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I think eating the same thing every day is fine, though you need to make sure to have a balanced diet with good nutrition. The author mentioned his uncle who j

I think eating the same thing every day is fine, though you need to make sure to have a balanced diet with good nutrition. The author mentioned his uncle who just ate bread, butter, and cheese for every meal, and I’m not sure how you can even survive off of that. Surely it’s lacking something important with no fruit or vegetables. I’ve heard that humans had a long period of time after we became sedentary and started relying on agriculture that the average height decreased significantly, and it was only in recent centuries that it has gotten back to normal due to more varied nutrition. So even if you can technically survive on a very limited diet, it can still have negative effects.

dopidopHN 5y ago
My thought exactly. I’m fine with a repetitive diet but some fiber would be welcome.
thaumasiotes 5y ago
> The author mentioned his uncle who just ate bread, butter, and cheese for every meal, and I’m not sure how you can even survive off of that. Surely it’s lacking something important with no fruit or vegetables. The only thing you're really missing there is dietary fiber, which -- being indigestible -- doesn't have nutritional value. However, it does interact with your intestines as it passes through them in a manner which tends to promote their health. So no, survival is not even a question that should come up.
- brokencode 5y ago
  “Not even a question that should come up” is a pretty sour attitude to take in general, and I don’t even think you’re right. Fiber does have a health impact as you say, and having good health is one of the main ways known to delay death. And what is survival but the delay of death? My point is that by eating a larger variety of nutritious food, you are less likely to suffer from poor health due to a lack of something you need.
- WA 5y ago
  You sound like this was a certain thing, whereas nutritional science is very complex.
- kitbrennan 5y ago
  There are a long list of illnesses caused by vitamin deficiencies, including Scurvy, Rickets, magnesium deficiencies and iron deficiencies (as well as others). These can be life threatening too, so survival is very much a question that should come up.
- watwut 5y ago
  > The only thing you're really missing there is dietary fiber It misses iron, so it puts him at risk of anemia. Which is very real thing. Scurvy and other vitamins deficience diseases are very real thing too. So yes, if that food was literally all he eate long term, the question of survival makes perfect sense.
chrisco255 5y ago
> I’ve heard that humans had a long period of time after we became sedentary and started relying on agriculture that the average height decreased significantly, and it was only in recent centuries that it has gotten back to normal due to more varied nutrition. So even if you can technically survive on a very limited diet, it can still have negative effects. It's not the variety of the diet but the quality of the food itself. Bread is good for energy, but if all you're eating is bread, you're not getting complete proteins, omega 3s, and other nutrients. It's fine, however, to eat nothing but meat and many societies did this for hundreds of thousands of years. Farming is anything but sedentary, especially in the 19th century and prior. People's height was stunted because food was not abundant enough. Agricultural societies tended to grow faster than farming productivity could keep up with. A lot of people were simply malnourished and therefore never reached their natural height capacity. But as you say, the hunter / gatherers such as the native Americans were taller on average than the first European settlers to arrive in America. This is not due to a particularly diverse diet. Most cultures subsisted on meat from hunting (largest source of nutrition) and a select few vegetables. The difference is that hunter / gatherer societies tended to self regulate their population according to available resources.
- hzay 5y ago
  > It's fine, however, to eat nothing but meat and many societies did this for hundreds of thousands of years. Other than those who live in the arctic, which societies did this? You have sources? Thanks!
  - pnt12 5y ago
    I think it's false. Hunter gatherer communities (no societies back there) lived by what they could find - either hunt animals or look for fruits, plants and mushrooms. Then there was a shift towards agricultural societies, where people relied on their plantations and domesticated cattle. I don't think the cattle meat would be enough for most of their meals, probably the most of them would be bread and soup. This is just a vague recollection from A Brief History of Humanity, but it makes sense to me. Eating just meat sounds terribly "costly", you have to actively ignore all other sources of food around you.
kitbrennan 5y ago
> The author mentioned his uncle who just ate bread, butter, and cheese for every meal, and I’m not sure how you can even survive off of that. Surely it’s lacking something important with no fruit or vegetables. Exactly, wouldn’t you end up with scurvy from the lack of vitamin C?
- raverbashing 5y ago
  If he had some jam or some fruit sometimes no Your "not get scurvy" not levels of Vit C are really small. As in months on the sea small (or maybe college freshman small)
chubbyish 5y ago
How is the author overweight eating what he eats, and walking around outside. That makes no sense.
- CodeGlitch 5y ago
  My thoughts exactly. He gets plenty of fresh air and exercise, and his meals don't sound too unhealthy, but he's had 2 strokes? Could be genetics I suppose? Glad he's found happiness though.
- watwut 5y ago
  Reading about what he eats, I am not sure why you would expect him to be thin. Both his food and shape are pretty much the normal shape for people living in villages doing small farming.
- StanislavPetrov 5y ago
  He says he has biscuits at the end of every meal - he doesn't say how many!
  - forsakenkraken 5y ago
    He looks similar in size to plenty of Welsh farmers that I know. I suspect that eating a tin of beans every day isn't the best.
- jonnycomputer 5y ago
  Is the author overweight? Over weight for what? For living a life of hard manual labor? Well in his 70s and still mobile and able to run a farm seems like he's doing fine. Besides ... he may have gained weight after his stroke; used to eating a farmer's meal but not moving about much. Besides ... you've heard of studies that have shown that the calorie expenditure of hunter-gatherers, walking around all day, is about the same as couch potato Americans sitting around all day... here's the link: https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/06/13/191036200/what-hunter-gatherers-may-tell-us-about-modern-obesity https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/06/13/191036200/what-...
jrochkind1 5y ago
I had the same thought. And yet he seems to be doing at least okay... I would assume that as a farmer he gets plenty of physical activity. Perhaps diet has much less to do with health compared to physical activity than Americans tend to act as if.
throwawaaarrgh 5y ago
> you need to make sure to have a balanced diet with good nutrition You know, you are going to die. They're going to lower you into a hole in the ground. The worms will have you for dinner. That's it. Right before you die, are you going to say to yourself, "boy, I'm sure glad I made sure to have a balanced diet with good nutrition" ? Will you say, "I'm glad I didn't enjoy cheese and bread with butter every single day" ? 70 years of pure joy, of every moment counting, of getting just what you want, is worth a million years of trying to extend your life and health. Don't live the life you think you're supposed to, and don't live for the future. Whatever you like, do it now.
- driverdan 5y ago
  This is a terrible approach. If you die 15 years earlier and suffer with many health problems later in life you'll wish you had eaten better. Living in the moment doesn't mean ignoring the future consequences of your actions.
- chillwaves 5y ago
  Of course we are aware we are going to die. Can you make your point without talking down to people?
- brokencode 5y ago
  What an insightful point! Maybe I should eat nothing but candy, smoke cigarettes, and go into bright sunlight with no sunscreen everyday. Who cares if I get diabetes or mouth, lung, or skin cancer! Or maybe I can just take basic precautions like eating more than three different foods? You make it sound like that is such a burden, but it really isn’t. It’s possible to enjoy your life even while taking care of yourself. In fact, I have a much easier time being happy when my health is good than when I am sick, so I’d say these precautions are important for a good life.

