What is the least variety of foods one could live on?

[Radicalmommy]

Please indulge me here but if someone were completely unattached to food and eating what is the least variety of foods one could live on to maintain the highest level of optimal health and what would they be? No meat or diary. These could be prepared in any way or juiced. Could you live on just 5 different foods? What would they be?

[Dimond]

Something similar to this is what I would do and actually have done some simple days like this: Bananas, Apples, Greens (leafy/celery), Hemp Seeds, Melon. Bananas & greens for smoothies, apples, greens, hemp seeds to create a pudding/oatmeal, celery & hemp seeds for soup, melon eaten alone.

One can substitute hemp seeds with other seeds, nuts or avocado. Other fruit can be substituted as well. I prefer melon because it's one of the most cost-effective fruits and just 1 provides a substantial amount. There's other fruit that I love, but I didn't include them because I prefer to eat my favorites more sparingly. Bananas are dense and tend to make a more satisfying smoothie. They're also easy as a portable meal. Hemp seeds go very well with the above whereas an avocado wouldn't work as well in an apple pudding. Does make a good banana pudding if one preferred that instead. Than you could substitute the apple for something else or use it in a different way.

I would add in a 6th item to make this even better. Either Ocean’s Alive Marine Phytoplankton or chlorella powder to make sure I was getting plenty of nutrients since fresh produce isn't always ideal.

[Radicalmommy]

Hemp seeds are really expensive and I couldn't afford those. Could you substitute flax seed? If not then just eating avocado's, apples, bananas, leafy greens (celery) and melon?

[russianrocket]

Originally Posted by Radicalmommy

Hemp seeds are really expensive and I couldn't afford those. Could you substitute flax seed? If not then just eating avocado's, apples, bananas, leafy greens (celery) and melon?

From your post, it seems like less of an indulgence and more of actual advice on something you plan on doing. Nobody here has experience eating just 5 foods. Just because you have no attachment to food, doesn't mean you should do this. For you to get the perfect amount of nutrients is going to be hard if not impossible. To be as candid as possible, this idea should be left as nothing more then an idea, if you are actually planning on doing it. I tough you were just playing around, till you mentioned it was to expensive to use hemp seeds.

[Dimond]

Actually I do have experience with sticking with just 5 foods (or close) very similar to the plan I outlined, though it's not something I always do. I've been simplifying my diet for the past couple of years. Though it is more fun to have a variety. I probably wouldn't recommend staying only with the foods chosen long-term as it's good to change things up somewhat ie: using different greens is always recommended. It just really depends on why you're doing this and your health needs.

Originally Posted by Radicalmommy

Hemp seeds are really expensive and I couldn't afford those. Could you substitute flax seed?

You can do anything you want. I buy them in bulk so they're more cost-effective. The only flax I recommend is sprouted, which is also expensive. This is because flax easily goes bad otherwise. You can use it though if it works for you. Sunflower seeds are inexpensive even if you got them raw & organic. The different ingredients create different flavors so not everything works in the same way. Coconut meat is another good option if you can get coconuts cheap enough and can open them. If you decide to do this, please do enough research so you can make sure you're getting what you need. Keep in mind that what works for you could be different depending on your health and what diet you currently have. If you're keeping meals small, make sure they're nutrient dense enough. Otherwise you need a lot more food. You may need more anyhow at the beginning.

[Dimond]

I forgot you've been doing a raw diet already so likely this will be an easy transition.

[secrets0stolen]

How about cucumbers, bananas, tomatoes, oranges, and young coconut?

I actually have done this, it's *absolutely* fine short-term (as in, anything less than a year--as long as you have a source of sodium, like the tomatoes and coconut) but you could run into problems long-term.
But I'm curious, why do you want to do this? An experiment in self-deprivation?

[Radicalmommy]

Originally Posted by secrets0stolen

How about cucumbers, bananas, tomatoes, oranges, and young coconut?

I actually have done this, it's *absolutely* fine short-term (as in, anything less than a year--as long as you have a source of sodium, like the tomatoes and coconut) but you could run into problems long-term.
But I'm curious, why do you want to do this? An experiment in self-deprivation?

