Readers reply: what are the fewest separate meals you could possibly eat and nonetheless have a wholesome, balanced weight loss program? | Meals

What are the fewest separate meals you could possibly eat and nonetheless have a wholesome, balanced weight loss program? Nancy Bamber, Ottawa

Ship new inquiries to [email protected].

Readers reply

Pulses. You might in all probability dwell fairly healthily for a lot of months on anyone or two of them. Ditto fish. eamonmcc

Fairly so. One could be lifeless with no pulse. LlamaInPyjamas

Pot Noodle and Angel Delight, washed down with copious pints of ice-cold weissbeer. moynihan16

I’ve heard that Guinness and sardines in tomato sauce comprises the entire capturing match of nutritional vitamins and vitamins, however it might be a lonely and sadly fragrant life. HarrytheHawk

Positively artichokes. Protein, nutritional vitamins, fibre, minerals. Add butter with lemon for vitamin C and umami. Kira Mango

Within the 80s, once I was a younger mom of 4 under-fives, I learn in Penelope Leach’s wonderful e-book that beans on toast, an apple and a glass of milk have been a wonderfully balanced weight loss program. On Friday, I sorted 4 grandchildren aged 5 and beneath and that’s what they’d for tea. DoraMarr

Fish and potatoes. Ask the coastal British, the Portuguese, the north Germans, the French Normans, the Dutch and so forth. After all, that’s if you happen to actually needed to, which is the item of the train, isn’t it? Potatoes for practically every part, fish for the remaining. You’d in all probability should scrunch the fish bones a bit, in any other case you might get a bit low on calcium. Nonetheless, at the least the poo wouldn’t go white within the solar – or would it not? bricklayersoption

Potatoes and milk, with an iron complement. Karen Whaley

One egg a day ought to get you thru. All you want is l’oeuf and un oeuf is pretty much as good as a feast (though if you happen to fancy one thing plant-based, don’t let a pomme de terre you). Mobilepope

Scotch egg – a “substantial meal”, bear in mind? TowellingWolf

Irish espresso. It has the 4 main meals teams: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fats. Abigailgem

As a healthcare skilled, I used to be as soon as anxious by a affected person I noticed who would solely eat Weetabix with entire milk. A dietitian good friend reassured me they may handle on this weight loss program for fairly a while: the cereal offers you carbohydrates and fibre, plus is fortified with nutritional vitamins, and the milk offers you fat and protein. eecherry

My good friend Mike claimed to have lived on oranges and Mars bars in his bachelor days. galrita

Which is why he was a bachelor. RHConnon

Rice and beans. All important amino acids; loads of fibre; nutritional vitamins; carbs for vitality. Many individuals worldwide have this as the idea of their weight loss program. meansardine

After all, what counts as a nutritious diet will depend upon the person’s physiology, genetics, psychology and socio-cultural context and desires, but when we have been going to create the minimalist weight loss program to swimsuit most individuals – a weight loss program with little or no selection could be suboptimal for the microbiome, so maybe unimaginable to name it fully wholesome – then one would prioritise fat and protein over carbohydrates, as they’re vital within the synthesis of all tissue varieties, hormones and nearly all organic molecules, they usually present adequate vitality.

Subsequent could be getting the most effective micronutrients within the densest sources doable, together with issues corresponding to choline in egg yolks, which is usually missed.

I believe it might look one thing like this: eggs with yolks, wild salmon, liver, kale and blueberries. That just about covers all micro and macronutrient wants.

All of the “simply eat this pulse” brigade are lacking out on vitamin B12, fats and an entire set of amino acids, to say the least. I believe they’re conflating “wholesome and balanced” with “low cost and vegan”. BenjiFM

Plain yoghurt! Or different sources of probiotics – sauerkraut, kimchi. Synthesises B nutritional vitamins and vitamin Okay. In all probability an important single meals one can eat. G

Three meals: oatmeal, blueberries and candy potatoes. Rebecca Willis

Corn. Squash. Beans. That’s it. Barred0wl

Darkish bread, tomatoes, milk. Christine Hricovsky

The one single foodstuff that’s fully nutritionally balanced for people is human milk. CaressOfSteel

It’s solely nutritionally balanced for infants. ShadyAsh