dopidopHN 5y ago

My thought exactly. I’m fine with a repetitive diet but some fiber would be welcome.

thaumasiotes 5y ago

> The author mentioned his uncle who just ate bread, butter, and cheese for every meal, and I’m not sure how you can even survive off of that. Surely it’s lacking something important with no fruit or vegetables. The only thing you're really missing there is dietary fiber, which -- being indigestible -- doesn't have nutritional value. However, it does interact with your intestines as it passes through them in a manner which tends to promote their health. So no, survival is not even a question that should come up.

brokencode 5y ago
“Not even a question that should come up” is a pretty sour attitude to take in general, and I don’t even think you’re right. Fiber does have a health impact as you say, and having good health is one of the main ways known to delay death. And what is survival but the delay of death? My point is that by eating a larger variety of nutritious food, you are less likely to suffer from poor health due to a lack of something you need.
WA 5y ago
You sound like this was a certain thing, whereas nutritional science is very complex.
kitbrennan 5y ago
There are a long list of illnesses caused by vitamin deficiencies, including Scurvy, Rickets, magnesium deficiencies and iron deficiencies (as well as others). These can be life threatening too, so survival is very much a question that should come up.
watwut 5y ago
> The only thing you're really missing there is dietary fiber It misses iron, so it puts him at risk of anemia. Which is very real thing. Scurvy and other vitamins deficience diseases are very real thing too. So yes, if that food was literally all he eate long term, the question of survival makes perfect sense.

