Cheap plant-based sources of healthy fats?

MxKermie
MxKermie Posts: 6 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Hi friends, hope you’re well! I’m wondering about cheap sources of healthy plant-based fats, if possible. I know about nuts, but I’m on a pretty tight food budget, and I can’t really afford them a lot of the time. I also like avocados, but I get tired of them pretty easily after a couple weeks. And I pretty much use peanut butter on a daily basis, lol.

If you could help me out, that’d be great!! Thanks :)

Replies

  • LifeChangz
    LifeChangz Posts: 457 Member
    edited March 2023
    nuts & seeds are rather expensive, eh? so otherwise what comes to mind are oils (for cooking & dressings), avocado, coconut.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 9,882 Member
    edited March 2023
    Healthy plant fats should be prioritized by the state their found in imo. In other words firstly, in the actual foods they originate from which are mostly nuts and seeds. Next would be virgin oils that are not treated with chemicals and heated and deodorized that are considered higher in monounsaturated like extra virgin olive and avocado and virgin coconut oils. Polyunsaturated fats really should be consumed in their original state considering how fragile these are to light, oxygen and heat and will oxidize, which produce free radicals within our cell structures, in a New York minute, so stay away from them. Polyunsaturated fats are needed for our essential omega 3's and that should come from cold water fatty fish like salmon for example. Cheers
  • PAPYRUS3
    PAPYRUS3 Posts: 13,259 Member
    I love to use Chia seeds - quite inexpensive and offer a great source of nutrition (28 grams/2 tbsp offer 8.7 grams of fat- omega 3). Flax seeds are great too (28 gram = 12 grams of fat-omega 3). Very versatile too. Chia pudding are especially yummy!
  • SafariGalNYC
    SafariGalNYC Posts: 888 Member
    edited March 2023
    All the above are great ideas.

    Check out cacao nibs for a little something for dessert.

    Tasty and they have fiber, heart-healthy fats, antioxidants, flavonoids and trace nutrients.

    I use a teaspoon here and there in shakes, on coconut yogurt, chia pudding..etc…
  • MxKermie
    MxKermie Posts: 6 Member
    LifeChangz wrote: »
    nuts & seeds are rather expensive, eh? so otherwise what comes to mind are oils (for cooking & dressings), avocado, coconut.

    Oh, good idea! I completely forgot about dressings, lol. That’s great, thank you ☺️
  • MxKermie
    MxKermie Posts: 6 Member
    neanderthin wrote: »
    Healthy plant fats should be prioritized by the state their found in imo. In other words firstly, in the actual foods they originate from which are mostly nuts and seeds. Next would be virgin oils that are not treated with chemicals and heated and deodorized that are considered higher in monounsaturated like extra virgin olive and avocado and virgin coconut oils. Polyunsaturated fats really should be consumed in their original state considering how fragile these are to light, oxygen and heat and will oxidize, which produce free radicals within our cell structures, in a New York minute, so stay away from them. Polyunsaturated fats are needed for our essential omega 3's and that should come from cold water fatty fish like salmon for example. Cheers

    Ohhh thank you for the information re: oils, that’s good to know
  • MxKermie
    MxKermie Posts: 6 Member
    PAPYRUS3 wrote: »
    I love to use Chia seeds - quite inexpensive and offer a great source of nutrition (28 grams/2 tbsp offer 8.7 grams of fat- omega 3). Flax seeds are great too (28 gram = 12 grams of fat-omega 3). Very versatile too. Chia pudding are especially yummy!

    Uww, I have some flax in the fridge I should use up. At one point, I was point some in my smoothie in the morning, but have since fallen off that. Thank you for the reminder!
  • MxKermie
    MxKermie Posts: 6 Member
    SafariGalNYC wrote: »
    All the above are great ideas.

    Check out cacao nibs for a little something for dessert.

    Tasty and they have fiber, heart-healthy fats, antioxidants, flavonoids and trace nutrients.

    I use a teaspoon here and there in shakes, on coconut yogurt, chia pudding..etc…

    That’s so interesting! I never thought of cacao nibs. I’ll have to try some in the future, thank you! ☺️
  • littlegreenparrot1
    littlegreenparrot1 Posts: 694 Member
    Olives, always a jar on the go in the fridge.
    I go for big jars of them in brine, can usually find them at a reasonable price.
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    Further down the list are Edamame and Tofu

    Macadamia nuts are pretty high in fat of all the nuts I believe. Not cheap though. But yummy!
  • VegjoyP
    VegjoyP Posts: 2,710 Member
    PAPYRUS3 wrote: »
    I love to use Chia seeds - quite inexpensive and offer a great source of nutrition (28 grams/2 tbsp offer 8.7 grams of fat- omega 3). Flax seeds are great too (28 gram = 12 grams of fat-omega 3). Very versatile too. Chia pudding are especially yummy!

    Yes, and Flax seeds
  • sarabushby
    sarabushby Posts: 784 Member
    I thought too you might find affordably priced nut roast that could be incorporated into your diet.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 873 Member
    MxKermie wrote: »
    PAPYRUS3 wrote: »
    I love to use Chia seeds - quite inexpensive and offer a great source of nutrition (28 grams/2 tbsp offer 8.7 grams of fat- omega 3). Flax seeds are great too (28 gram = 12 grams of fat-omega 3). Very versatile too. Chia pudding are especially yummy!

    Uww, I have some flax in the fridge I should use up. At one point, I was point some in my smoothie in the morning, but have since fallen off that. Thank you for the reminder!

    I just want to note that you (ideally) should be crushing/grinding your flax seeds to get the best stuff from them! As they have quite a hard outside shell...it's sometimes likely that they are not actually getting broken down and just... coming out whole as waste. If they are ground up you can actually get more of their good stuff. I'd still buy them whole (and ideally in a non-clear package)...and use a cheap coffee grinder to rough 'em up.
  • eager2eatright
    eager2eatright Posts: 7 Member
    edited April 2023
    A Jar of Mixed nuts from Sam's Club cost me$12.48 just bought them 4/4/23
    Now you can go and buy 6 candy bars that cost 2 bucks each, so think about it .
    It really isn't all that expensive and it will last you way longer then 6 candy bars.
    It does for me.
    I hope this helps you.
    PS lightly salted peanuts less than $4.00 and are good for us if we eat them in moderation (1oz = 180 calories, or 4 carbs) for Dry Roasted Peanuts with sea salt from Aldi, and they are a whole lot cheaper and delicious to snack on.
  • allisonmeyer2468
    allisonmeyer2468 Posts: 1 Member
    Costco sells 3lbs of walnuts for $9.99

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