Honestly, I'm just fed up with even thinking about the "right" diet that will make a difference in my over all feeling of well being and my energy level (which is low lately) I want to simplify my eating to the point where it's just one more thing I don't have to figure out. All the raw food recipes are just too much trouble for me to even contemplate what with having 3 small children, there simply isn't enough time in the day for experimenting with it all. (and cost is an issue) What I know so far is that being completely raw is what my body is asking for (just do) but it needs to be as simple as possible. I don't look at as self-deprivation but as freeing up one area to make room in others.

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by Radicalmommy

Honestly, I'm just fed up with even thinking about the "right" diet that will make a difference in my over all feeling of well being and my energy level (which is low lately) I want to simplify my eating to the point where it's just one more thing I don't have to figure out. All the raw food recipes are just too much trouble for me to even contemplate what with having 3 small children, there simply isn't enough time in the day for experimenting with it all. (and cost is an issue) What I know so far is that being completely raw is what my body is asking for (just do) but it needs to be as simple as possible. I don't look at as self-deprivation but as freeing up one area to make room in others.

Cool
Now do you need lack of total variety to free this up, or just simplicity of meals? Because you sure don't have to do all those complicated dehydrated recipes to eat raw.
You could always just do 'mono-meals' which just means one fruit at a time until you're full--and then eat a salad at night. Just a suggestion, but there are other ways to eat simply than restricting your over-time variety.

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by Radicalmommy

... what is the least variety of foods one could live on to maintain the highest level of optimal health...

Originally Posted by russianrocket

... Just because you have no attachment to food, doesn't mean you should do this. For you to get the perfect amount of nutrients is going to be hard if not impossible. To be as candid as possible, this idea should be left as nothing more then an idea.

I agree with russianrocket. If our goal is truly achieving and maintaining the highest level of health, then the absense of nutritional diversity brought forth by such minimal variety would only sabotage this objective.

If i could only choose one green it would probably be spinach, but if i could have any and all greens, then the list would also include kale, purple kale, black kale, collards, green chard, red chard, bok choy, romaine and other green leafy lettuce varieties, dandelion, beet greens, radish greens, celery and any others that i have missed. The nutritional profile provided by all of these greens combined is fantastically more substantial than that of spinach alone. The same would be true of other vegetables, fruits and all other foods. In the pursuit of optimal health it is thus far better to maintain unlimited variety.

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by secrets0stolen

Cool
Now do you need lack of total variety to free this up, or just simplicity of meals? Because you sure don't have to do all those complicated dehydrated recipes to eat raw.
You could always just do 'mono-meals' which just means one fruit at a time until you're full--and then eat a salad at night. Just a suggestion, but there are other ways to eat simply than restricting your over-time variety.

All excellent points as well .

[Dimond]

All the recipes I use take 5 minutes or less and use few ingredients. Email me if you need more. What I love about raw and why I've stuck with it for years is because it's so simple (when you choose for it to be). It's way easier than cooking and I never liked that anyhow. Maybe you just need 10 good simple recipes you constantly rotate. Then later, when you have time, you can experiment with something new.

[Savage]

Breast milk... fresh squeezed.

[st33med]

Originally Posted by Steve Pavlina

Breast milk... fresh squeezed.

Fresh from the teat!

Always yummy!

Big fun!

Anymore puns...?

[Radicalmommy]

Okay, how about if I only ate fresh fruit and fresh uncooked vegetables (any kind any amount probably based on what was on sale that week) (forget the juicing, I was going to get a juicer but something came up and now I won't be able to). Would I need to add anything to that? Long term?

[secrets0stolen]

Originally Posted by Radicalmommy

Okay, how about if I only ate fresh fruit and fresh uncooked vegetables (any kind any amount probably based on what was on sale that week) (forget the juicing, I was going to get a juicer but something came up and now I won't be able to). Would I need to add anything to that? Long term?

In my experience and from what I've seen of others, as long as you get enough greens and variety, you'll be fine unless you suddenly take up an interest in body building.

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by Radicalmommy

Okay, how about if I only ate fresh fruit and fresh uncooked vegetables (any kind any amount probably based on what was on sale that week)...

Now you're talking .

Originally Posted by Radicalmommy

...Would I need to add anything to that? Long term?

B12 and fish oil? ... Going raw vegan you might consider nuts and seeds too.

[Angela]

If I can only choose five foods, I choose

Buffet,
Smorgasbord,
Feast,
Banquest, and
Potluck.

More Choice.

