My 2500 kcal $6 a day meal plan

[esteban]

I eat around 2500 kcal a day and spend around $6 a day getting 135g protein, 55g fat, and meeting all of my micro nutrient needs. Thus, my macro ratio is 62% carb, 18% fat, and 20% protein.

Here is my diet. Everything is weighed in it's raw form.

240g $0.58 Bananas

240g $1.43 Red lentils

40g ??? Shiitake mushrooms (I grow myself)

70g $0.83 Almonds

145g $0.16 White rice

480ml $0.83 Soy milk fortified

110g $0.48 Spinach

$0.73 25g of protein from protein powder

$0.56 1 Algae pill serving

Total: $5.60 + cost of shiitake mushrooms.

Obviously prices vary depending on where you are, but anyone in the United States should be able to grab all of this for less than $10 a day.

Now I will break down why I chose every single item listed for my meal plan.

Red lentils: This is my main source of protein clocking in at 60g of protein. They are also a good source of many different vitamins and minerals.

White rice: My calorie filler and amino acid protein compliment to the lentils for very cheap. Are you really poor? Then load up on the rice as it's the cheapest food on this list. The rice also is one of the items along with the mushrooms that helps meet my selenium and niacin requirement.

Almonds: This is where I get my fat. Why almonds for fat though and not avocados? Because they have vitamin e and their calcium content is a nice bonus. They are also very cheap compared to other fat sources. Yeah oil is cheaper, but oil is empty fat calories, don't use oil to meet your fat needs. The only issue with almonds is they have a lot of omega-6 content. Oh well, I need the vitamin e and fat.

Shiitake mushrooms: I choose shiitake specifically because of their niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin d, and selenium nutrients.

Bananas: Cheap calories that help round out my vitamin b6 and potassium, and make my smoothie taste better.

Soy milk: Has complete amino acid protein and fortified with B12, calcium, and vitamin D. Also used to make my smoothie delicious.

Spinach: My vitamin a, c, and k power house while still being very affordable. This is the one ingredient you can really swap out for almost any variety of vegetables and fruits that you like as long as they meet your vitamin a, c, and k requirements.

Algae pill: I need this for my omega-3 DHA and EPA content. Some people choose to just get omega-3 ALA content from flax, chia, and so forth, but ALA pales in comparison to DHA and EPA for the body. Additionally my algae pill is supplemented with a full serving of vegan vitamin D3. Get it here: https://www.vegetology.com/opti3-omega-3-epa-dha

Protein powder: Not needed, but helps raise my protein and round out my amino acids more. I use naked pea protein because it's cheap, but if I had more money I'd buy a higher quality protein powder.

Bonus supplement: Vegetology Joint-Vie.
I recently started using this because I am a boulderer and am very concerned about my joint health. I'm not sure how effective it is, but I figure it's worth a shot. https://www.vegetology.com/joint-vie-advanced-bone-joint-formula

I also take a creatine supplement as well.

So how do I eat all this? I make a big shake out of the bananas, soy milk, protein powder, and creatine. I take the algae and joint pills with my shake. I snack on the almonds whenever I feel like it. Lastly I make one giant dish out of the lentils, rice, mushrooms, and spinach + spices that I don't factor into price since they are an extra non-needed expense.

Hope this helps some of you out there!

 

[dawn16]

@esteban You grow your own mushrooms? Care to elaborate?

 

[jenohio55]

@dawn16 Yeah that also piqued * my interest. Teach me how to grow my own mushroom farm bro

 

[teresalaw77]

@jenohio55 *piqued

 

[mikeymike48]

@jenohio55 /r/mycology
also /r/shrooms but they don't really focus on shiitakes.

 

[esteban]

@dawn16 There is a guy at my local farmers market that sells shiitake mushroom blocks. I think it's like $20 for the block and it produces a ton of mushrooms. You just have to keep the block constantly damp by spraying it with water and leaving a plastic bag over it.

 

[freakymrq]

@dawn16 They have indoor window sill boxes on Amazon that let you do this for very cheap.

 

[fulfiled]

@dawn16 /r/mushroomgrowers not very active sub but you could dig through it. It's meant to be reasonably simple to grow your own, I haven't given it a go yet.

 

[neliii_br]

@fulfiled Here's a sneak peek of /r/MushroomGrowers using the top posts of all time!

#1: [Gourmet] pink oysters in peak color. | 11 comments

#2: [General] First farmers market.. my setup is sad, but its mine. | 48 comments

#3: Our silly goose found some chickens. | 11 comments

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[dawn16]

r/withoutcontext

 

[julietcasablancas]

@esteban No chickpeas?!? (from a Chickpea hippie)

 

[esteban]

@julietcasablancas Hummus is pretty much my go to snack food when I feel like being luxurious lol.

