Comment by jfaucett | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jfaucett | Hacker News Reader

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Well, we know the following: If people lived active lives and didn't eat too much we wouldn't have this problem. So I guess those are the only two vectors you can attack it on.

As far as eating goes, you can't really dictate quantity but I think one thing you can do is subsidize healthy foods and make them cheap and affordable so everyone can have access to them. I know if you grow up poor you just can't afford to buy healthy foods b/c they're too expensive.

As far as physical activity is concerned, we've had unhealthy foods for a long time and people have eaten unhealthily since the 50s. Look at this chart: http://wellandtrue.com/the-world-has-changed-so-have-our-wai... and you'll see that we only start getting a big spike after the 1980s when everyone basically started moving to fulltime desk jobs in front of a PC all day. So I think some kind of nationally mandated PE routine kids had to do M-F would be a start even though it'd probably never get support.

> I know if you grow up poor you just can't afford to buy healthy foods b/c they're too expensive

I feel that's a common misconception. Sure, you can't buy fresh, organic foods but I'm able to build muscle on about ~$10/day and stay healthy as a horse.

Frozen peas (most frozen veggies) are $1 for 4 servings; canned black beans and chickpeas are $0.89 for 4 servings; whole-wheat bread is $3-4 for 18 pieces; 1 gallon of water is $0.89 (if you faucet water isn't drinkable); etc.

You certainly can eat healthy on the cheap. It's just that most people don't want to make the sacrifice.

$10 a day is $300 a month, which is a lot to someone near the poverty line (~$1000 a month). The maximum SNAP (food stamps) benefits for an individual is $194. I know SNAP is supposed to be supplemental, etc., but the government has decided someone who is very poor shouldn't have access to the level of nutrition you're talking about.

You can eat on $200 a month without much problem. I received max SNAP benefits for several months and I spent about $120 a month on food, so I had money left over at the end (being a vegetarian helps).

This really isn't relevant to the point at hand (or maybe it is, who knows?) but I think poor people would have an easier time if the means testing for food stamps were looser. The benefits fall off steeply. If someone is making a thousand dollars a months and working full-time or close to it, the government can chip in more than $10-20 to give them access to healthier food.

I'm sorry, I should've been more specific. It's $10/day for me because I'm building muscle and eating 3,600 calories a day.

If necessary, like when you're in a maintenance phase, you could get it to $5/day.

I hear you and agree. I think the means testing for food stamps should be looser too. It's funny, I know a couple people on food stamps and I know a few vegans. What you say is true.

"I feel that's a common misconception"

I don't know. It would be interesting to know what the research says. I lived in poverty for much of my younger life and we wouldn't buy a lot of health foods because they were expensive. I remember fruits and meat were a rarety you got exited about. And I was lucky because my parents still tried to feed us healthily - we had a garden and chickens.

Its also probably true that you don't need as much variation and nutritionists say - you could probably live healthily off of potatoes and eggs.

I've also lived off of what you suggest and its not that pleasant. If you want fresh salads and vegetables the price starts going through the roof, so you're basically stuck with the cheapest canned/frozen stuff. Sure you can do it and I have but its not surprising people don't stick to it long when most of the tasty alternatives are either too expensive or just plain junk food.

> Its also probably true that you don't need as much variation and nutritionists say

Yeah, I've felt the same, and that's why I put it to the test. I can't necessarily extrapolate. All I can say is for the better part of 2.5ish years I've been eating the same thing everyday and my health (according to my yearly checkups) has been stellar.

Of course, you have to hit your macro- and micro-nutrient requirements in your daily regimen.

> I've also lived off of what you suggest and its not that pleasant.

It's a matter of perspective, I guess. I look forward to peanut butter peas or greek yogurt with honey roasted peanuts mixed in or overnight oats made with frozen blueberries and soymilk.

I guess I was just trying to offer up that there is a way to eat healthy, cheaply. Because I certainly didn't know about it until later in life.

Vegetables like peas and broccoli are just as good frozen as they are fresh from a grocery store (but not as good as really fresh vegetables).

They are harvested closer to the ideal time and don't degrade during shipping and so on.

Of course not all vegetables, but there are many that stand up well to freezing. Just don't leave them in an auto defrosting freezer for a long time.

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