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Don't just count your calories. Count your protein, too. The beans aren't optional on this kind of diet. It's relatively common for people trying to stretch
by retrac 2y ago
Don't just count your calories. Count your protein, too. The beans aren't optional on this kind of diet. It's relatively common for people trying to stretch a budget to start substituting more grains instead of beans/eggs/tuna/peanuts/etc. and become protein deficient.
While there are long-term health issues with that, more acutely, you can end up in a low energy brain fog, that might make it hard to get enough protein to get out of said brain fog. I got stuck in that zone a few times when poor.
- cogman10 2y agoChickpeas, in particular, are both very cheap and very nutritious. If you are trying to save money, you can get 1 lb of dry chickpeas for ~$2.50 in the US which translates into ~4 cans of chickpeas (1/2 a cup == 1 can). Dried beans are a bit of a pain, but if you are looking to cut funds then you really can't do much better than dried beans. Also, unsaturated fat is an important part of the diet. You need fat in the diet to absorb many nutrients. Skimping out on it can really negatively impact you. Olive oil and Avocado oil are my go tos. But you really wouldn't go wrong with peanut oil or canola.
- barbazoo 2y agoHow are dried beans a pain? You cook them in water with some salt and baking soda and they'll be perfect every time.
- washadjeffmad 2y agoA lot of people don't soak overnight or know how to use pressure cookers and assume cans are the secret to tender, delicious legumes.
- barbazoo 2y agoInteresting, I never soak them myself, just put them in a pot, cover with water, add salt and baking soda and let it simmer for an hour or so until tender.
- adrian_b 2y agoCorrect. Moreover, you actually need to count mostly only the protein intake, because when your food does not have enough calories that becomes obvious, because you lose weight. Obtaining enough calories for a day requires spending only a small fraction of a dollar per day, for buying enough wheat flour or corn flour. When you attempt to minimize the cost of food, most of the money will go for ensuring an adequate amount of protein, with an acceptable amino acid profile, and also for ensuring adequate amounts of essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. Ensuring enough calories is by far the easiest part.