[Radicalmommy]

Originally Posted by MightySunTzu

Now you're talking .



B12 and fish oil? ... Going raw vegan you might consider nuts and seeds too.

B12 and fish oil? Are these supplements? What kind of nuts are the cheapest/ or best/both and how much would a 115 lb woman who jogs 3 miles 4 to 5 times a week need to eat to stay healthy?

Thanks everyone. I don't have any idea where I would get breast milk but I'm pretty sure my next serious relationship will be with someone who has breasts. (that was seriously off topic, so sorry, hope you can handle it)

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by Radicalmommy

B12 and fish oil? Are these supplements? What kind of nuts are the cheapest/ or best/both and how much would a 115 lb woman who jogs 3 miles 4 to 5 times a week need to eat to stay healthy?

They are supplements, yes... the two that a vegan diet is notoriously low in... and i believe i can say this without offending anybody.

Cheap nuts and seeds: flax seeds (if i'm going to eat these, i use a coffee grinder immediately beforehand, otherwise they're pretty challenging... and you don't want to bust them open until you're going to eat them or the oils will go rancid), sunflower seeds, peanuts (though technically not nuts), peanut butter. Moderately priced: pumpkin seeds, almonds, pistaccios, cashews.

There are other variables to factor in, but off the top of my head i would estimate from what you have mentioned that you would be able to optimally maintain your body with about 1500-2000 calories.

People are joking about the breast milk and it's pretty funny to think about and visualize, but i imagine it would be an extremely healthy food .

[VinceG]

When I used to be on a diet, I followed Tim Ferriss's slow-carb diet. Beans, veggies, good meat. For veggies it was usually either kale or spinach. Beans, either lentils, pintos, or black beans, and typically chicken or beef for meat. I used to stick very close to that menu.

[VinceG]

Just saw the vegan part. No prob, just skip the meat. Beans and leafy green veggies are fine. Just soak the beans good, it releases their nutrients. Get some seeds and start sprouting them.

[MightySunTzu]

Originally Posted by VinceG

Just saw the vegan part. No prob, just skip the meat. Beans and leafy green veggies are fine.

Did you happen to notice the raw vegan part?

[VinceG]

Originally Posted by MightySunTzu

Did you happen to notice the raw vegan part?

Eat raw sprouts and don't cook the greens. You're probably better off cooking them, though. Kale is simply amazing boiled for 5-7 minutes until slightly softened. You can also sprout beans, which are edible raw. They just don't taste great.

[ginkgo]

As far as 5 foods it may be possbile with spirulina, chia seeds, avocado, oranges and a sprouted bean like sprouted chickpeas. Actually barley grass would be a good food to add to represent the greens. I do eat all the above but other things also.

[CoolBee]

I live on 8 does that count?

Rice, pasta (that is the raw macaroni or whatever, not all boiled up in sauces), tuna canned in oil, mixed veg (peas, carrots), tomato, cheese spread and milk, Bounty bars (chocolate covered coconut candy).

This is my basic diet for about 80% of the time.

[prototype]

I used to know somebody whose daily diet was:

oats (800 grams)
cabbage (500 grams)
carrots (200 grams)

He claimed that, apart from B12, these three foods provided all the necessary nutrients, but I haven't checked if that is correct. The motivation was financial; he spent about one euro per day on food. I have no idea for how long he was able to follow this diet. It must have been very boring...

[CoolBee]

Ye gods, I used to live on a diet that was practically that many years ago - for the best part of a year - as a student and I'm still alive to tell the tale! (I had wholemeal bread and raw onion as well. I used to make bag loads of raw cabbage with a bit of raw onion sandwiches and freeze them). On a Sunday, I would meet up with my boyfriend and we would have chicken & chips (fries) or pie & chips down the local chippy as our weekly treat.
My motivation was entirely financial. very cheap diet.

[secrets0stolen]

I'm nearly sure there will be a point in my life where I live on bananas and spinach--for financial reasons. XD

[Radicalmommy]

Thanks everyone for your suggestions. I still have a few questions. I am not crazy about leafy greens like spinach or lettuce unless it has dressing on it and I don't want to add dressing. I like celery though so I would eat that. I know I might try adding the green leafy stuff to the blender with just banana and water. (How would that taste?) How much of it do I need to eat? Would one cup a day be enough?