Eating Healthily for $3 a Day • Hacker News Board

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#31

Post by orenmazor » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:55 AM UTC

mmaunder wrote: post #22

My wife and I tried to do this recently on $1.70 per person per day. We didn't last our intended 28 days. A few observations we found: Meat and organic food was too expensive. Fruit is crazy expensive so we bought OJ from concentrate with no additives as a cheap source of Vitamin C. Eggs were are very expensive, but we needed the protein and nutrients, so rationed ourselves to 3 each per week. We had to remove all su…

if you want to save on coffee, buy green beans and roast. I pay around $30 for 5lbs of green beans that are extremely high quality. you can do far cheaper than that though.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#32

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:56 AM UTC

colanderman wrote: post #19

As a vegan on a limited budget, this approximates many of my meals (though I could stand to eat more nuts and seeds and fewer grains), and I can attest that any day I eat roughly this mix of foods is a day I feel superbly healthy. I would suggest replacing the low-fat dairy milk with a non-dairy alternative such as soy or almond milk. Although this would up the cost to $3.50ish/day, non-dairy milks are usually fortif…

[deleted]

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#33

Post by mmaunder » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:57 AM UTC

orenmazor wrote: post #31

mmaunder wrote: post #22

My wife and I tried to do this recently on $1.70 per person per day. We didn't last our intended 28 days. A few observations we found: Meat and organic food was too expensive. Fruit is crazy expensive so we bought OJ from concentrate with no additives as a cheap source of Vitamin C. Eggs were are very expensive, but we needed the protein and nutrients, so rationed ourselves to 3 each per week. We had to remove all su…

if you want to save on coffee, buy green beans and roast. I pay around $30 for 5lbs of green beans that are extremely high quality. you can do far cheaper than that though.

Great idea! Thanks!!

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#34

Post by orenmazor » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:58 AM UTC

kek wrote: post #26

rkon wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd agree it's low on overall grams of protein (for a male, at least) but he did manage to get the amino acids that non-meat diets usually lack... so it's not a total fail.

The grams of protein are within his dietary needs. Nobody, male or female, needs more protein than 10% of their daily calories. Most vegetarian diets do not lack sufficient amino acids. Protein needs are greatly exaggerated by "pop science". Iron and B12 are of greater concern than protein in non-meat diets.

while this diet is high in beans and is okay, most people avoid beans for some reason. which results in many vegetarian friends of mine being constantly low on iron. tomatoes are a great source of this. just dont go for tomato juice to get it. its basically salt.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#35

Post by antidaily » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:59 AM UTC

icegreentea wrote: post #11

Joakal wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even lentils?

It's really a matter of how long/how often you're willing to stick with it. If you eat lentils (or any other bean) long enough, consistently enough, the uh... disturbances in the force will subside. Anyhow, this is an interesting setup. Rice and beans is a fairly standard South/Central American diet (for the same reason chosen here... high energy, full protein complex, and cheeaappp). This is totally a workable diet,…

Yeah, Tilipia tastes like dirt.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#36

Post by jrockway » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:59 AM UTC

jhuni wrote: post #30

The real problem with this diet is it doesn't contain any fruits (Avocados, Cucumbers, Olives, Bananas, Grapes, Berries, etc). Our ancestors lived primarily on raw fruits so they are definitely the healthiest natural/uncooked foods for humans.

Fruits cost more than $3.

I think the real problem, though, is that the whole "sugar is poison" has gone to everyone's head, and it's now socially unacceptable to recommend anything containing sugar.

The problem is that fruits have a lot of fiber wrapped around that sugar, while soda does not. Have a cup of blueberries with breakfast, an avacado and some tomatoes at lunch, and strawberries for desert. A few servings a day of healthy sugars is not going to make you fat.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#37

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 3:59 AM UTC

jhuni wrote: post #30

The real problem with this diet is it doesn't contain any fruits (Avocados, Cucumbers, Olives, Bananas, Grapes, Berries, etc). Our ancestors lived primarily on raw fruits so they are definitely the healthiest natural/uncooked foods for humans.

[deleted]

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#38

Post by schwabacher » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 4:00 AM UTC

rottendevice wrote: post #25

orenmazor wrote: post #2

as somebody who exercises a great deal (and consumes over 3000cal a day), I can't recommend egg whites enough. for $4 (canadian) you can get almost a liter at costco. construct your menu right, and you can easily consume a great deal of healthy food for very little. another tip: while YMMV, stay away from most beans other than black or chickpeas. those are the ones that tend to cause the least disturbance in the forc…

Just curious: why do a lot people recommend only the white of the egg, and not the whole thing?

The yolk is high in vitamins, but also very high in cholesterol. One yolk has more than 70% of the recommended daily value.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#39

Post by orenmazor » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 4:00 AM UTC

mmaunder wrote: post #33

orenmazor wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if you want to save on coffee, buy green beans and roast. I pay around $30 for 5lbs of green beans that are extremely high quality. you can do far cheaper than that though.

Great idea! Thanks!!

no problem. the cheapest (and still good quality) can be found in many middle eastern shops. they wont sell them by the canvas sack, but you can usually get a pound or two for a couple of bucks and its going to be better than walmart brand.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#40

Post by bradgessler » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 4:01 AM UTC

orenmazor wrote: post #31

mmaunder wrote: post #22

My wife and I tried to do this recently on $1.70 per person per day. We didn't last our intended 28 days. A few observations we found: Meat and organic food was too expensive. Fruit is crazy expensive so we bought OJ from concentrate with no additives as a cheap source of Vitamin C. Eggs were are very expensive, but we needed the protein and nutrients, so rationed ourselves to 3 each per week. We had to remove all su…

if you want to save on coffee, buy green beans and roast. I pay around $30 for 5lbs of green beans that are extremely high quality. you can do far cheaper than that though.

Where do you buy those beans at? Online or a local coffee joint?