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 Nutrition experts predict that most Americans may be slightly more concerned with the economy than, say, their antioxidant consumption in the months ahead.

If that’s the case, the quest for a healthful and cost-conscious diet suggests Americans will be eating more meals cooked at home, upping their produce and whole-grain intake and eschewing sodium. “It’s the back-to-basics bailout diet,” says Shelley McGuire, professor of nutrition at Washington State University in Pullman.

My mother, when she still cooked, always added a dash of sugar to the vegetables she stir-fried. She said it preserved the bright green of the greens. I always thought that was hooey.

Shirley O. Corriher, a biochemist turned folksy food scientist who was sitting at my dining table, said she had not heard of this — but added that sugar does do more to fruits and vegetables than add sweetness.

It also helps preserve their shape. Heat shrinks the plant cells and transforms molecules in the cell walls into pectin, which dissolves. “The cells are falling apart and leaking,” said Ms. Corriher, who dissected the science of recipes in her books “Cookwise” and “Bakewise.”