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Perhaps the diet of the poor changed over time. Maybe it is cultural ? My parents immigrated to the US and in the 70's we ate mostly beans, rice, tortillas, an

Perhaps the diet of the poor changed over time. Maybe it is cultural ? My parents immigrated to the US and in the 70's we ate mostly beans, rice, tortillas, and less desirable cuts of meat. While I recall often feeling hungry, that "poor-man's diet" is relatively healthy. Sodas and snacks have always felt like an unnecessary luxury and yet is likely available in most present day poor households. Side note: These days I deny myself breakfast until I have 2 to 3 billable hours of consulting completed. I can do this because, paradoxically, feeling hungry is not associated with a distracting obsession for food.

jacobolus 11y ago
Beans, rice, and tortillas are all calorie-dense low-nutrient foods. They don’t really make a complete or balanced diet; for that you meed to add a lot of vegetables. It’s obviously better than eating just ramen and soda, but that’s a low bar. Rural peasants in Mexico, whose diet is mostly tortillas, have short stature and relatively low life expectancy, like rural peasants in most parts of the world, who also get most calories from starchy staple foods.
- yompers888 11y ago
  Beans really stand out from rice and tortillas in terms of nutrition. They have much higher protein content, and I believe they have some other good stuff going for them besides macro nutrients.
  - jacobolus 11y ago
    You’re right, I should clarify/restate more generously: beans are great, and beans + corn or beans + rice is a pretty good diet if it’s the only thing you can afford and the alternative is starvation. I’m sure you could survive for a good long time on mostly those alone, supplemented by occasional meat and a bit of vegetables. They aren’t going to provide everything the body needs though, and a more varied diet would be better.
tamana 11y ago
Yes, a little hungry makes you motivated to work. Starving is debilitating, and satiation triggers laziness. Cryptonomicon has a fun section on this, when a character plots their energy level against sex/masturbation events You should go in for some high qualty calories to feed your morning brain though.

jacobolus 11y ago

Beans, rice, and tortillas are all calorie-dense low-nutrient foods. They don’t really make a complete or balanced diet; for that you meed to add a lot of vegetables. It’s obviously better than eating just ramen and soda, but that’s a low bar. Rural peasants in Mexico, whose diet is mostly tortillas, have short stature and relatively low life expectancy, like rural peasants in most parts of the world, who also get most calories from starchy staple foods.

yompers888 11y ago
Beans really stand out from rice and tortillas in terms of nutrition. They have much higher protein content, and I believe they have some other good stuff going for them besides macro nutrients.
- jacobolus 11y ago
  You’re right, I should clarify/restate more generously: beans are great, and beans + corn or beans + rice is a pretty good diet if it’s the only thing you can afford and the alternative is starvation. I’m sure you could survive for a good long time on mostly those alone, supplemented by occasional meat and a bit of vegetables. They aren’t going to provide everything the body needs though, and a more varied diet would be better.

tamana 11y ago

Yes, a little hungry makes you motivated to work. Starving is debilitating, and satiation triggers laziness. Cryptonomicon has a fun section on this, when a character plots their energy level against sex/masturbation events You should go in for some high qualty calories to feed your morning brain though.