince stuff.
 
We've only been low-carbing for about 7 weeks but I guess the weekly shop is about the same-maybe a bit less ? I have to shop more often for salad ingredients and we eat a lot more eggs. But then we buy a whole lot less cereal, rice, bread, pasta etc and less convenience food so I suppose it's swings and roundabouts. Spend more on nuts and less on crisps but you can't put a price on health can you ?
 
covknit said:
<snip>

Artisan breads, crackers and extra thick for toast are now a Lidl multi-grain and 4 lidl rolls a week. <snip>.
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I'm with you on the Lidl rolls, but not so sure about the multi-grain.

https://www.fatsecret.co.uk/calories-nutrition/search?q=Lidl+Bread

High Protein Roll(Lidl)
per 100g - Calories: 268kcal | Fat: 13.40g | Carbs: 8.50g | Prot: 26.70

Low GI Multiseed Bread(Lidl)
per 100g - Calories: 287kcal | Fat: 8.50g | Carbs: 36.00g | Prot: 13.20g

The 36/100g is not the worst, some breads are over 50/100g, but it looks a little high for LCHF.

I am addicted to the Lidl protein rolls which can make my diet repetitive at times.

P.S. does anyone have a recipe for making the Lidl protein rolls at home?
 
LittleGreyCat said:
You little Hipster, you.:)
Cheaper cuts of meat have become fashionable in the last few years; so much so that they are not always cheaper these days.
My son (a bit of a foodie) raves about beef cheeks for making chilli.
You just cook them whole until they disintegrate.
None of this mince stuff.
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I don't cook the cheeks whole, but cut each pork cheek into about 3 big bite sized pieces. Obviously the beef variant, being larger, makes more chinks.

As for cooking until succulent; that'll be 40-45 minutes in the IP. The auto setting is 45. Beef shin, I do for 25 minutes. How fantastic is that?

OK, @frankbegbie - I'll stop evangelising on your thread.
 
I seem to be in the minority here, I think LCHF eating is much more expensive.

Most of the posters on this thread are explaining that they are saving money on meals out, on buying cheaper cuts of meat, on not buying ready meals or takeaways, even buying their wine from Lidl. None of these things are something you couldn’t have done anyway if you wanted to save money without going low carb.

The cheapest way to eat is to fill up on carbs. Rice, pasta, potatoes and bread are extremely cheap, which is why they are the staple foods of poor people everywhere. A large box of supermarket cornflakes will feed a family breakfast for several days, it’s hardly going to be as cheap to give them bacon and eggs every day. Meat and fish, vegetables and salads are much more expensive than chips and pies.

I think the expense could be one of the reasons why the medical profession are reluctant to take carbs out of the recommended diet. People with little money are hardly going to be able to replace their cheap carbs with steaks, salads, avocadoes, almond flour, raspberries and the like. Eating lower GI versions and smaller portions is a sort of compromise that more people can afford.

Don’t get me wrong I am a big fan of LCHF, it has worked well for me, but I can afford the extra expense and health is a priority. If your priority is just managing day by day then low carb is going to make that more difficult.
 
Feels a bit cheaper to me. No snacks anymore, vegetables are super cheap, and you need to plan out your shopping list better. But I don't do intermittent fasting. At least it's not more expensive.
 
I dont buy steaks, advocados, almond flour etc etc. I buy lots of eggs, Lidl cheese, whole chickens as I can get several meals form one and then make soup with the stock form the cooking and simmering the bones.

I am wondering, however, if people who recommend slow cooked or pressure cooked meats are factoring the extra money need for the electricity or whatever?

I roast 2 or 3 chickens at a time, or a big bit of brisket or several pork hocks to save the electric bill.
 
frankbegbie said:
I'm pretty sure it is but I haven't worked it out yet.
Just wondered.
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I think it's costing me more; mainly because I never used to eat snacks or rubbish in the first place. I would very occasionally have a Danish or something. I think my problem, related to becoming diabetic, was all the 'healthy' fruit I used to eat. I am certainly spending a lot more now on beef steaks, for example.
 
Mr_Pot said:
I seem to be in the minority here, I think LCHF eating is much more expensive.

Most of the posters on this thread are explaining that they are saving money on meals out, on buying cheaper cuts of meat, on not buying ready meals or takeaways, even buying their wine from Lidl. None of these things are something you couldn’t have done anyway if you wanted to save money without going low carb.