 

[jenohio55]

@julietcasablancas Lentils have a lot more protein than chickpeas.

Soy Beans > Lentils > Split peas > Pinto/Black/Kidney Beans > Chickpeas

 

[starfire28]

@esteban If your omega 3 supplement has a lot of EPA and DHA, but not a lot of AA, then those fats that you do get will stop the conversion of plant-based omega 6 sources. Omega 6s are still very necessary for the body, so you should be aware of this. I honestly don't know if algae is also a good source of omega 6s.

And even though you already get omega 3s, I'd suggest adding some flax seeds. They are extremely high in antioxidants and things good for your health. They are extremely cheap as well, and contain decent protein and calories.

 

[esteban]

@starfire28 Algae is for omega 3s and I already get more than enough omega 6 with the almonds.

From my research you want about 1 to 1 up to a 1 to 2 omega 3 to 6 ratio. You only want around 500-1500 mg of omega 3 a day. My meal plan brings my omega 6 up to 10,000 mg so it's already quite high.

I do take flax seeds sometimes. Only to help balance my omega 3's to 6's though. I find antioxidants benefits to be dubious. Research doesn't seem to back up the validity of antioxidants.

 

[starfire28]

@esteban I don't think you understand my point. The omega 3s and 6s from plants must be altered in the body to get the highly unsaturated fats like those you get from animals or algae.

The "1 to 1 up to a 1 to 2" ratio is only useful when you're talking about plant fats. This is because the first enzyme in the elongation process (delta 6 desaturase) prefers ALA to LA. This means that even if you consume more LA than ALA, the ALA will still be converted in a nontrivial amount. The whole 1:1 or 1:4 ratio is based on the chemistry of Delta 6 desaturase, so if you're getting your fats from algae or animal sources, and delta 6 desaturase becomes unneeded, that ratio no longer matters at all, you will just absorb the preformed omega 3s and 6s. Buf if you only get the fats from plants sources, and you get 10x more LA than ALA, the delta 6 desaturase will be blocked up by mostly LA and the ALA won't be converted very much at all.

Your body will actually sense the omega 3s from the algae, and stop this transformation. So, if you eat long-chain omega 3s and short chain omega 6s, the omega 3s will vastly slow the process of converting the short chain omega 6s. The problem is that your body is used to getting omega 3s and 6s at the same time, so it can't distinguish between the two. If you only get omega 3s it won't care, and will shut down the conversion process for plant-based omega 6 fats even though you still need them.

So, to reiterate, the omega 6s you get from almonds aren't being converted very much. Maybe that's OK because you already get so much, and so even if the conversion is limited, you will get enough.

As for antioxidants, there are definite health benefits. They help reduce free radicals in the blood and tissues. Particularly when talking about polyunsaturated fatty acids like EPA and DHA, which are especially unstable and can easily be destroyed by free radicals, it's important to eat antioxidants to protect these fats while they are transported to the tissues where they will be protected.

Especially when considering atherosclerosis and the problems due to cholesterol, a major negative factor is actually polyunsaturated cholesterol, which can become oxidized and then can collect in the arteries. Antioxidants are important for preventing heart disease and strokes, for the same reasons that tobacco smoke has been proven to cause these things: it's the free radicals from the smoke which oxidize the cholesterol.

There is absolutely no reason to avoid antioxidants whatsoever. If you study ancient diets from tens of thousands of years ago, our ancestors diets had much much higher amounts of antioxidants in their diet, perhaps even 5x more than the average person these days or more.

An important example is vitamin E, which is itself an antioxidant. EPA and DHA are both omega 3s, but EPA is shorter and thus more stable. This means it is more resistant to being broken apart and destroyed by free radicals. EPA is converted into DHA, but only in certain locations in the body. This means that omega 3s are transported within the blood mostly as EPA, and delivered to other parts of the body, because the blood is also where a lot of free radicals end up. In the connections between neurons, which carry the electrical signals of our consciousness, ~30% of the mass is the omega 3 DHA. When vitamin E is present within the brain, the process of transforming EPA to DHA is increased. This means that the body waits for there to be a decent amount of this antioxidant before it will risk transforming the omega 3s into the more unstable form. This is just a simple example of why antioxidants are important and how they relate to omega 3s.

 

[esteban]

@starfire28 So you are saying that long-chain omegas absorb automatically and don't need to be converted. If your body detects omegas being absorbed then it shuts down the omega conversion process. Which is to say if I ate my almonds and took my algae pill at the same time then the omega-6 LA from the almonds won't be converted and absorbed into my body.

