Let’s say that due to financial constraints a person can afford very little in the way of groceries. Undaunted, this person stocks up on beans, rice (brown rice, not white), and a mixture of frozen veggies from Costco: frozen broccoli, cauliflower, onions and peppers, spinach, corn, carrots, etc. Maybe they have enough cash left over to buy a couple containers of oatmeal and a box of cheap tea bags.
That’s their diet for a couple months until (hopefuly) they get back on their feet.
How healthy would this diet be? What kind of nutrition deficiencies (or excesses) would present themselves after eating only beans, rice, and vegetables three meals a day (or two, if oatmeal is consumed for breakfast) for several weeks?
How would taking a daily multivitamin change things?
Putting this in GQ because I’m interested in the effects on the body, not the food per se.
You’ve basically described a budget vegan diet. Most legumes (which beans are) combined with rice will result in a complete amino acid profile, if not with very high digestibility. It also contains enough carbs, and likely most micronutrients if you change up the veggie mix enough, or if the mix just happens to contain all the micronutrients you need. A vegetarian-targeted multivitamin would ensure that you do get them all.
The things to watch out for in that particular instance would be Vitamin B12 (from bacteria or yeast or a supplement) and fats, especially omega 3s. Adding avocado to the mix could help with that, or another supplement.
The oatmeal would be unnecessary – it doesn’t really add anything the other foods don’t already provide. Mostly just empty carbs, but in that case you could just as well eat more brown rice. Or buy bulk, non-organic quinoa to substitute for the beans, rice, and oatmeal altogether.
If you want more details, the book “Becoming Vegan” devotes lengthy chapters to the nutritional considerations of such a diet.
TL;DR: Eat some fats, take a multivitamin, including B12, and it should be OK for the short term to medium (a decade or two). Longer than that, there haven’t been enough long-term vegan studies to really know its full impact on the human body. Vegetarianism is different, as milk and eggs are very good sources of many things nutritionally (in moderate quantities).
And for what it’s worth, you could just about eat anything for a month or two, as long as you get enough calories, and still come out the other side with minimal damage as long as your diet improves afterward. Many college students will subside on a far worse diet than what you’ve described, for longer periods of time.
If you’re American or from a similar country, chances are you’ve been well-fed enough that your body should have a good stockpile of the micronutrients it most needs, enough to sustain you for at least a few months as long as you can provide it with basic macronutrients (fats, carbs, protein). You wouldn’t exactly thrive in that situation, and you’ll probably crave certain foods when your stockpiles get low, but you should survive and recover.
Three possible worries come to my mind. First, B12. Second, salt. Third, iron. I didn’t list protein because the beans and rice will probably take care of that, but you need to eat them together, not beans one meal and rice the next meal.
Most processed foods have more than enough salt in them to keep you healthy and you never need to add any extra salt, but that’s not true of fresh veggies so you’ll want to add a pinch of salt here and there. The iron will be less of a problem if you eat spinach and/or cook in a cast iron skillet. As for the B12… your body only needs tiny trace amounts and you’ll probably be okay if you simply stop washing your veggies with soap before you eat them. Dirt normally contains traces of B12. Most people get B12 from meat but you only need a tiny amount. I don’t recommend vitamin pills.
It says basically what I did, but also that you should beware of iron, zinc, and calcium levels. That’s assuming a “typical” vegan diet, though, not the force-fed balance that you described (which is actually a reasonably nutritious diet, if not very tasty).
PS - If possible, add some kale to the veggie mix, perhaps replacing spinach with it. Costco actually sells a really delicious quinoa + kale mix in the frozen coolers.
In any case, for a mere 2 months, that diet will be more than adequate as long as you were eating more varied foods before and after.
You don’t need complete protein every meal. As long as it all averages out to enough over a timespan of a week or so, you won’t suffer at all from eating your grains and legumes at separate meals, if that’s what you choose.
And the diet the OP describes is very similar to what’s eaten most of the time by most of the people of the world. Aside from the fats, B12, and salt mentioned by others (all of which can be gotten in sufficient quantities very cheaply), you could live on that for a lifetime with no ill effects.
A serving of brown rice has 4% daily value of iron. Black beans have a lot more – 88%. Pinto, only 3%. There is some concern about heme iron affecting iron absorption in vegan diets, but not enough to cause any sort of issue in 2 months with them eating black beans 2-3x a day, unless they were extremely anemic already.
Just seconding this in the research that I’ve read. AFAIK that train of thought (must be eaten together) is an older belief superseded by later science.
I would say that over a short term–months–that’s a fine diet. Longer term, B12 is likely the only thing missing. I assume you use salt as that is really necessary. It is not for nothing that our word “salary” is derived from the Latin word for salt. As far as I know cognates of that word appear in every IE language.
Not all nutrients can be stored well by the body - Vitamin C, for example - a couple of months without that, and you will be starting to suffer from scurvy.
What about calories? The various online sources I’m finding state that pinto beans and brown rice are around 220 calories per cup each, cooked. Since many vegetables are light on calories and assuming a 2000 calorie diet, that means approx. 1.5 cups each of beans and rice for every meal?
I can’t imagine eating that much beans and rice every day. I’d likely get physically ill trying to scarf all that down.
As far as the B12and iron is concerned, wouldn’t the daily multivitamin take care of that?
A dozen eggs per week should take care of Vitamin B12, and they do have some iron. I can’t think of a cheaper addition. Add a can of mackerel or tuna here and there, and one should be really set. Mackerel patties can be really good.
My guess is the diet described in the OP(especially if you include the multivitamin, and salt is a given) is healthier than the diet of most people.
OP, if you’re interested, there’s a webapp (http://diy.soylent.me/) that I used to use for DIY soylent, but it’s very useful for breaking ingredients down into the components that are required by the body, comparing them with various recommended diets, and seeing how close it is(and how economical, on a per meal basis).
It’s not healthier than the diet of most people, because it is the diet of most people. But if you meant “healthier than the diet of most Americans”, you’re probably right.
You can add sugar and raisins to your oatmeal if you go that route. Or get some fats. You can add flax seeds or flaxseed oil to your meals – for calories and omega 3s. Or bulk nuts. You could also add additional starches for carb calories: corn, lentils, peas, etc., usually available in bulk. And depending on your metabolic needs, you may need more or less than 2000 calories a day.
But if this is a real issue and not just a hypothetical thing, you would be better served to check out your local food stamps program or food bank to supplement what you can get at the grocery store. Or buying a dollar burger and some soda from McDonald’s.
Probably, depending on the supplement – they’re all different, so read the supplement facts to make sure.
As you have described it, this a zero fat diet. That’s not a good thing, and it isn’t the diet of most people. You need some fat in your diet. Now, maybe this person has a left-over jar of olive oil in the house, and it just hasn’t been mentioned. But just those things, alone, with zero added fat, are going to screw him up. DSeid will probably be along shortly to tell us why.
Edit–sorry, I just looked it up and beans do have traces of fat, like 1 gram/cup. I still contend that this isn’t enough to remain healthy even for a month.