chrisco255 5y ago

> I’ve heard that humans had a long period of time after we became sedentary and started relying on agriculture that the average height decreased significantly, and it was only in recent centuries that it has gotten back to normal due to more varied nutrition. So even if you can technically survive on a very limited diet, it can still have negative effects. It's not the variety of the diet but the quality of the food itself. Bread is good for energy, but if all you're eating is bread, you're not getting complete proteins, omega 3s, and other nutrients. It's fine, however, to eat nothing but meat and many societies did this for hundreds of thousands of years. Farming is anything but sedentary, especially in the 19th century and prior. People's height was stunted because food was not abundant enough. Agricultural societies tended to grow faster than farming productivity could keep up with. A lot of people were simply malnourished and therefore never reached their natural height capacity. But as you say, the hunter / gatherers such as the native Americans were taller on average than the first European settlers to arrive in America. This is not due to a particularly diverse diet. Most cultures subsisted on meat from hunting (largest source of nutrition) and a select few vegetables. The difference is that hunter / gatherer societies tended to self regulate their population according to available resources.

hzay 5y ago
> It's fine, however, to eat nothing but meat and many societies did this for hundreds of thousands of years. Other than those who live in the arctic, which societies did this? You have sources? Thanks!
- pnt12 5y ago
  I think it's false. Hunter gatherer communities (no societies back there) lived by what they could find - either hunt animals or look for fruits, plants and mushrooms. Then there was a shift towards agricultural societies, where people relied on their plantations and domesticated cattle. I don't think the cattle meat would be enough for most of their meals, probably the most of them would be bread and soup. This is just a vague recollection from A Brief History of Humanity, but it makes sense to me. Eating just meat sounds terribly "costly", you have to actively ignore all other sources of food around you.

kitbrennan 5y ago

raverbashing 5y ago
If he had some jam or some fruit sometimes no Your "not get scurvy" not levels of Vit C are really small. As in months on the sea small (or maybe college freshman small)

chubbyish 5y ago

How is the author overweight eating what he eats, and walking around outside. That makes no sense.

CodeGlitch 5y ago
My thoughts exactly. He gets plenty of fresh air and exercise, and his meals don't sound too unhealthy, but he's had 2 strokes? Could be genetics I suppose? Glad he's found happiness though.
watwut 5y ago
Reading about what he eats, I am not sure why you would expect him to be thin. Both his food and shape are pretty much the normal shape for people living in villages doing small farming.
StanislavPetrov 5y ago
He says he has biscuits at the end of every meal - he doesn't say how many!
- forsakenkraken 5y ago
  He looks similar in size to plenty of Welsh farmers that I know. I suspect that eating a tin of beans every day isn't the best.
jonnycomputer 5y ago
Is the author overweight? Over weight for what? For living a life of hard manual labor? Well in his 70s and still mobile and able to run a farm seems like he's doing fine. Besides ... he may have gained weight after his stroke; used to eating a farmer's meal but not moving about much. Besides ... you've heard of studies that have shown that the calorie expenditure of hunter-gatherers, walking around all day, is about the same as couch potato Americans sitting around all day... here's the link: https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/06/13/191036200/what-hunter-gatherers-may-tell-us-about-modern-obesity https://www.npr.org/sections/13.7/2013/06/13/191036200/what-...

jrochkind1 5y ago

I had the same thought. And yet he seems to be doing at least okay... I would assume that as a farmer he gets plenty of physical activity. Perhaps diet has much less to do with health compared to physical activity than Americans tend to act as if.

throwawaaarrgh 5y ago

> you need to make sure to have a balanced diet with good nutrition You know, you are going to die. They're going to lower you into a hole in the ground. The worms will have you for dinner. That's it. Right before you die, are you going to say to yourself, "boy, I'm sure glad I made sure to have a balanced diet with good nutrition" ? Will you say, "I'm glad I didn't enjoy cheese and bread with butter every single day" ? 70 years of pure joy, of every moment counting, of getting just what you want, is worth a million years of trying to extend your life and health. Don't live the life you think you're supposed to, and don't live for the future. Whatever you like, do it now.

driverdan 5y ago
This is a terrible approach. If you die 15 years earlier and suffer with many health problems later in life you'll wish you had eaten better. Living in the moment doesn't mean ignoring the future consequences of your actions.
chillwaves 5y ago
Of course we are aware we are going to die. Can you make your point without talking down to people?
brokencode 5y ago
What an insightful point! Maybe I should eat nothing but candy, smoke cigarettes, and go into bright sunlight with no sunscreen everyday. Who cares if I get diabetes or mouth, lung, or skin cancer! Or maybe I can just take basic precautions like eating more than three different foods? You make it sound like that is such a burden, but it really isn’t. It’s possible to enjoy your life even while taking care of yourself. In fact, I have a much easier time being happy when my health is good than when I am sick, so I’d say these precautions are important for a good life.