April 13 (HealthDay News) -- Rising food prices may have people with diabetes and their caregivers wondering if they'll be able to afford a healthy diabetes meal plan. But it's a misconception that these plans have to be costly and consist of high-priced, specialty foods, the American Diabetes Association says.

"Eating well and spending less are not mutually exclusive," Ann Albright, president of health care and education at the ADA, said in a prepared statement. "In fact, healthier foods can actually save you money by reducing portion sizes and buying fewer high-calorie, high-priced foods."

The ADA offers the following advice:

• Special "dietetic or diabetic" foods are costly and not necessary.
• Boneless cuts of meat are often a better buy, since you're not paying for the weight of the bone.
• There's no nutritional difference between white eggs and brown eggs, which are more expensive.
• Not only do vegetables frozen in butter sauce cost twice as much as plain frozen vegetables, they have more calories.
• Instead of buying small containers of yogurt, buy a quart and separate it into one-cup servings yourself.
• You can save a lot of money if you don't buy individually packaged snacks.
• When buying fruit, consider the cost per edible serving. If you're paying by the pound, you'll be paying for the weight of inedible seeds and rinds.
• If fresh fruit is too expensive, buy frozen or canned fruit packed in water. If you buy fruit canned in syrup, rinse it before eating.
• Use nonfat dry milk for drinking, cooking and baking. It's inexpensive and has a long shelf life.
• You can make your own cooking spray by putting vegetable oil in a spray bottle.
• Use regular or quick-cooking oats rather than instant oats, which are much more expensive.
• When soaked and cooked, dry beans triple in volume. A one-pound bag will make six one-cup servings.
• If you buy fresh greens by weight, give them a good shake before you put them in your grocery cart. An amazing amount of excess water (and weight) can be hidden between the leaves.

SOURCE; American Diabetes Association, news release, March 31, 2008