I already take my algae supplement at a different time in the day than when I eat my almonds. Does this mean then that my body won't shut down the omega-6 conversion when I eat my almonds later in the day?

I'm not avoiding antioxidants I'm just not going out of my way to eat them. Aren't antioxidants just certain vitamins like B vitamins and vitamin E? I already am getting a 100% or more of what is recommended daily for all my vitamins and minerals. Which is to say I already get enough antioxidants in my diet.

 

[starfire28]

@esteban

I already take my algae supplement at a different time in the day than when I eat my almonds. Does this mean then that my body won't shut down the omega-6 conversion when I eat my almonds later in the day?

Indeed, that would be better than eating them together. However, I am not aware of how long that downregulation of enzyme production lasts.

My personal suggestion is to even take the algae every other day or less, but just up the dose. The thing is, the fats will simply accumulate in the liver and contribute passively base levels.

I personally eat only short chain fats, which is the most stable form of omega 3s and 6s. I trust my body to get stuff where it needs to go, when it needs to go.

Liver oil I believe was not found to reduce cardiovascular risk. Presumably, this is because of the inflammation due to the destruction of these fats. In many modern meals, there may be a deficit of antioxidants to free radicals, while in all natural diets it is the opposite. Therefore, it makes sense to eat antioxidants with your unstable fats to protect them while they make their journey to nerves, the brain and spinal cord, etc.

Aren't antioxidants just certain vitamins like B vitamins and vitamin E?

An antioxidant usually is a molecule which has an extra electron attached to it. It is stable with the electron, and without, and the electron can easily be take away by a different molecule if the attraction is larger. This unstable bond between the electron and the molecule is not a problem, because the free electron will just be picked up by something else. It can even be picked up by a positively charged molecule which could cause havoc to other unstable molecules by ripping pieces of them off.

Because the electron is only weakly bound, and exists on the outer edges of the molecule, it can have different excited states, and emit light when switching between them. This is the reason why living things are of different colors. Plants with antioxidants that are of a certain color can obviously attract animals to eat them. One can say animals evolved color vision to identify good food to eat.

But yes, though there are an infinitude of antioxidants, some vitamins have antioxidant properties, though that is just a tertiary effect. Vitamins can also have very specific geometry to allow them to match with signal receptors.

It makes sense that vital signalling molecules are often antioxidants, which is their last line of defense from free radicals. We wish to preserve the geometry of the molecules we need.

 

[esteban]

@starfire28 Thanks for taking the time to write all of this. I'll have to think more about my omega-3 and 6 sources now. I'm surprised that you only eat the short-chain versions since I keep finding info saying that it is more ideal to eat the long-chain versions as a vegan.

 

[starfire28]

@esteban The main argument against purely short-chain diets is that conversion rates are not very high. The studies which suggest this are presumably composed of test subjects which represent the total population. A large marjority of people consume animal fats, and thusly, they will have naturally low conversion rates. I wonder what the average conversion rate would be for a population that ate no long-chain fats, and if it would be enough.

I personally go through phases with everything I do, and diet is no different. Sometimes I eat little PUFAs, and other times I eat a large amount. Then I let my body automatically handle the rest.

Chia seeds are the highest source of omega 3s known. I'll often eat chia pudding made from 5 tbsp of chia seeds. Then after a few days of that, I know when to stop for a while. Because chia seeds are like 8:1 omega 3s, there aren't many omega 6 fats to get in the way of the conversion. So, I look at chia pudding as an omega 3 refueling, and don't worry about it as much for a couple days, though I still do add flax and hemp to my meals. I'd also add walnuts but I'm slightly allergic to them!

You can similarly use avocados to refuel omega 6 stores, because they have 10x more 6 than 3. My basic meals maintain the 4:1 ratio most likely, due to sunflow seeds, flax and hemp, but I'll do megadoses occasionally when I feel like I need to. I do it very intuitively, but I've had a lot of practice over the years.

I should also just quickly mention that the body may use omega 3 and 6 short chain fats in ways that we don't know yet. This is a safe prediction, because our animal ancestors would surely consume a lot themselves. By consuming only long chain fats, we aren't getting the intermediary molecules with perhaps their own important contributions towards balance.

I also just remembered that certain nuts and seeds like hemp contain themselves the product of delta 6 desaturase. D6D is the bottleneck in the enzyme cascade, so these fats can skip the gatekeeper. Therefore, you may consider adding hemp to your diet if you feel you may have low D6D expression due to algae intake.