Eating Healthily for $3 a Day • Hacker News Board

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#131

Post by dilap » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:03 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…

I'm surprised you found eggs to be expensive. Where I'm at (Eugene, OR), you can find eggs for $7 for 5 dozen -- an incredible deal per nutrient dollar, even on your extreme budget. (This is at the Red Apple, if any Eugene locals are curious.)

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#132

Post by Klinky » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:09 AM UTC

robflynn wrote: post #120

martinshen wrote: post #46

Anyone recommend a site that can build a week's menu/grocery list based on approx budget etc.? I'd definitely use that product.

I have been wanting the same thing but have too many projects going on right now to try to do it myself.

Where would one start on something like that? Getting local updated pricing information would seem to be a big missing link. Perhaps crowd sourcing? That would need a critical mass to make it useful. Maybe trying to focus on specific cities first might make it easier.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#133

Post by TheEzEzz » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:10 AM UTC

beagle3 wrote: post #117

He follows (old) USDA dietary recommendations, which stipulate no saturated fat, and 60% carbs. That is really, really bad. The ultimate reference is "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes - it is meticulously researched and referenced, and is likely 40 years more up-to-date than your nutrition or medical professional.

I'm a paleo guy and I agree with what you wrote, but I'm uncomfortable with stating it with such certainty. Personally, when I'm evaluating a fringe idea one thing I look for is modesty in the people proposing it. When a proponent speaks with too much certainty it smells of quackery.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#134

Post by jacobolus » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:14 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…

> we alternated between Safeway and Walmart

Well there’s one problem. Safeway is crazy expensive compared to many supermarkets, like 30–50% more.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#135

Post by jms » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:17 AM UTC

TeHCrAzY wrote: post #110

Dramatize wrote: post #102

My wife and I lived off $2.80AUD a day while she was finishing her last year of Uni. It was really rough and Lucy end up developing iron deficiencies.

Where where you living at the time? I am from Sydney, and I have been told by friends from other states that the food prices here are much higher than anywhere else: even Melbourne (for non-aussies: a similarly sized city - 4 mil inhabitants vs 4.5 mil in Sydney).

I don't know about other states, but food is crazily expensive here (Sydney) compared to the UK.

For some reason, eating out or takeaways is relatively cheap though.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#136

Post by puredemo » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:18 AM UTC

Paleo > Legumes.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#137

Post by r00fus » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:20 AM UTC

latch wrote: post #103

I've mentioned it before, but anyone serious about this type of thing should get familiar with quinoa. It might be more expensive than rice, but it also contains a balanced set of essential amino acids - which is pretty rare for a plant. Most meals that call for rice can generally use quinoa instead, and you'll be much better off.

Quinoa is a very nice substitution for rice, and it has a unique texture and flavor.

We simply sub it one for one with long-grain jasmine rice in our cooker (usually 2:1 cups water-rice... quinoa is the same ratio).

Only thing is that it's definitely more expensive than rice. Anyone know of a good way to get quinoa on the cheap?

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#138

Post by jhuni » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:20 AM UTC

burgerbrain wrote: post #118

jhuni wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know about you but I think I would rather pick fruit then spend eight hours in the hot sun hunting... I also would rather eat fruits then the dead animal. Fruits are absolutely delicious to anyone whose taste buds aren't maladapted, and dead animals stink, are hard to eat uncooked, and carry diseases/bacteria. Carnivores have 10 times the hydrochloric acid of humans so they can eat meat without worrying about…

Your preference in food has pretty much nothing to do with the fact that our ancestors most certainly hunted food. Hell, even chimps hunt.

our ancestors ate mostly hunted food

Actually, most archeologists and paleoanthropologists are beginning to accept that most meat was SCAVENGED, not hunted, as I mentioned earlier.

It is through scavenging that humans became "omnivores" capable of eating meat in the first place, but we certainly didn't become carnivores that should eat meat as any significant part of their diet.

http://www.mesacc.edu/dept/d10/asb/origins/hominid_journey/s...

Your preference in food

Trichinellosis, Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, Listeria, E. Coli, and Trichina worms will effect anyone, so my "preference in food" is based upon characteristics present in all humans.

As for the taste, fruits taste the best raw/uncooked for everyone with natural taste-buds. My taste-buds aren't abnormal.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#139

Post by kleiba » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:21 AM UTC

phlux wrote: post #126

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…

I would love to find a community of like minded individuals in the bay area that meetup regularly to shop in bulk and divide. We did this on reddit recently with herbs/spices sold in bulk where people basically committed 20 bux and got a healthy personal portion of the loot. It would be great to do the same with a costco bill....

Try Berkeley.

Re: Eating Healthily for $3 a Day

#140

Post by eru » Thu, Apr 28, 2011, 7:27 AM UTC

dilap wrote: post #131

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…

I'm surprised you found eggs to be expensive. Where I'm at (Eugene, OR), you can find eggs for $7 for 5 dozen -- an incredible deal per nutrient dollar, even on your extreme budget. (This is at the Red Apple, if any Eugene locals are curious.)

Or get yourself some chickens, if you have a lawn.