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Comment by triyambakam | Hacker News Reader

My family and I are on day number 1153 of eating beans every day (and no animal products)

And how was the experince? Some blog, could learn from it?

Thanks for asking! but unfortunately I haven't written anything up about it, but informally I can share that it's really benefited our health and even finances. Eating beans and rice every day and not eating out is very cheap. I buy most of our food in bulk online or from local farms - e.g. just got 50kg of chickpeas in the mail and 20kg of string beans from a farm. We also avoid eating oil for health reasons

The minimum daily intake of carbs for a human to remain healthy is zero. The minimum daily intake of oil is in fact, not zero, as oils are required for the basic functioning of a human.

But minimum daily intake of fiber, for humans to remain healthy, is not zero.

Vegetables, especially if you eat them in amounts that sustain your weight, have enough omega essential fatty acids to last you a lifetime.

Legumes do have fat in them.

If you eat 2000kcal of red lentils, there's more than enough protein and fat content, almost meets your omega-3 essential fatty acid requirement. Nothing stops you from adding different fattier vegetables.

Humans can be healthy without fiber. For example, see the traditional Inuit diet (at least during winter).

Traditional Inuit diet was not healthy.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00219...

Here's a study on historical data, here are some statements: "Arteriosclerosis and degeneration of the myocardium are quite common conditions among the Greenlander" -- study from 1940

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/002191...

IMO, best evidence ever is on Maasai people, where they find massive amounts of atherosclerosis in the blood vessels of young people and there are multiple cases where young people die of atherosclerosis. Only thing that makes Maasai survive is that they start with this kind of diet at early age, their blood vessels get extra wide and elastic and can withstand the hardening effects of atherosclerosis.

Fiberless diet is a death certificate for the modern western man if one's not on it from birth.

All plants contain various amounts.of oils... That said I'd not give up a good olive or pumpin seed oil!

You're mistaking oil for fat. We eat lots of fats - nuts, seeds, avocados, durian, egg fruit, etc

My point was that there's nothing wrong with pressed plant oils (coconut, olive, etc). If you're going to focus on cutting the unnecessary, that's bulk carbs.

Haha, bulk carbs unnecessary? I'm not sure what you mean - we eat nothing processed - only whole beans, grains, fruits, nuts, seeds. Nothing unnecessary to cut out

Be careful. Avoiding oil and meat can lead to health issues over time.

Hope you’re talking to a doctor and nutritionist!

We don't avoid fat - I mention in another comment about eating nuts, seeds, avocados, durian, egg fruit etc. And avoiding meat is no longer controversial in terms of health - with a little planning it's not difficult to be healthy.

Extra virgin olive oil is very healthy, unless you have some digestive issue with it that I haven't heard so far. Apart from frying (which you don't do), you don't need much more in your kitchen

My wife gets extreme inflammation in the blood and joints from consuming oil (even EVOO yes). It isn't /from/ the oil per se But complicates her condition.

I've had vegetarian rice and beans many times, forced to by lack of money for protein. It's just a bland mixture of sadness and despair

Gotta get the spices right. Find your nearest Indian store for a free consultation.

Many kinds of beans, many kinds of spices and ways of cooking. Really not more or less boring than meat, it's just that nowadays most people never bother to learn how to cook and those that do dont often focus on non-meat dishes.

Not to mention that there's lots of variety of ingredients, you don't need to eat beans every day ;)

> It's just a bland mixture of sadness and despair reply

That might have been from the lack of money, not the food itself. If you're eating them by choice and making the right dishes, beans are fucking delicious.

I understand that you associate beans with poverty, but when your circumstances are better (or now that they're already better, I don't know which) try them again, this time with some good recipes. And not the canned shit - gotta buy 'em dried, soak 'em, cook 'em in a slow cooker, instant pot, or pressure cooker.

I do eat beans all the time, its a staple food here. G

I just make them with meat, pork, sausage and the whole party

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