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All of Us

We Can Afford to Eat Healthy by Counting the Pennies

By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 


When I was growing up, I was fortunate to have parents who lived through the Great Depression of the 1930s. They were frugal, disciplined, and constantly aware that small choices, repeated every day, add up to big financial consequences. They taught me two timeless lessons: pay close attention to small, daily expenses, and understand the power of compounding interest on what we save.

Charities understood this principle as well. In the 1930s, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis launched the “March of Dimes,” asking everyday Americans to contribute just ten cents. Millions did, and those nickels and dimes funded the research that ultimately produced the polio vaccine. Small amounts, collected consistently, transformed into something world-changing.

The same principle applies to our food and beverage habits. Too often, media commentators claim that low-income people “cannot afford to eat healthy.” What they overlook is how much money leaks away through daily, habitual purchases of unhealthy food and drinks. Those small, routine indulgences often cost more than healthier alternatives—and they damage our health in the process.

Take coffee for instance. No matter where I am in the world, I start my day with a cup of espresso or black coffee. I know exactly what it costs me, and I accept it as an affordable ritual. But what I do not accept is the parade of oversized, sugary beverages I watch people order at Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, or Caffè Nero. These drinks are loaded with sugar, cost significantly more than plain coffee, and trigger cravings for even more unhealthy food.

An AI-powered nutrition tool I envision could instantly calculate the real cost of these habits: that daily Frappuccino adds up to hundreds, even thousands of dollars a year. More importantly, it quietly consumes a substantial portion of someone’s salary while adding inches to the waistline.

Three decades ago, I gave up adding cream and sugar to my coffee. A holistic medicine practitioner later reinforced the wisdom of that choice: two cups of black coffee a day not only suppress appetite but are dramatically cheaper and healthier than sugary alternatives. I still spend about $2,000 a year on coffee, but I watch others spend nearly double that on drinks that undermine both health and finances.

I also abandoned soda early in my life. Replacing multiple cans of sugary soft drinks with water—tap or filtered—saved me even more than the coffee switch. What shocks me today is watching people with modest incomes load up on soda at convenience stores. They are literally draining their wallets for the privilege of consuming empty calories.

At restaurants, small adjustments also make a big difference. Ordering appetizer-sized portions, splitting entrees, or taking half the meal home can cut costs dramatically while preventing overeating. Servers, who depend on tips, are skilled at upselling desserts, drinks, and oversized portions. But resisting these nudges not only protects our health—it protects our bank accounts.

I’ve also noticed a healthier, thriftier alternative: ordering a salad with added protein instead of a full protein entree. It satisfies the craving without the oversized portion or inflated price. My wife and others who are vigilant about their health routinely ask for half the entree to be boxed immediately. The second meal costs nothing extra, and the calorie load is cut in half.

These seemingly small choices compound over time. By consistently choosing water over soda, plain coffee over sugar-bomb lattes, and smaller meals over oversized ones, we build a reserve of savings. My parents taught us to put those savings into a jar—what they called “paying yourself first.” The feeling of control and empowerment from even modest savings reduces stress and builds long-term wellbeing.

Consider the math: saving $1,000 a year and investing it at 5% interest accumulates over $33,000 in 20 years. Even if we redirect only 25% of that toward savings, we are still $8,250 ahead—while also being healthier, lighter, and less stressed.

The truth is simple. Eating healthy is not beyond our reach. It is a matter of awareness, discipline, and valuing our health enough to redirect small, daily expenditures. By choosing wisely at the margins, we put ourselves first—financially and physically.

Would you like me to also create a companion table that shows annual and 20-year savings from common beverage swaps (e.g., soda → water, Frappuccino → black coffee)? It could make this argument even more persuasive.


Tiny Plastic, Big Trouble: The Hidden Health Risks in Our Food and Beverage Containers

By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 


In The Graduate (1967), an older family friend famously advises a drifting college grad: “I have one word for you: plastics.” At the time, it meant prosperity, efficiency and modernity. Today, it might be a warning.

We use plastic constantly—sipping coffee in to-go cups, cooking on nonstick pans, grabbing bottled water on the run. But science is uncovering an unsettling truth: these conveniences can contaminate our food, water, and bodies with microplastics and harmful chemicals.

AI-Powered Experiential Learning: Turning Nutrition Education into Action

By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 


Building on the “Inner Game” of Eating

Over the last few months, we’ve explored ways to build a healthier relationship with the foods and beverages we consume.

Last week, I introduced the idea of applying “inner game” thinking—breaking down our nutritional choices into their smallest components so we can act on them more purposefully.

This week, I want to push that idea further—by showing how AI-powered experiential learning can make those choices second nature.

Done right, this approach blends education, physical activity, and technology into experiences that reshape habits from the inside out.

The “Inner Game” of Eating: A New Approach to Food Choices

By Michael J. Critelli | MakeUsWell Newsletter, 


We live in a culture flooded with nutritional advice—count your carbs, eliminate sugar, intermittently fast, go keto, eat Mediterranean. Yet, despite all the noise, many people still struggle with food choices. They feel caught in a cycle of discipline and relapse, shame and overcorrection. What if the problem isn’t just about what we eat—but how we think about eating in the first place?

Ultimately, having a healthy relationship with food and putting it into its proper place in our lives is the one unifying strand among all the different factors that cause us to eat too much or eat the wrong things. That’s where the “Inner Game” philosophy might come into play.

The Battle for Good Nutrition Starts in the Soil

by Mike Critelli, 


Our recent blogs have focused on food and beverage additives and preservatives and their role in creating and enhancing cravings, as well as economic, merchandising, social, and psychological causes of nutritional decisions.

An increasing number of Americans understand this, but most do not realize that the first line of attack for improving healthy nutrition starts at the farm or the pasture. The healthiness of produce, meat, dairy products, and grains is heavily influenced by:

  • Seeds

  • Soils

  • Environmental conditions

  • Chemicals used in agricultural processes