The cheapest way to eat is to fill up on carbs. Rice, pasta, potatoes and bread are extremely cheap, which is why they are the staple foods of poor people everywhere. A large box of supermarket cornflakes will feed a family breakfast for several days, it’s hardly going to be as cheap to give them bacon and eggs every day. Meat and fish, vegetables and salads are much more expensive than chips and pies.

I think the expense could be one of the reasons why the medical profession are reluctant to take carbs out of the recommended diet. People with little money are hardly going to be able to replace their cheap carbs with steaks, salads, avocadoes, almond flour, raspberries and the like. Eating lower GI versions and smaller portions is a sort of compromise that more people can afford.

Don’t get me wrong I am a big fan of LCHF, it has worked well for me, but I can afford the extra expense and health is a priority. If your priority is just managing day by day then low carb is going to make that more difficult.
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I was thinking the same thing the other day.
How do people on minimum wage manage if they're Diabetic?
Their food expendeture would be a lot lower than a person on the Average wage for instance, with very little room for manouver.
So they would be very likely to totally depend on the drugs.
 
Much cheaper, much easier for me, and I would recommend some variant of my 'core' diet for anyone on a tight budget. Eggs from the market, cheap greens from the market, tinned fish, pork cheeks, broccoli, the occasional good fish from the market; minced beef, aubergine, cauliflower. Sunflower seeds, black tea. That's all I really had when I was working on reversing my T2. These days I like to have some wine and cheese and pistachio, so that would raise the cost, but these are non-essential treats. If you can source or grow green leaf veg and make that the cornerstone of your diet, your food budget can really drop, or at least it did for me.
 
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frankbegbie said:
I was thinking the same thing the other day.
How do people on minimum wage manage if they're Diabetic?
Their food expendeture would be a lot lower than a person on the Average wage for instance, with very little room for manouver.
So they would be very likely to totally depend on the drugs.
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As I stated in my post it really does depend on lifestyle. There can be no one size fits all response and overlaying responses with a late introduction of someone in specific circumstances is spin and mirrors. I clearly stated why I was making significant savings and I can assure you this is not something I wished or looked for. Someone in different circumstances will have a different result. I merely widened the responses you were receiving to your question to a whole life micro economic scenario. Some aspects of LCHF cost more but yet again that is affected by the circumstances for each individual. I grew my own potatoes so several sackfuls of spuds cost me <£5 whereas celeriac is expensive. Nuts and almond flour cost more than alternatives available on a non lchf diet but I do not buy them unless we have guests. Having no access to medication has completely detroyed my previous lifestyle and so overall I spend less. I certainly am not going to buy decent wine when I only get a small glass a day. All plain, straightforward, economic facts. I am sure I am not the only person that has had their lifestyle affected by diabetes and LCHF. We do not go to as many gigs in pubs now so that is another saving that your recently introduced person on benefits will not have. Life is very hard for a lot of people but in the UK even deciding in whether or not to believe food banks exist is affected by political persuasion and that was not an aspect raised in the original post. Wine comes from Aldi btw. It has a screw top lid so it is still drinkable after 5 days.
 
covknit said:
As I stated in my post it really does depend on lifestyle. There can be no one size fits all response and overlaying responses with a late introduction of someone in specific circumstances is spin and mirrors. I clearly stated why I was making significant savings and I can assure you this is not something I wished or looked for. Someone in different circumstances will have a different result. I merely widened the responses you were receiving to your question to a whole life micro economic scenario. Some aspects of LCHF cost more but yet again that is affected by the circumstances for each individual. I grew my own potatoes so several sackfuls of spuds cost me <£5 whereas celeriac is expensive. Nuts and almond flour cost more than alternatives available on a non lchf diet but I do not buy them unless we have guests. Having no access to medication has completely detroyed my previous lifestyle and so overall I spend less. I certainly am not going to buy decent wine when I only get a small glass a day. All plain, straightforward, economic facts. I am sure I am not the only person that has had their lifestyle affected by diabetes and LCHF. We do not go to as many gigs in pubs now so that is another saving that your recently introduced person on benefits will not have. Life is very hard for a lot of people but in the UK even deciding in whether or not to believe food banks exist is affected by political persuasion and that was not an aspect raised in the original post. Wine comes from Aldi btw. It has a screw top lid so it is still drinkable after 5 days.
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Why have you no access to medication?
 
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