Eating well and healthy living for expats in Costa Rica

Among stunning coastlines, mountains and rainforests, Costa Rica also offers a relaxed, laid back lifestyle, making it popular with expats looking to experience a new way of life. To help you maintain a healthy and happy lifestyle, here are a few ways you can take advantage of the country’s local cuisine and outdoor-oriented lifestyle

Outdoor lifestyle

For expats looking to include more physical activity in their day-to-day life, the cities in Costa Rica are ideal as they are designed for pedestrians. While there can still be a lot of traffic, urban zones and clean footpaths mean it is often easier to run errands on foot rather than drive.

Despite being the size of Switzerland, Costa Rica has 12 microclimates, resulting in such a natural diversity that expats will be keen to explore the jungles, mountains and beaches. With national parks and trails, there are outdoor activities available for all ages and experience levels.

Costa Rica is also home to an incredible array of wildlife, thought to be 4% of the world’s
biodiversity. This means that expats have numerous reserves to visit with their family. But simply exploring outside is a great way to see incredible wildlife including monkeys, deer and hummingbirds.

However, despite this idyllic setting, expats should be aware that precautions should be made to protect against the weather. 12-hours of sunshine a day and humidity can potentially be dangerous. But with common sense and some sunscreen, expats and their families can still enjoy the great outdoors.

Discover Costa Rican cuisine

One of the best ways to embrace the culture of your new country is to investigate the local cuisine.

A 2015 study by Lancet Global Health noted a particularly high life expectancy due to a number of factors. One of these included ranking 26 th of 187 countries due to the quality of the food in the national diet.

Many of the dishes in Costa Rica include rice, beans, fruit and vegetables, meaning that locals enjoy a diet with minimal amounts of preservatives, additives and processed food. An excellent example is the iconic national dish gallo pinto. Served at breakfast it consists of rice and black beans and is usually served with tortillas.

Casados, made from rice, beans, meat and salad are commonplace, along with pulled or stewed meats, which are all popular.

Costa Rican tradition is to have three meals per day, with lunch being the heaviest and a light evening meal such as soup. The combination of vegetables rice and beans helps to make sure that people are able to sustain their energy throughout the day.

The diversity of the climate means that Costa Rica have farmer’s markets across the country offering an incredibly varied range of foods. Because most of this produce is locally sourced, the food can be purchased for a fraction of the cost that would be charged to the rest of the world.

Superfoods like flax seed and avocado are not only extremely healthy but inexpensive and readily available. This means that they are often enjoyed as snacks, allowing locals to replace chocolates and crisps with healthier alternatives.

Health and healthcare

One of the key elements to maintaining a healthy lifestyle is to be sure that the healthcare system meets your needs. The Costa Rican healthcare system is ranked by the UN as one the best in Latin America and in the top 20 worldwide. While this system is open to everyone and initial emergency treatment is without charge, other treatments will still need to be paid for, and so it is important that expats consider taking out global health insurance before traveling. This will also ensure that long waiting lists at public hospitals can be avoided.

Private healthcare is popular with expats and many use one of three private hospitals - CIMA hospital in Escazú, Clínica Bíblica in San José, and Hospital La Católica in San José-Guadalupe. Residency applicants are required to join a social security scheme that funds the universal health care system. This requires a payment taken from monthly income, but does mean that expats have the option to use both public and private healthcare services and are not restricted.

Whether it’s through accessing high quality healthcare, experiencing the diverse natural
environment or discovering a new healthy diet, simply becoming involved in Costa Rican culture will help expats to experience healthy living in their new country.

Kristen Brown, an expat who has been living in Costa Rica for almost six years explains what a dramatic change moving has made to her life:

“Since trading my corporate heels for a surfboard and camera in Costa Rica, my body -- mentally and physically -- has transformed. I surf practically every day, walk on the beach every afternoon to watch the beyond beautiful sunsets, and am three years strong into running my own photography business. I'm leaner, stronger, and leading a life of beautiful abundance.”