Having grown up in poverty I was impressed that he was able to relate fairly well given the short experiment.
Please don't take this as offense, but it does seem logical that if you operate on limited supplies you'd go for a very primal - just survive today mode. I'm pretty sure ANY person that has no fallback to rely upon would go into same mode.
I heard that steady supply of cash does help them a lot. Like a monthly wage. That way you can say, ok if I skip this trash meal and go learn something, maybe I can live more decently.
Definitely. Although pairing that with help from someone who isn't from a poverty stricken mindset is key. Having a friend who comes from a more "stable" background that puts effort towards relating to you goes a really long way.