Poverty sucks ass, I’ve been there. That said, you can get by for a long time with beans, rice and some veggies. Not a fun diet, but better than starving.
Well, that’s kinda the chief problem. Last time I did that I suffered brain fog the entire time. Same thing happened when I tried vegetarianism. And on top of that, I lost a surprising amount of muscle mass on beans and rice. I think I need more protein than that diet can offer. It’s just a shame that it’s so bloody expensive…
I thought beans had a lot of protein in them? I don’t remember doing badly on a lot of that and ramen back when I was a student.
Since you do eat meat, I would also suggest checking to see if your local supermarkets (if you’re not in a food desert) has discounted meat that is near its expiration date. You have to use it faster, obviously, but you can usually save a chunk of money on it.
There’s more nuance to it than that. Beans do have a lot of protein, but the specific proteins they’re high in are less digestible than animal protein, and still not as plentiful as in animal protein. And that’s fine provided that you eat multiple sources of plant protein and are able to eat a lot of it. But then the issue becomes an excess of fibre and, in the case of legumes, oligosaccharides.
Disclaimer: I’m saying this as a well-muscled individual. For the average person, deriving all protein from plant-based sources is probably fine.
Hopefully this isn’t unwanted advice, but I have also cut out a lot of meat from my diet and I started getting weird side effects. (Lost feeling in my hands and feet, got dizzy a lot, felt extra stupid.)
After seeing a doctor, I take vitamin B and D supplements and it helped a lot. If you can’t see a doctor, you might consider trying some vitamin B and seeing if that helps. Apparently lots of vegetarians and vegans take it too.
I don’t mind the advice! I already take a B complex, though. I try to take vitamin D but I always forget that one. Probably because I don’t take it with a meal.
Poverty sucks ass, I’ve been there. That said, you can get by for a long time with beans, rice and some veggies. Not a fun diet, but better than starving.
Well, that’s kinda the chief problem. Last time I did that I suffered brain fog the entire time. Same thing happened when I tried vegetarianism. And on top of that, I lost a surprising amount of muscle mass on beans and rice. I think I need more protein than that diet can offer. It’s just a shame that it’s so bloody expensive…
I thought beans had a lot of protein in them? I don’t remember doing badly on a lot of that and ramen back when I was a student.
Since you do eat meat, I would also suggest checking to see if your local supermarkets (if you’re not in a food desert) has discounted meat that is near its expiration date. You have to use it faster, obviously, but you can usually save a chunk of money on it.
There’s more nuance to it than that. Beans do have a lot of protein, but the specific proteins they’re high in are less digestible than animal protein, and still not as plentiful as in animal protein. And that’s fine provided that you eat multiple sources of plant protein and are able to eat a lot of it. But then the issue becomes an excess of fibre and, in the case of legumes, oligosaccharides.
Disclaimer: I’m saying this as a well-muscled individual. For the average person, deriving all protein from plant-based sources is probably fine.
Ah, ok. Yeah, I’m anything but well-muscled, so that makes more sense.
Hopefully this isn’t unwanted advice, but I have also cut out a lot of meat from my diet and I started getting weird side effects. (Lost feeling in my hands and feet, got dizzy a lot, felt extra stupid.)
After seeing a doctor, I take vitamin B and D supplements and it helped a lot. If you can’t see a doctor, you might consider trying some vitamin B and seeing if that helps. Apparently lots of vegetarians and vegans take it too.
I don’t mind the advice! I already take a B complex, though. I try to take vitamin D but I always forget that one. Probably because I don’t take it with a meal.